Utah football using full reset to correct offensive woes of 2024 season

SALT LAKE CITY — There were only 19 FBS schools that had a worse total offense than Utah football for the 2024 season.

That's not a compliment.

Following a blazing-hot start to the season on offense with Cam Rising under center, Utah squandered all offensive momentum and sputtered to the finish line of a 5-7 season — just the third time Utah has finished under .500 in Kyle Whittingham's 20-year tenure as head coach — after Rising sustained an injury in Week 2.

The offense was simply nowhere near good enough, largely at quarterback where Utah was forced to rely on the services of freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson, third-string backup Brandon Rose, and eventually fifth-string, walk-on quarterback Luke Bottari to closeout the season.

As such, Utah ranked 129th out of 134 FBS teams in passing with a 49.7 grade from Pro Football Focus. The only teams worse than Utah in passing? Central Michigan, Kent State, Charlotte, New Mexico State, and Kennesaw State.

Not exactly the company a team picked to win the Big 12 was expected to be near at the end of the season.

To further the matter — or the pain — Utah featured one of the worst opponent-adjusted offensive success rates, according to Bill Radjewski, who operates CollegeFootballData.com. Even just a marginal offense that averaged 25 points per game — think 90th in the country — would have potentially given Utah nine wins or more on the season.

Pair that with Utah's defense and you can easily see the problem (if you didn't pick up on the theme already).

Utah's defense was classified in the "elite" quadrant of opponent-adjusted defensive success rate, where the Utes rated on par or higher than all 12 teams in the College Football Playoff, according to Radjewski.

With such poor offensive production, Utah has hit a full reset on that side of the ball — and for good reason.

Already, Utah has hired a new offensive coordinator in Jason Beck — he featured the fourth-best offense at New Mexico in 2024 — and will look to change to an offensive scheme that is easier for the players to utilize.

It's expected to be an offense that is more "plug and play," according to Kyle Whittingham in comments prior to the hiring of Beck, and one that is more tailored to the skillset of the players on the field. That happens to be a key feature of Beck's offensive schemes, which are usually based in spread concepts and a heavy emphasis on RPO.

What that means for the offseason is a lot of change. It could mean more offensive staff changes to suit Beck's needs, and it will certainly include a complete overhaul of the offensive roster.

As the NCAA transfer portal opened up Monday, Utah already had eight players on offense announce their intention to leave Utah, including quarterbacks Wilson, Rose and Sam Huard. The only remaining scholarship quarterbacks on roster include Cam Rising — he's still yet to decide whether to return or move on — and two freshmen signed last week.

And Utah likely hasn't seen the end of it as others continue to weigh their options.

But wholesale change is key for progress — and that's not just based on the roster. If Utah hopes to be successful with a true rebuild, it will also take somewhat of a change in mindset of the generally risk-averse, conservative Whittingham that has often limited offensive play-calling.

With Whittingham announcing his return for another season, he'll be the largest factor in Utah's overall success on offense — a point that hasn't always been favorable to Whittingham over the years with his turnover of offensive coordinators.

Trust is earned, though — like when Rising and former offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig built a special connection (and trust from the head guy in charge) that led Utah to average more than 36 points per game in 2021 and 2022.

That trust timeline will have to be accelerated if Utah hopes to compete immediately.

Beck will now be called on to acquire talent — in the blank slate essentially provided him — and run an offensive system that lifts Utah out of the so-called ashes of a lost season. But he'll need the help from all involved — and none more than from the longterm head coach — to see real progress.

That may have already begun.

Several of the top former New Mexico players have already been linked to Utah to follow Beck, including dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier, which has the potential to help the rebuild with players that fully understand his system.

Beck is also bringing on Koy Detmer Jr. to help with the quarterbacks in what is expected to be an offensive analyst role, though that hasn't been officially announced by Utah.

But as Utah looks heavily to the transfer portal to rebuild its offensive roster, the focus must be forward thinking and putting aside problems from the past. Anything less has the potential to have Utah repeat history.

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