2019 Utah Utes football team

2019 Utah Utes football
2019 Utah Utes football
Pac-12 South Division champion
Pac-12 Championship Game, L 15–37 vs Oregon
Alamo Bowl, L 10–38 vs. Texas
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
	South Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
AP	No. 16
Record	11–3 (8–1 Pac-12)
Head coach	Kyle Whittingham (15th season);
Offensive coordinator	Andy Ludwig (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Morgan Scalley (4th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Rice–Eccles Stadium
Uniform

2019 Pac-12 Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
No. 5 Oregon xy$	8	–	1	12	–	2
California	4	–	5	8	–	5
Washington	4	–	5	8	–	5
Oregon State	4	–	5	5	–	7
Washington State	3	–	6	6	–	7
Stanford	3	–	6	4	–	8
South Division
No. 16 xy	8	–	1	11	–	3
USC	7	–	2	8	–	5
Arizona State	4	–	5	8	–	5
UCLA	4	–	5	4	–	8
Colorado	3	–	6	5	–	7
Arizona	2	–	7	4	–	8
Championship: Oregon 37, Utah 15
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2019 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Utes were led by 15th-year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games at Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. They competed as members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference.

Preseason

Pac-12 media days

Pac-12 media poll

In the 2019 Pac-12 media poll, Utah was voted as the favorite to win both the South Division and the Pac–12 Championship Game.^[2]

Schedule

Utah's 2019 schedule will begin on Thursday, August 29 on the road against rival BYU, a football independent. They will round out their non-conference slate with home games against Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference and Idaho State of the Big Sky Conference. In Pac-12 Conference play, the Utes will play the other members of the South Division and draw California, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State from the North Division. They will not play Oregon or Stanford as part of the regular season.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	8:15 p.m.	at BYU*	No. 14	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT (Holy War)	ESPN	W 30–12	61,626
September 7	11:00 a.m.	Northern Illinois*	No. 13	Rice–Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	P12N	W 35–17	45,919
September 14	2:15 p.m.	Idaho State*	No. 11	Rice–Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	P12N	W 31–0	45,989
September 20	7:00 p.m.	at USC	No. 10	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Big Noon Kickoff)	FS1	L 23–30	55,719
September 28	8:00 p.m.	Washington State	No. 19	Rice–Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	FS1	W 38–13	46,115
October 12	6:00 p.m.	at Oregon State	No. 15	Reser Stadium Corvallis, OR	P12N	W 52–7	31,730
October 19	4:00 p.m.	No. 17 Arizona State	No. 13	Rice–Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	P12N	W 21–3	46,402
October 26	8:00 p.m.	California	No. 12	Rice–Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	FS1	W 35–0	46,626
November 2	2:00 p.m.	at Washington	No. 9	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	FOX	W 33–28	69,270
November 16	6:00 p.m.	UCLA	No. 7	Rice–Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	FOX	W 49–3	47,307
November 23	8:00 p.m.	at Arizona	No. 7	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	FS1	W 35–7	55,675
November 30	5:30 p.m.	Colorado	No. 6	Rice–Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (Rumble in the Rockies)	ABC	W 45–15	46,879
December 6	6:00 p.m.	vs. No. 13 Oregon	No. 5	Levi's Stadium Santa Clara, CA (Pac-12 Championship Game)	ABC	L 15–37	38,679
December 31	5:30 p.m.	vs. Texas*	No. 11	Alamodome San Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl)	ESPN	L 10–38	60,147
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 5 released prior to game All times are in Mountain time

Source:^[3]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	14	13	11	10	19	17	15	13	12	9	8	8	7	6	5	12	16
Coaches	15	15	12	11	19	17	15	14	12	10	9	9	8	6	5	10	16
CFP	Not released										8	7	7	6	5	11	Not released

Game summaries

At BYU

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Utes	3	6	7	14	30
Cougars	0	6	0	6	12

Northern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	10	0	0	17
No. 13 Utes	0	21	7	7	35

Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	0	0	0	0	0
No. 11 Utes	17	7	7	0	31

At USC

Utah Utes at USC Trojans

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Utes	7	3	7	6	23
Trojans	14	0	7	9	30

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

Date: September 20, 2019
Game time: 7:00 p.m. MST
Game attendance: 55,719
Referee: Michael Mothershed (Pac 12)
TV announcers (FS1): Joe Davis, Brock Huard, Bruce Feldman

