Pivotal stretches will define BYU and Utah's seasons


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SALT LAKE CITY — With BYU and Utah opening fall football camp this week, it's time to look ahead to the toughened schedules of both teams to find where their seasons are likely to be defined.

While it's easy to point to the toughest, or most high-profile names over a stretch of the season and define that as the most pivotal, it's highly unlikely that either BYU or Utah are able to accrue a large number of wins against traditionally better opponents. For example, with BYU starting the season on the road at Nebraska, returning home against Boise State, then traveling to UCLA and Michigan, it's unfair to hang the Cougars' season on the success against these historically good teams.

Likewise for Utah, it's unrealistic to expect the Utes to emerge unscathed from a four-game stretch that includes a road game at Oregon, back-to-back home games against California and Arizona State, before traveling to USC to take on the Trojans. If the Cougars and Utes were to escape those stretches with any wins, the fan bases should be satisfied, while two wins or more would be worthy of jubilation.

Instead, it's worth examining a stretch of opponents for each team that features potential toss-up games that could be the difference between appearing in a bowl game or missing out of the postseason entirely.

For BYU, the most pivotal stretch catches the tail end of its most difficult stretch, starting on the road at Michigan, before heading home to take on UConn, East Carolina and Cincinnati.

Michigan should be an improved team from last year's five-win campaign under the tutelage of Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh, who once recruited Taysom Hill to Stanford, returns to his alma mater to rebuild the Wolverines after a rough stretch under Brady Hoke. Michigan is replacing former quarterback Devin Gardner, who graduated last season, as well as its most dangerous receiver, Devin Funchess. Michigan isn't guaranteed to make a bowl game this season, but beating BYU would be a big win early in the season to propel the Wolverines in that direction.

BYU returns home to take on Connecticut, a team it crushed in last year's season opener 35-10. UConn is BYU's most winnable game during this stretch, and should provide BYU with an opportunity to rest its regular starters for long periods.

East Carolina has experienced real success under head coach Ruffin McNeill over the last three seasons, winning a total of 26 and spending four weeks last season ranked in college football's top 25. Though a tier below Boise State, East Carolina is one of the Group of Five's strongest programs, and should put up a good fight in Provo.

Like East Carolina, Cincinnati is one of the top teams in the American Athletic Conference, and will provide a good test for BYU. The Bearcats have won 38 games over the last four seasons and should continue their high level of play this season. Quarterback Gunner Kiel was a former top recruit at Notre Dame before transferring, and has had solid success as a starter. Cincinnati has made a habit of knocking off lesser opponents and hasn't had a convincing non-conference win since it beat Virginia Tech in 2012. A win over BYU would provide the Bearcats an opportunity to compete for a New Year's Six bowl game.

BYU's toughest game over this stretch should be against Michigan on the road with one of the best coaches, and an intimidating environment in the Big House. While the Cougars should easily take care of UConn, East Carolina and Cincinnati could provide tough tests as Utah State and Nevada did last season at LaVell Edwards Stadium. At worst, BYU should win two of these four games, but going undefeated certainly isn't out of the question. A clean sweep should set BYU up for a successful close to the season after a tough start to the 2015 schedule.

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For Utah, the most pivotal stretch comes in the last four games of the season. Where the Utes have traditionally struggled since their move to the Pac-12, newfound depth should provide Kyle Whittingham's team an opportunity to make the final quarter of the season a strong one. The Utes start on the road against Washington and Arizona before returning home against UCLA and Colorado.

Washington finished the 2014 schedule with a deceiving eight and six record, with seven of its eight wins coming against teams that failed to qualify for a bowl. While the Utes have struggled against Chris Petersen-led Boise State teams, Washington is a different story. The Huskies should find themselves on the outside looking in on a bowl game this year, and should be in danger of losing to the Utes for the first time since the two have met as Pac-12 opponents.

Last year, Arizona crushed Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium in a sobering loss for a Utes team that was competing for a Pac-12 South championship. Arizona has beaten the Utes in three straight meetings and has one of the conference's best quarterbacks in sophomore Anu Solomon. The Wildcats could extend their win streak over the Utes with another win at home, but their defense leaves a lot to be desired, and they'll be coming off a tough match on the road at USC.

UCLA is the favorite to win the Pac-12 South for many pundits due to a large number of returning starters from last year's 10-win team. However, the Bruins will be without Heisman Trophy candidate Brett Hundley, who was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 2015 NFL draft. The Utes knocked off UCLA in the Rose Bowl last year behind backup quarterback Kendal Thompson's gutsy performance, but the Bruins should be hungry for revenge. The Utes are catching UCLA at a bad time, as late in the season, whichever quarterback is starting for the Bruins should be battle-tested against upper-echelon opponents.

The Utes will close the season against Colorado, as the Pac-12 continues to attempt to forge a rivalry between the two Rocky Mountain opponents, and despite being a superior program, the Utes have struggled to reveal the gap in head-to-head matchups. Despite a 3-1 record in favor of the Utes, each game has been decided by a touchdown or less.

While I'm not as optimistic about the Utes running the table against these Pac-12 opponents as I am about BYU during its stretch, the Utes should be able to win at least one game against Washington, Arizona or UCLA before finishing off Colorado to close the season. If the Utes can stay healthy, and the defense continues to play at the high level seen in previous seasons, they could again find themselves competing for the Pac-12 South championship with a strong close to the season.

Though neither of these stretches would provide BYU or Utah with its biggest wins of the season, and both teams could find higher highs and lower lows in other matchups, it's likely that these stretches of games will best define the seasons of the Cougars and the Utes.


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About the Author: Ben Anderson ------------------------------

Ben Anderson is the co-host of Gunther in the Afternoon with Kyle Gunther on 1320 KFAN from 3-7, Monday through Friday. Read Ben's Utah Jazz blog at 1320kfan.com, and follow him on Twitter @BenKFAN.

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