2019 Utah Utes football team

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.

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
Division	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 (1st season in stint, 5th overall season)
Defensive coordinator	Morgan Scalley (4th season)
Home stadium	Rice–Eccles Stadium[1]
Uniform
Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

2019 Pac-12 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
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 Utah 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

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]

Media poll (South Division) Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place) 1 Utah 206 (33) 2 USC 167 (2) 3 Arizona State 118 UCLA 118 5 Arizona 85 6 Colorado 46

Media poll (Pac-12 Championship) Rank Team Votes 1 Utah 12 2 Oregon 11 3 Washington 9 4 USC 2 5 Washington State 1

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

Further information: 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football 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

See also: 2019 BYU Cougars football team

Northern Illinois

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

See also: 2019 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

Idaho State

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

See also: 2019 Idaho State Bengals football team

At USC

See also: 2019 USC Trojans football team

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

See also: 2019 Washington State Cougars football team

At Oregon State

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

See also: 2019 Oregon State Beavers football team

Arizona State

See also: 2019 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

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

See also: 2019 California Golden Bears football team

At Washington

See also: 2019 Washington Huskies football team

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

See also: 2019 UCLA Bruins football team

^[4]

At Arizona

See also: 2019 Arizona Wildcats football team

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:

   

Scoring summary

1	7:39	UTAH	Brant Kuithe 3-yard run (Jadon Redding kick) (11 plays, 75 yards, 5:56)	UTAH 7–0
	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
	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
	1:50	ARIZ	Grant Gunnell 7-yard run (Lucas Havrisik kick) (12 plays, 85 yards, 5:00)	UTAH 35–7

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

See also: 2019 Colorado Buffaloes football team

Vs. Oregon (Pac-12 Championship game)

See also: 2019 Pac-12 Football Championship Game and 2019 Oregon Ducks football team

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)

See also: 2019 Texas Longhorns football team and 2019 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

See also: 2020 NFL draft

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

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