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Utah football: 3 reasons the Utes will beat Florida in Week 1

By Connor Muldowney

Jan 2, 2023; Pasadena, California, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Bryson Barnes (16) runs the ball against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second half in the 109th Rose Bowl game at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 2, 2023; Pasadena, California, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Bryson Barnes (16) runs the ball against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second half in the 109th Rose Bowl game at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 12, 2022; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; The Utah Utes cheer team waves flags after a touchdown against the Stanford Cardinal in the fourth quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2022; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; The Utah Utes cheer team waves flags after a touchdown against the Stanford Cardinal in the fourth quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Home-field advantage

This may seem like a lame reason to say a team is going to win, but Utah has been nearly unbeatable at home over the past four years and I don’t see that changing against an average Florida team.

It would take a herculean effort from a ranked team to beat Utah in Salt Lake City and I just don’t see Florida as the one to do it.

Don’t get me wrong, the Gators have talent, but they are just not ready for this kind of atmosphere yet with a starter under center who doesn’t exactly fare well in big games (we’ll touch on that later).

Utah is an astounding 21-1 since the start of 2019 at home. The Utes have not lost at home since 2020 and, well, does that season even count since home games featured no fans? Either way, that was Utah’s only loss at home in the past four years.

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