Utah Football Preview 2026: Can Morgan Scalley Finally Get the Utes to the Playoff?
· Yahoo Sports
No pressure, Morgan Scalley, but win the Big 12, go to the College Football Playoff, and be legendary along the way.
Try this for a coaching run at Utah.
Ron McBride won 88 games in 13 years before being replaced by some Urban Meyer guy who went 22-2.
Meyer didn't coach in the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2004 season, but Kyle Whittingham did - he did okay for himself over 21 years before moving on to Michigan.
As good as Whittingham was, though, he never got the Utes to a College Football Playoff - Utah is one of the winningest programs never to get into the CFP.
Can Utah Keep Winning Under Morgan Scalley?
Sep 6, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley watches the team warm up before a game against the Cal Poly Mustangs at Rice-Eccles Stadium© Rob Gray-Imagn Images
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As good as he was, it's been forgotten that Whittingham needed a few years to get up to speed, going 15-10 in his first two full seasons.
Scalley will be expected to make Utah amazing immediately, with a relatively favorable schedule and ton of young talents ready to show what they can do.
For all of the discussion about Texas Tech last season, and BYU just missing out on the playoff, Utah went 10-2, was a dominant force by the end of the season, and the only losses were to the Red Raiders and Cougars.
Just do that, Morgan, and a little bit more.
- 2026 Utah Schedule Analysis
Utah Quick Hits
- Head Coach: Morgan Scalley (1st year, 1-0)
- Best Case / Worst Case: Win the Big 12 Championship/Be realistically out of the College Football Playoff hunt before October.
- Key Player: Zereoue Williams, OT Sr.
- 2025 Record: 11-2
- Biggest Question: Can the new coaches and players keep the elite production going?
Utah Key 2025 Stats
- 1st Quarter Scoring: Utah 113, Opponents 41
- Sacks: Utah 34 for 252 yards, Opponents 14 for 80 yards
- Rushing Touchdowns: Utah 41, Opponents 18
Offense
Utah didn't go far to get its new offensive coordinator.
Kevin McGiven made Bronco Mendenhall's offense crank out the numbers at Utah State last season.
The Aggies finished third in the Mountain West in total offense with 410 yards per game, and were second in scoring, averaging 31 points per outing.
No, he wasn't with Mendenhall at New Mexico in 2024, but it's the same sort of style that made a superstar out of ...
What’s Working
Devon Dampier. When he's on, he's among the most dynamic quarterbacks in college football.
He ran for almost 1,500 yards and 23 touchdowns at New Mexico, and last season he ran for 835 yards and two scores, and threw for close to 2,500 yards and 24 scores, with the Utes.
The running game should be even more amazing. The Utes averaged six yards per carry thanks to Dampier, and leading rusher Wayshawn Parker, a quick back who led the Big 12 averaging 6.6 yards per carry on his 981 yards.
Backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin averaged 8.4 yards per carry with 513 yards and ten scores.
The Utes landed a few wonderful receivers from the portal. JJ Buchanan took off to Michigan, but Utah State star Braden Pegan followed McGiven over to Salt Lake City.
Getting Kyri Shoels from San Jose State and Ricky Johnson from Mississippi State might not be an upgrade overall from last year's Ute receiving corps, but these guys catch passes.
What Needs Work
The offensive line. Yeah, okay, it's Utah. It's got a big front five, and it'll be just fine with upperclassmen about to step into big roles, but losing NFL blockers Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu is a problem.
Cedric Jefferson is a ready-made starting tackle from Montana State, and there has to be a spot somewhere for guard Isaiah Kema from Ohio State, but true freshman Kelvin Obot might be the new star at one of the tackle gigs.
Always dominate on third downs. This means Dampier has to be consistently accurate, and the running game has to turn in good plays early to set up easy third down chances.
Utah led the Big 12 and was third in the nation converting 53% of its third down tries, but Texas Tech allowed the Ute attack to convert 29% of the time.
That was one loss, and the other loss came to BYU when the offense had its second-worst third down day when Dampier was under center.
Be mistake-free. That's asking for way too much, and turnovers certainly weren't a problem, but again with the losses to Texas Tech and BYU, those were two of the three days the Utes gave the ball away multiple times.
The season-high 12 penalties against the Cougars didn't help.
Player to Watch
Braden Pegan, WR Sr.
The 6-3, 210-pound veteran led the Utah State offense with 60 catches for 926 yards and five scores. He's a matchup nightmare with his size - Dampier will keep pushing the deep shots to him.
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Defense
Colton Swan moves up from coaching up the linebackers to being Morgan Scalley's defensive coordinator.
He has to make this group better with a whole slew of new players.
The transfer portal isn't helping as much as it is for the offensive side. It's mostly up to in-house players to take over and improve a defense that finished a pedestrian eighth last year after ending up third in 2024.
What’s Working
The linebackers are good. Leading tackler Johnathan Hall is back after making 67 stops with six tackles for loss, and while Cyrus Polu, Trey Reynolds, and Elijah Elliss were backups, there's great upside with this group.