Game information

First quarter

USC (12:57) – #19 Matt Fink to #21 Tyler Vaughns 29 yard pass TD
(#40 Chase McGrath kick) – USC 7–0
UTAH (10:39) – #7 Devonta'e Henry-Cole 17 yard run TD
(#97 Jadon Redding kick) – USC 7–7
USC (8:11) – #19 Matt Fink to #8 Amon-Ra St. Brown 31 yard pass TD
(#40 Chase McGrath kick) – USC 14–7

Second quarter

UTAH (6:44) – #97 Jadon Redding 38 yard Field Goal – USC 14–10

Third quarter

USC (9:54) – #19 Matt Fink to #6 Michael Pittman Jr. 77 yard pass TD
(#40 Chase McGrath kick) – USC 21–10
UTAH (3:47) – #1 Tyler Huntley to #89 Cole Fotheringham 2 yard pass TD
(#97 Jadon Redding kick) – USC 21–17

Fourth quarter

UTAH (11:57) – #97 Jadon Redding 24 yard Field Goal – USC 21–20
USC (8:51) – USC Defense Safety – USC 23–20
USC (6:58) – #30 Markese Stepp 4 yard run TD
(#40 Chase McGrath kick) – USC 30–20
UTAH (4:01) – #97 Jadon Redding 38 yard Field Goal – USC 30–23

Passing

USC – #19 Matt Fink – 21/30 351 Yds – 3 TD 1 Int
UTAH – #1 Tyler Huntley – 22/30 210 Yds – 1 TD

Rushing

USC – #30 Markese Stepp – 3 Runs 11 Yds – 1 TD
UTAH – #6 Devin Brumfield – 10 Runs 63 Yds

Receiving (halftime)

USC – #6 Michael Pittman Jr. – 10 Rec 232 Yds – 1 TD
UTAH – #89 Cole Fotheringham – 3 Rec 23 Yds – 1TD

Washington State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	6	0	0	13
No. 19 Utes	7	14	10	7	38

At Oregon State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Utes	21	14	14	3	52
Beavers	0	0	0	7	7

Arizona State

No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils (5–1) at No. 13 Utah Utes (5–1) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Sun Devils	0	0	3	0	3
No. 13 Utes	0	14	0	7	21

at Rice-Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT

Date: October 19, 2019
Game time: 3:00 p.m.
Game weather: Rain, 46 °F (8 °C)
Game attendance: 46,402
Referee: Mark Duddy
TV announcers (Pac-12 Network): Ted Robinson (play-by-play), Yogi Roth (analyst), Lewis Johnson (sideline reporter)

Game information

First quarter

No scoring plays

Second quarter

(8:59) UTAH – Jaylen Dixon 10-yard run, Jadon Redding kick (Drive: 7 plays, 60 yards, 3:28; Utah 7–0)
(1:08) UTAH – Zack Moss 1-yard run, Jadon Redding kick (Drive: 12 plays, 73 yards, 5:39; Utah 14–0)

Third quarter

(6:50) ASU – Cristian Zendejas 40-yard field goal (Drive: 4 plays, -4 yards, 2:08; Utah 14–3)

Fourth quarter

(5:24) UTAH – Zack Moss 32-yard run, Jadon Redding kick (Drive: 1 play, 32 yards, 0:09; Utah 21–3)

Statistics	ASU	UTAH
First downs	8	20
Total yards	136	342
Rushing yards	33–111	43–151
Passing yards	25	191
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	4–18–1	14–24–1
Time of possession	24:42	35:18

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Arizona State	Passing	Jayden Daniels	14/18, 25 yards, INT
	Rushing	Eno Benjamin	15 carries, 104 yards
	Receiving	Frank Darby	1 reception, 12 yards
Utah	Passing	Tyler Huntley	12/19, 171 yards, INT
	Rushing	Zack Moss	25 carries, 99 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Zack Moss	3 receptions, 78 yards

California

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Bears	0	0	0	0	0
No. 12 Utes	7	21	7	0	35

At Washington

Utah at Washington – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Utes	0	13	6	14	33
Huskies	7	7	7	7	28

at Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA

Date: November 2, 2019
Game time: 1:00 p.m. PDT
Game attendance: 69,270
Referee: Mike McCabe
TV announcers (FOX): Joe Davis, Brock Huard, Bruce Feldman

Game information

Top passers

Utah – Tyler Huntley – 19/24, 284 yards, TD
UW – Jacob Eason – 29/52, 316 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT

Top rushers

Utah – Zack Moss – 27 carries, 100 yards, TD
UW – Salvon Ahmed – 14 carries, 50 yards

