Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — Yes, there is a bowl still to play, but for all intents and purposes, the University of Utah's season came to an end Saturday afternoon vs. Colorado.
It came to an end at 8-4 overall and 5-4 vs. the Pac-12 following a 23-17 win over the Buffaloes. In a vacuum, those marks should be deemed not good enough — and they're not — but in fairness, the examination of a season needs context. Context in terms of injuries, personnel, who was or was not available against a given opponent, how good any given opponent may have been at the time, etc.
That said, given where the Utes have been lately and what the expectations were back in August, to immediately label this particular Utah season a failure might be valid, but then you start adding context and, well, maybe take a breath, and reconsider what you just watched for three months.
The September-long quarterback conundrum, and the injuries, on top of the injuries, on top of those other injuries, and more QB uncertainty, and still, more injuries.
Take each individual piece of that, take it all into account and, well, it gets a little harder to consider 8-4 not good enough. To each their own, absolutely, but 8-4, with the amount of issues that went on this fall, actually feels fairly remarkable. Just getting to the eighth win, after the opportunities lost at Washington and getting blown off the field at Arizona deserves to be commended.
You will judge this season as you see fit, but this particular team? This particular team should not be cast aside because it has 8-4 attached to it. This particular team deserves more than that.
Luke Bottari is a microcosm of season-long QB issues
Credit to Bottari, a fifth-year senior walk-on who hadn't taken a snap of any kind since 2021 when he was still at the College of San Mateo.
Bottari indicated postgame that he was told early in the week that he would start. Kyle Whittingham said Bottari was given all the No. 1 reps throughout the week. Bottari was not asked to do a ton, but he executed what he was asked to execute, going 6-of-10 for 61 yards and a pair of short rushing touchdowns on what was a run-heavy day to the tune of 53 attempts for 268 yards.
Fine, now that we've gone through that, the fact that Bottari started Saturday was a microcosm of what was a glaring, season-long, season-defining problem at the most-important position on the field.
We've been through all of the Cam Rising stuff ad nauseum, we don't need to do it again. We've been through Bryson Barnes getting benched at Baylor, Nate Johnson getting benched at Oregon State, and Barnes taking back the keys. Fine, we don't need to do it again.
Barnes was unavailable Saturday due to injury. Brandon Rose dressed and was available, with Whittingham even saying postgame there was a small play package for him if he were thrust into duty due to a Bottari injury. There was little chance Rose was playing as he Utah intends to seek a medical redshirt following his fall camp injury that kept him out of commission several weeks.
Beyond Barnes and Rose, true freshman Mack Howard simply isn't ready, and then there's Johnson. Whittingham confirmed Saturday the redshirt freshman intends to hit the transfer portal, which apparently came to a head on Monday. Part of the situation there, KSL.com has learned, is that a potential move, or at least experiment with Johnson at wide receiver was met with resistance, but that's a larger story for another time.
The fact the Utah QB room got down to Bottari for a start Saturday is remarkable. The fact Bottari won his start should not be viewed as remarkable. Utah ran it a ton and Bottari executed as needed.
The fact this Utah team won eight regular-season games with this level of QB calamity is absolutely remarkable.
Whittingham offered optimism that Barnes could be ready for the bowl, depending on which one. The Las Vegas Bowl is Dec. 23, the Sun Bowl in El Paso is Dec. 29. If Barnes cannot get all the way back, Bottari would likely start, and those are the only two options at this point to do so.
A lot is about to go on
Utah will learn its bowl and opponent on Dec. 4. At that point, and maybe even beforehand, there is a lot of clerical work that is going to go on.
For starters, Cam Rising is returning, a fact Whittingham reiterated on Saturday.
"Looking forward to next year, again, we're elated that Cam Rising is coming back," Whittingham said. "When Cam mentioned he's coming back, that was huge for our program and we're excited about that, excited for the opportunity to go into the new league and find out what that's all about."
The next-biggest personnel matter is what Brant Kuithe decides to do. Like Rising, Kuithe can come back for a seventh season via NCAA medical redshirt. The expectation right now is that Kuithe returns in 2024, and if you listened to Whittingham explain the situation Saturday, it's hard to disagree.
"Brant is really close to making his decision, I'm going to let him handle that how he wants," Whittingham said. "I don't want to be the guy that speaks for Brant, but we're excited about the possibility of him coming back, and I think he'll be able to let everybody know in the not-too-distant future."
I took that quote as, yes, Kuithe is returning, he's just waiting to announce it. His return, coupled with that of Rising, would, obviously, be a huge boon.
What else?
Cole Bishop said postgame he has not made up his mind about his future. The true junior safety is the highest-rated NFL draft prospect on the roster.
Fifth-year junior wide receiver Devaughn Vele did not play Saturday, but even more noticeable than that was the fact he did not take part in senior day festivities. That needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but it's definitely worth mentioning.
I don't subscribe to blurting who will or at least should hit the transfer portal, but there is going to be more from this roster than just Johnson and Fabian Marks, who entered the portal the week before the Colorado game.
We've been through this already, but who opts to stay and who opts to go from the QB room will be of particular interest.
Other things on my mind
- Jaylon Glover's first career 100-yard game (17-107) comes at the tail end of what has been another up-and-down season for the true sophomore. When he has gotten a large complement of carries, I still think there's reason for big-picture optimism.
- An announced crowd of 51,595 marked Utah's 83rd consecutive sellout at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The 2024 home schedule at the moment is not terribly attractive (Southern Utah, Baylor, Arizona, BYU, TCU, Iowa State), but you can bet all six of those will sell out, and the retention rate on season tickets is going to be above 90%, especially with Rising coming back and Utah projected to at least contend for the Big 12 title immediately. For what it's worth, there is still one nonconference spot to fill, but it is unclear if it will be a home game.
- A savvy fan sent me an X direct message last week wondering who might Utah send to Big 12 media days come July. Great question, my type of question. A quick Google search showed Big 12 teams sent 4-5 players each to media days in 2023, so we'll go with that. Barring transfers/defections, Rising is an easy one. Bishop is also an easy one. Since Big 12 media days are in Dallas, I would bring Ja'Quinden Jackson because that's an easy story for the local media to latch onto. We need another defensive player? I don't think Lander Barton is a bad idea.
- I don't imagine Deion Sanders will do a fullblown portal rebuild like he did walking in the door, but there are massive deficiencies on that Colorado roster, especially along both lines. Major changes are coming again, and frankly, I don't see a reason why the Buffs can't contend in the Big 12 immediately if you hit the portal well. The Big 12 wasn't all that scary to begin with, and two of its three best teams are leaving for the SEC.