Utah, as always, has the beef up front. It might not be experienced, and there might need to be a decent rotation, but the tackles are full of plenty of 300-pounders to work with.
6-6, 305-pound Karson Kaufusi, 6-2, 298-pound Pupu Sepulona and transfers Jireh Moe (San Jose State) and Lucas Samsula (Wyoming) are all young, and they'll all grow into the gigs.
Scoring defense. Yes, this is a new group with a ton of new parts and lots of work to do on the depth, but for all of the flaws and yards allowed, it gave up 14 points or fewer seven times, and the team was 9-0 when allowing fewer than 24.
What Needs Work
The Utah secondary lost a ton of talent. No, the Utes didn't lose a ton of talent to Michigan, but they took a hit here.
Smith Snowden was a whale of a corner for the Utes, and Salesi Moa was an elite recruit who never saw the field.
Veteran safety Tao Johnson left for UCLA, and backup corners Don Saunders (Purdue) and Jason Stokes Jr. (Colorado) also left.
The run defense has to be far, far better. Utah was third in the Big 12 against the run, allowing 1,559 yards, and last year it was 14th, giving up 2,355 yards.
The Utes allowed over 200 rushing yards five times last season. It gave up over 200 once in 2024, and in 2023, the defense didn't let anyone get past 150 yards.
How fast can the pass rushers step up? John Henry-Daley made 11.5 sacks last year - he's off to Michigan.
Ethan Day is coming in from North Texas, and Kash Dillon was third on the team with 3.5 sacks, but there's not a lot experience-wise to count on from the other side.
Player to Watch
Johnathan Hall, LB Sr.
A bulked up safety, the 6-1, 226-pound Hall has gotten better and better over the last three seasons. He has the quickness to make 16 tackles for loss, and the upside is there to be more of a pass rusher, but no matter what, he'll be the all-around statistical star in the middle of the linebacking corps.
Keys to the Season
- Get the offensive line up to the 2025 level as soon as possible - if it's possible.
- Be better overall against the run, and be consistent about it.
- Don't get too crazy about changing up the style with the coaching changes. All the new assistants have to fit in right away.
Player Who Needs To Shine
Zereoue Williams, OT Sr.
There's a chance this is Kelvin Obot's left tackle job after fall camp, but no matter who takes this spot, it'll be asking a lot to replace Caleb Lomu.
One of them might take over for Spencer Fano at right tackle if it's not Cedric Jefferson.
Williams is a 6-8, 305-pound mountain who served last year as Lomu's understudy. He might be tall and rangy, but he can run block.
Biggest Concern
Bring back the nasty on defense.
There were times when the Utah defense was a brick wall, and the other side had no chance whatsoever.
UCLA couldn't move a lick, Arizona State couldn't go anywhere, and to be nice about it, Utah's defense made Colorado look like it wanted to go do something else with its life.
And that needs to be more of the norm.
Utah gave up over 420 yards five times last season. It gave up more than that a grand total of zero times in 2024, and twice in 2023.
Biggest Game
BYU, November 7
You can make a case for either one of the back-to-back road games against Arizona or TCU, and the date against Arkansas in Week 2 is big, but ...
Come on. Utah needs to win the home game against the hated rival before going to Tucson and Fort Worth.
Transfer Portal
The loss of players to Michigan and Kyle Whittingham was minimal - just five players at last count. It wasn't nearly as bad as, say, Matt Campbell taking 24 Iowa State players with him to Penn State.
Overall, the portal experience was a net negative, but only slightly. The star power isn't there, but there's depth.
Best Signing
Ethan Day, EDGE (North Texas)
There was a little bit of production in his two years at Wyoming, and then he turned into a star last season at North Texas with 53 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and seven tackles for loss.
Biggest Loss
Tao Johnson, S (UCLA)
A key part of the Utah defense over the last three years, he leaves after making 154 tackles with six tackles for loss, three picks, and 13 broken up passes.
Other Names to Know
- James Chenault, CB (USF)
- Lucas Samsula, DT (Wyoming)
- Steve Chavez-Soto, RB (San Jose State)
CFN Season Prediction
This isn't the Utah team of last year, and the Big 12 is dangerous from top to bottom, but the chip on everyone's shoulder is for real.
Yes, there are a whole slew of backups needing to play key roles now, but they're going to bring the energy to go along with the great production from the backfield.
But, like it is for everyone, it's all about the schedule. Utah doesn't have to deal with Texas Tech.
Not playing Kansas State this season will be huge as the season goes on, and missing Arizona State is a plus, too.
CFN Prediction: 10-2
Arkansas will be a terrific early test, and dealing with a trip to Iowa State for the Big 12 opener will be tricky. But BYU and Houston are home games, and Colorado and Cincinnati aren't bad to deal with on the road.
There will be slip-ups, and they'll likely come late at Arizona and TCU.
But the schedule progresses well enough that the team should be jelled by the time the Big 12 season starts, and there's no reason to shoot for anything less than last year's 10-2 regular season record.
By the way, do that, and it'll almost certainly be a better season record-wise than what Whittingham is about to have at Michigan.
Related: Big 12 Football Win Totals 2026: Spring Predictions for All 16 Teams