Top receiving

Utah – Jaylen Dixon – 2 receptions, 72 yards
UW – Hunter Bryant – 6 receptions, 105 yards, 2 TD

UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruins	3	0	0	0	3
No. 7 Utes	7	21	7	14	49

^[4]

At Arizona

Pregame line	Over/under
Utah –24.0	58

No. 7 Utah Utes (9–1) vs Arizona Wildcats (4–6)

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• No. 7 Utes	14	0	14	7	35
Wildcats	0	0	0	7	7

Date: November 23
Location: Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ
Game start: 8:00 p.m. MDT
Game attendance: 35,991
Game weather: Clear, 58 °F (14 °C)
Referee: Mark Duddy
TV announcers (FS1): Cory Provus (play-by-play), Petros Papadakis (analyst), Shane Vereen (sideline reporter)

Sources:

Statistics

Statistics	Utah	Arizona
First downs	28	11
Total yards	517	196
Rushing yards	297	61
Passing yards	220	135
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	39:32	20:28

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Utah	Passing	Tyler Huntley	19/23, 211 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Zack Moss	26 carries, 203 yards, TD
	Receiving	Brant Kuithe	4 receptions, 81 yards
Arizona	Passing	Grant Gunnell	8/16, 96 yards
	Rushing	J. J. Taylor	10 carries, 33 yards
	Receiving	Cedric Peterson	4 receptions, 63 yards

Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buffaloes	7	0	0	8	15
No. 6 Utes	0	17	14	14	45

Vs. Oregon (Pac-12 Championship game)

Utah Utes vs. Oregon Ducks – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Ducks	10	10	3	14	37
No. 5 Utes	0	0	15	0	15

at Levi's Stadium • Santa Clara, California

Date: December 6, 2019
Game time: 5:00 pm
Game attendance: 38,679
Referee: Steve Strimling
TV announcers (ABC): Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Molly McGrath (sideline)
ESPN game summary

Game information

First quarter

ORE – C. J. Verdell 3 Yd Run (Camden Lewis Kick), 8:00. Oregon 7–0. Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards, 3:43.
ORE – Camden Lewis 23 Yd Field Goal, 4:17. Oregon 10–0. Drive: 6 plays, 56 yards, 2:43.

Second quarter

ORE – Johnny Johnson III 45 Yd pass from Justin Herbert (Camden Lewis Kick), 11:02. Oregon 17–0. Drive: 3 plays, 70 yards, 1:10.
ORE – Camden Lewis 30 Yd Field Goal, 4:56. Oregon 20–0. Drive: 10 plays, 57 yards, 4:03.

Third quarter

UTAH – Zack Moss 24 Yd pass from Tyler Huntley (Jadon Redding Kick), 10:52. Oregon 20–7. Drive: 6 plays, 53 yards, 2:27.
ORE – Camden Lewis 25 Yd Field Goal, 4:56. Oregon 23–7. Drive: 8 plays, 43 yards, 2:49.
UTAH – Samson Nacua 25 Yd pass from Tyler Huntley (Tyler Huntley–Samson Nacua pass), 1:13. Oregon 23–15. Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:43.

Fourth quarter

ORE – C. J. Verdell 70 Yd Run (Camden Lewis Kick), 7:09. Oregon 30–15. Drive: 5 plays, 90 yards, 2:19.
ORE – C. J. Verdell 31 Yd Run (Camden Lewis Kick), 2:33. Oregon 37–15. Drive: 2 plays, 35 yards, 0:49.

Top passers

ORE – Justin Herbert – 14–26, 193 yards, 1 TD
UTAH – Tyler Huntley – 17–29, 193 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT

Top rushers

ORE – C. J. Verdell – 18 carries, 208 yards, 3 TD
UTAH – Zack Moss – 19 carries, 113 yards

Top receivers

ORE – Johnny Johnson III – 6 receptions, 87 yards, 1 TD
UTAH – Zack Moss – 4 receptions, 57 yards, 1 TD

Vs. Texas (Alamo Bowl)

Texas Longhorns vs. Utah Utes (Alamo Bowl)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Utes	0	0	3	7	10
Longhorns	3	7	14	14	38

at Alamodome, San Antonio, TX

Date: December 31, 2019
Game time: 4:30 p.m. (PST)
Game weather: Indoors
Game attendance: 60,147
Referee: John McDaid
TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Flemming (play-by-play), Louis Riddick (analyst), Paul Carcaterra (sideline)
ESPN game summary

Game information

First Quarter

(10:26) UT – Cameron Dicker 29 yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 63 yards, 4:34; Texas 3–0)

