Utah Football: Ranking Utes’ 2020 opponents by toughness

Utah football doesn’t have an incredibly tough 2020 schedule so that only means that the Utes could get back to the Pac-12 title game.

Kyle Whittingham continues to be one of the most underrated coaches in college football and now that his Utes are fresh off a Pac-12 title berth, there will be more eyes on Salt Lake City.

Utah looked like a serious playoff contender until the final game of the season. All the Utes had to do was win the Pac-12 title game against Oregon and they were likely headed to the College Football Playoff as the fourth team. Their only loss to that point in the season was a one-touchdown defeat at USC.

Oregon stomped the Utes 37-15 and that ended any hope of a playoff berth and even a New Year’s Six bowl. The Utes went from fringe-playoff team to Alamo Bowl invitee, facing off against a disappointing Texas team but that didn’t stop them from getting dismantled by the Longhorns 38-10.

The Utes ended the season on a sour note, losing the final two games to finish 11-3 and they didn’t just drop those games against Texas and Oregon, they were out-scored 75-25.

Losing Tyler Huntley and Zack Moss hurts as well as defensive end Bradlee Anae but reeling in transfer quarterback Jake Bentley and returning solid starters on both sides of the ball like Brant Kuithe, Devin Lloyd and Mika Tafua should help.

Utah had one of the best defenses in the country last year and an above average offense. Will that continue against a winnable schedule (which may or may not officially become conference-only)?