CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2018 Utah

9–⁠5 (6–⁠3 Pac-12), coached by Kyle Whittingham.

Schedule and results

Utah in 2018, game by game: won vs. Weber State 41–10; won at Northern Illinois 17–6; lost vs. No. 10 Washington 7–21; lost at Washington State 24–28; won at No. 14 Stanford 40–21; won vs. Arizona 42–10; won vs. USC 41–28; won at UCLA 41–10; lost at Arizona State 20–38; won vs. Oregon 32–25; won at Colorado 30–7; won vs. BYU 35–27; lost vs. No. 10 Washington 3–10; lost vs. Northwestern 20–31+32−18Won 41–10 vs. Weber State+31Weber StateWon 17–6 at Northern Illinois+11Northern Illino…Lost 7–21 vs. No. 10 Washington-14No. 10 WashingtonLost 24–28 at Washington State-4Washington StateWon 40–21 at No. 14 Stanford+19No. 14 StanfordWon 42–10 vs. Arizona+32ArizonaWon 41–28 vs. USC+13USCWon 41–10 at UCLA+31UCLALost 20–38 at Arizona State-18Arizona StateWon 32–25 vs. Oregon+7OregonWon 30–7 at Colorado+23ColoradoWon 35–27 vs. BYU+8BYULost 3–10 vs. No. 10 Washington-7No. 10 WashingtonLost 20–31 vs. Northwestern-11Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsWeber StateW 41–⁠1075%
Sep 8atNorthern IllinoisW 17–⁠655%
Sep 15vs10WashingtonL 7–⁠2153%
Sep 29atWashington StateL 24–⁠2838%
Oct 6at14StanfordW 40–⁠2128%
Oct 12vsArizonaW 42–⁠1071%
Oct 20vsUSCW 41–⁠2855%
Oct 26atUCLAW 41–⁠1069%
Nov 3atArizona StateL 20–⁠3862%
Nov 10vsOregonW 32–⁠2568%
Nov 17atColoradoW 30–⁠766%
Nov 24vsBYUW 35–⁠2776%
Nov 30vs10WashingtonPac-12 Championship GameL 3–⁠1043%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsNorthwesternHoliday BowlL 20–⁠3154%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Northwestern 31–⁠20 in the Holiday Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Pac-12.

In program history: The 28th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 9: 23
  2. Wk 10: 16
  3. Wk 12: 21
  4. Wk 13: 18
  5. Wk 14: 17
  6. Wk 15: 20

Pac-12 South champions6–⁠3 in the conference

Record
9–⁠5
Conference
6–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Pac-12
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
393–⁠272
Coach
Kyle Whittingham
Elo
1631 +67 this season
SP+ rating
16.8 No. 17 of 130; offense No. 45, defense No. 19, special teams No. 1
SRS
10.5 No. 24 of 130 in FBS
Returning
52% of last season’s EPA, No. 89 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 33 roster talent No. 47 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Troy Taylor
Defensive coordinator
Morgan Scalley
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense85th of 130
  • Defense14th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted78th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted8th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0745%1.0185th of 130
Defense-0.0337%1.2814th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.09 off
-0.03 def		46% off
37% def		—78th off
8th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.5own 3017% allowed
Defense2.8own 2820% caused

CORE rating 10.8, 22nd of 130 (offense 0.1, defense -10.7).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsTyler Huntley QB1,762 yds
Passing touchdownsTyler Huntley QB12 TD
Rushing yardsZack Moss RB1,092 yds
Rushing touchdownsZack Moss RB11 TD
Receiving yardsBritain Covey WR611 yds
Receiving touchdownsSamson Nacua WR5 TD
TacklesCody Barton LB117 tkl
SacksBradlee Anae DE8 sacks
InterceptionsJaylon Johnson DB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Jack Tuttle PRO★★★★No. 167
Solomon Enis WR★★★★No. 226
Tennessee Pututau OLB★★★No. 397
Hunter Lotulelei OG★★★No. 416
Mika Tafua WDE★★★No. 478

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.932
Running backs33.00.858
Receivers33.30.865
Offensive line42.80.838
Defensive line72.90.835
Linebackers33.00.855
Athletes and specialists32.70.803
Whole class243.00.845

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 2Marquise Blair SSeattle Seahawks
Rd 3Cody Barton OLBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 4Mitch Wishnowsky PSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 5Matt Gay KTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 7Jackson Barton OTIndianapolis Colts

Roster 105

The 2018 roster

105 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 62 have a stat line. See the roster

2018 Pac-12 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Washington State7–⁠211–⁠210
Washington7–⁠210–⁠413
Stanford6–⁠39–⁠4
Utah6–⁠39–⁠5
Oregon5–⁠49–⁠4
Arizona State5–⁠47–⁠6
California4–⁠57–⁠6
USC4–⁠55–⁠7
Arizona4–⁠55–⁠7
UCLA3–⁠63–⁠9
Colorado2–⁠75–⁠7
Oregon State1–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.