BYU Football: Scouting the Schedule – Utah
By Shaun Gordon
Special Teams
Very few teams have award finalists at both punter and kicker, but the Utes did in 2017, and both are back in 2018.
Matt Gay (Sr.) won the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best kicker, and he could make it two in a row with a strong final season.
Mitch Wishnowsky (Sr.) took home the Ray Guy award in 2016, and he was just as solid last year. Just like Gay, he could take home a second award if he builds on the last two seasons.
Britain Covey is back as a return specialist, and he’s plenty dangerous, although he did fumble a punt return against Weber State.
Outlook
The Utes have a team that could compete with the upper class of the PAC-12. They face a murderous five-game gauntlet in the middle of the season (Washington, Washington State, Stanford, Arizona, USC) that will determine whether the Utes are competing for the PAC-12 South title down the stretch.
The Utes have become known for their November collapses, but their schedule isn’t as rough in the final month this time around.
Although a loss to BYU in the final game of the season would be a fitting collapse…
BYU vs. Utah Series History
- Utah leads the all-time series over BYU 57-31-4.
- Utah won the last game against BYU 19-13 in Provo last season.
- The two teams are scheduled to meet annually through 2022.
Previous Scouting the Schedule Articles:
Scouting the Schedule – Arizona
Scouting the Schedule – California
Scouting the Schedule – Wisconsin
Scouting the Schedule – McNeese State
Scouting the Schedule – Washington
Scouting the Schedule – Utah State
Scouting the Schedule – Hawaii
Scouting the Schedule – Northern Illinois