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2021 Utah

10–⁠4 (8–⁠1 Pac-12), coached by Kyle Whittingham, finished No. 12 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Utah in 2021, game by game: won vs. Weber State 40–17; lost at BYU 17–26; lost at San Diego State 31–33; won vs. Washington State 24–13; won at USC 42–26; won vs. No. 18 Arizona State 35–21; lost at Oregon State 34–42; won vs. UCLA 44–24; won at Stanford 52–7; won at Arizona 38–29; won vs. No. 4 Oregon 38–7; won vs. Colorado 28–13; won vs. No. 10 Oregon 38–10; lost vs. No. 7 Ohio State 45–48+45−9Won 40–17 vs. Weber State+23Weber StateLost 17–26 at BYU-9BYULost 31–33 at San Diego State-2San Diego StateWon 24–13 vs. Washington State+11Washington StateWon 42–26 at USC+16USCWon 35–21 vs. No. 18 Arizona State+14No. 18 Arizona StateLost 34–42 at Oregon State-8Oregon StateWon 44–24 vs. UCLA+20UCLAWon 52–7 at Stanford+45StanfordWon 38–29 at Arizona+9ArizonaWon 38–7 vs. No. 4 Oregon+31No. 4 OregonWon 28–13 vs. Colorado+15ColoradoWon 38–10 vs. No. 10 Oregon+28No. 10 OregonLost 45–48 vs. No. 7 Ohio State-3No. 7 Ohio State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsWeber StateW 40–⁠1778%
Sep 11atBYUL 17–⁠2632%
Sep 18atSan Diego StateL 31–⁠3344%
Sep 25vsWashington StateW 24–⁠1373%
Oct 9atUSCW 42–⁠2643%
Oct 16vs18Arizona StateW 35–⁠2157%
Oct 23atOregon StateL 34–⁠4260%
Oct 30vsUCLAW 44–⁠2465%
Nov 5atStanfordW 52–⁠763%
Nov 13atArizonaW 38–⁠2984%
Nov 20vs4OregonW 38–⁠755%
Nov 26vsColoradoW 28–⁠1387%
Dec 3vs10OregonPac-12 Championship GameW 38–⁠1055%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7Ohio StateRose BowlL 45–⁠4844%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Ohio State 48–⁠45 in the Rose Bowl; No. 12 in the final AP poll; Pac-12 champions.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 24
  2. Wk 2: 21
  3. Wk 12: 24
  4. Wk 13: 16
  5. Wk 14: 14
  6. Wk 15: 10
  7. Final: 12

Pac-12 champions8–⁠1 in the conference, won the Pac-12 Championship Game

Pac-12 South champions8–⁠1 in the conference

Led the nationBritain Covey: punt return yards (427 yds)

Consensus All-AmericanDevin Lloyd, LB

Record
10–⁠4
Conference
8–⁠1 first in Pac-12
AP final
No. 12 peak No. 10
Points
506–⁠316
Coach
Kyle Whittingham
Elo
1723 +140 this season
SP+ rating
15.2 No. 16 of 130; offense No. 14, defense No. 21
SRS
12.9 No. 11 of 130 in FBS
Returning
37% of last season’s EPA, No. 118 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 33 roster talent No. 31 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Andy Ludwig
Defensive coordinator
Morgan Scalley
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense16th of 130
  • Defense35th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted18th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted22nd of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.2548%1.2516th of 130
Defense0.0941%1.2835th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.23 off
0.06 def		48% off
39% def		—18th off
22nd 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
Offense4.4own 3214% allowed
Defense3.3own 2620% caused

CORE rating 15.5, 9th of 130 (offense 7.8, defense -7.7).

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 yardsCameron Rising QB2,493 yds
Passing touchdownsCameron Rising QB20 TD
Rushing yardsTavion Thomas RB1,108 yds
Rushing touchdownsTavion Thomas RB21 TD
Receiving yardsBrant Kuithe TE611 yds
Receiving touchdownsDalton Kincaid TE8 TD
TacklesDevin Lloyd LB111 tkl
SacksMika Tafua DE9.5 sacks
InterceptionsDevin Lloyd LB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Ethan Calvert LB★★★★No. 78
Peter Costelli QB★★★★No. 256
Mason Tufaga LB★★★★No. 294
Ricky Parks RB★★★★No. 302
Isaac Vaha TE★★★No. 493

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

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.909
Running backs14.00.901
Receivers33.00.878
Offensive line23.00.866
Defensive line13.00.850
Linebackers53.40.893
Defensive backs23.00.858
Athletes and specialists23.00.854
Whole class173.20.877

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 2022

The 2022 draft
Rd 1Devin Lloyd ILBJacksonville Jaguars

Roster 122

The 2021 roster

122 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 60 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 7

The 2021 portal
Charlie Brewer PRO★★★from Baylor
T.J. Pledger RB★★★from Oklahoma
Theo Howard WR★★★from Oklahoma
Ja’Quinden Jackson DUAL★★★from Texas
Brandon McKinney S★★★★from Washington
Josh Calvert ILB★★★★from Washington
Munir McClain WR★★★from USC

Transfers out 16

Bryan Thompson WR★★★to Arizona State
Jordan Wilmore RB★★★to Fresno State
Orlando Umana OL★★★no new school on file
Jake Bentley PRO★★★to South Alabama
Sione Lund ILB★★★★no new school on file
Bronson Boyd CB★★★no new school on file
Cameron Gardner WR★★★no new school on file
Devin Brumfield RB★★★to Tulane
Graham Faloona LB★★★to Texas State
Mufi Hunt DE★★★to BYU
Nick Billoups QB★★★no new school on file
Pita Tonga DT★★★to Hawai’i

And 4 more, lower-rated or unrated.

2021 Pac-12 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Utah8–⁠110–⁠412
Oregon7–⁠210–⁠422
UCLA6–⁠38–⁠4
Arizona State6–⁠38–⁠5
Washington State6–⁠37–⁠6
Oregon State5–⁠47–⁠6
California4–⁠55–⁠7
USC3–⁠64–⁠8
Washington3–⁠64–⁠8
Colorado3–⁠64–⁠8
Stanford2–⁠73–⁠9
Arizona1–⁠81–⁠11

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