Utah football makes power move with future home-and-home vs. LSU

Utah football scheduled a big home-and-home series with LSU in 2031-32 and it’s a power move for the Utes who have been looking for respect.

It seemed like the 2020 season was finally going to be the one that helped Utah earn some respect on a national level. The Utes lost early in the season but went on a heck of a run and looked to be a Pac-12 title win away from making their first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

But Oregon had other ideas.

The Utes dropped to the Ducks and their playoff hopes were dashed. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they didn’t even get a New Year’s Six bowl, getting selected for the Alamo Bowl against an average Texas team. It was somewhat of a lose-lose for the Utes because if they beat a 7-5 Texas team, they did what they were expected to do and if they lost, they weren’t as good as we thought.

Unfortunately, the Utes missed an opportunity to beat a decent Big 12 team and maybe earn a little respect, getting blown out by the Longhorns 38-10.

National respect still may come within the next couple of years as Kyle Whittingham is building a solid foundation in Salt Lake City but by the time LSU comes to town, he will likely no longer be the head coach — unless he plans to coach past 70.

This is a huge opportunity for the future of the Utah football program to earn the respect it so desperately desires and deserves.

Will either of these programs be good in 2031-32? Not one single person knows, but the way each program is trending, it’d be shocking to see a major drop-off a decade from now. This will be an intriguing home-and-home series and one Utah fans have begged for.

Utah is proving to be a nationally relevant program by scheduling this type of home-and-home and it has come a long way.