The 2026 College Football Season is nearly here, and with that the AP Poll was released, ranking the teams and setting the stage for the College Football Playoff. The Utah Utes came in at 21st in the poll, a drop from their 2025 finish of 14th.
That drop is due to several factors, namely the departure of program coaching legend Kyle Whittingham and a slew of transfers that followed him to Michigan, as well as NFL draftees and exiting seniors. But the Utes are not going to suffer a dramatic drop from their 11-2 mark a year ago.
Starting QB Devon Dampier (3,325 yards of total offense, 34 TD's) is back for another year, along with super sub Byrd Ficklin (513 rushing yards and 10 TD's). And Wayshawn Parker (981 rushing yards, 6.6 yards per carry) returns as well. They will have help with Utah State transfer receiver Braden Pegan (60 receptions, 926 yards, 5 TD's) and San Jose State transfer Kyri Shoels.
And the defense, while it lost a lot, has plenty of talent waiting in the wings, and key returning starters in LB Jonathan Hall, corner Elijah Davis and safety Jackson Bennee. The run defense will need to be better than a year ago, when it was gashed late in the season by several opponents.
New head coach Morgan Scalley was one of the best recruiters over the years and kept the Utes' pipeline of players to the NFL intact; he will continue the "Sack Lake City" tradition and keep that side of the ball hungry and intense. He hired a proven play-caller on offense in Kevin McGiven, who has been an offensive coordinator and has coached all over that side of the ball in his career.
The early schedule favors the Utes, who play 4 of their first five at home against FCS Idaho, Arkansas, Utah State, and Kansas. They avoid Texas Tech this year. They get visits from BYU and Houston later in the season, with a road trip to Arizona (Nov. 14) and TCU (Nov. 21) as the toughest stretch. By then, they should have the offensive and defensive lines sorted out.
There is a path to 6-0 if things fall right, which will bring the cohesiveness needed for the second half of the season. Dampier should only be better this year, and Ficklin will likely improve as well. Scalley is likely to take more chances and open up the offense a bit more than Whittingham did most years, which will please Utes fans. And the Big 12 championship is within reach for the Utes in 2026.
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