Phil Steele’s annual college football preview is out, which means we are that much closer to the season beginning.
In a little over three weeks, Big 12 media days will be held at The Star — the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility — in Frisco, Texas, on July 8 and 9. About three weeks after that, Utah will begin fall camp and preparations for its season opener against UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Aug. 30.
With the summertime lull in college athletics comes previews and projections, and Phil Steele’s annual publication has become a staple in the college football world since its first edition was published in 1995.
What does Steele project for the Utes in 2025?
He has the Utes ranked No. 18 nationally in his preseason Top 25 — that’s the second-highest in the conference, behind No. 13 Baylor.
While Utah likely won’t appear in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, Steele has high hopes for a turnaround from a Ute squad that went 5-7 and floundered offensively after injuries to multiple key players, including quarterback Cam Rising.
“If Utah had a shred of offense last year after Rising went down, they could have won 10 games. They have a much improved offense, my #7 Oline and their usual rugged D,” Steele wrote.
Even with the nation’s No. 102 scoring offense (the Utes scored just 23.6 points per game) last year, Utah was rarely blown out, losing by more than one score just two times in its seven defeats — a 23-10 loss to Arizona and a 49-24 loss to Colorado.
This year, there’s more variables than usual on the defensive line, where Utah is replacing defensive tackles Junior Tafuna and Keanu Tanuvasa and defensive ends Van Fillinger and Connor O’Toole.
At defensive tackle, senior Aliki Vimahi and sophomore Dallas Vakalahi, both of whom have starting experience at Utah, could be solid up front, but…
Source link : https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/06/15/phil-steele-utah-utes-projection-preview/
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Publish date : 2025-06-15 22:57:00
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