Second Quarter

(13:24) UT – Collin Johnson 5 yard pass from Sam Ehlinger, Cameron Dicker kick (Drive: 2 plays, 6 yards, 0:43; Texas 10–0)

Third Quarter

(10:30) UT – Keaontay Ingram 11 yard pass from Sam Ehlinger, Cameron Dicker kick (Drive: 3 plays, 43 yards, 1:04; Texas 17–0)
(4:58) UTAH – Jadon Redding 32 yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 60 yards, 5:32; Texas 17–3)
(0:06) UT – Sam Ehlinger 6 yard rush, Cameron Dicker kick (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 4:52; Texas 24–3)

Fourth Quarter

(11:34) UTAH – Demari Simpkins 4 yard pass from Tyler Huntley, Jadon Redding kick (Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:32; Texas 24–10)
(8:58) UT – Devin Duvernay 15 yard pass from Sam Ehlinger, Cameron Dicker kick (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:36; Texas 31–10)
(7:54) UT – Keaontay Ingram 49 yard rush, Cameron Dicker kick (Drive: 1 play, 49 yards, 0:13; Texas 38–10)

Passing

UT – Sam Ehlinger – 12/18, 201 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
UTAH – Tyler Huntley – 15/23, 126 yards, 1 TD

Rushing

UT – Keaontay Ingram – 13 carries, 108 yards, 1 TD
UTAH – Zack Moss – 16 carries, 57 yards

Receiving

UT – Devin Duvernay – 3 receptions, 92 yards, 1 TD
UTAH – Brant Kuithe, Cole Fotheringham^[a] – 3 receptions, 30 yards

Players drafted into the NFL

The Utes had seven players drafted in the 2020 NFL draft.^[5]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
2	50	Jaylon Johnson	CB	Chicago Bears
3	85	Julian Blackmon	S	Indianapolis Colts
3	86	Zack Moss	RB	Buffalo Bills
3	104	Terrell Burgess	S	Los Angeles Rams
4	114	Leki Fotu	DT	Arizona Cardinals
5	179	Bradlee Anae	DE	Dallas Cowboys
6	197	John Penisini	DT	Detroit Lions

Notes

^ Both Kuithe and Fotheringham finished with the same number of receptions and receiving yards, meaning Utah finished with two leading receivers.

References

^ Rice-Eccles Stadium. The University of Utah. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
^ "Utah picked as Pac-12 favorite in preseason media poll". pac-12.com. July 24, 2019. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019.
^ "2019 Utah Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
^ "No. 8 Utah routs UCLA 49-3 to improve to 9-1". CBSSports.com. November 17, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
^ "2020 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2024.

[5] Both Kuithe and Fotheringham finished with the same number of receptions and receiving yards, meaning Utah finished with two leading receivers.

[1] Rice-Eccles Stadium. The University of Utah. Retrieved April 19, 2017.

[2] "Utah picked as Pac-12 favorite in preseason media poll". pac-12.com. July 24, 2019. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019.

[3] "2019 Utah Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 25, 2019.

[k084-4] "No. 8 Utah routs UCLA 49-3 to improve to 9-1". CBSSports.com. November 17, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2025.

[6] "2020 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 11, 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[a]

[5]


1	7:39	UTAH	Brant Kuithe 3-yard run (Jadon Redding kick) (11 plays, 75 yards, 5:56)	UTAH 7–0
1	0:37	UTAH	Demari Simpkins 3-yard pass from Tyler Huntley (Jadon Redding kick) (10 plays, 72 yards, 5:12)	UTAH 14–0

3	12:50	UTAH	Zack Moss 41-yard run (Jadon Redding kick) (6 plays, 75 yards, 2:10)	UTAH 21–0
3	8:08	UTAH	Brant Kuithe 6-yard run (Jadon Redding kick) (6 plays, 75 yards, 3:33)	UTAH 28–0

4	12:47	UTAH	TJ Green 1-yard run (Jadon Redding kick) (4 plays, 18 yards, 1:57)	UTAH 35–0
4	1:50	ARIZ	Grant Gunnell 7-yard run (Lucas Havrisik kick) (12 plays, 85 yards, 5:00)	UTAH 35–7

Utah Utes football
Venues	Cummings Field (1903–1926) Robert Rice Stadium (1927–1997) Rice–Eccles Stadium (1998–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games BYU: Holy War (Beehive Boot) Colorado: Rumble in the Rockies Utah State: Battle of the Brothers (Beehive Boot)
Culture & lore	Swoop "Utah Man" Pride of Utah Utah pass
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold