2020 Utah Utes football team

The 2020 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Utes were led by 16th-year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games at Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, as members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference.

2020 Utah Utes football
ConferencePac-12 Conference
DivisionSouth Division
Record3–2 (3–2 Pac-12)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorAndy Ludwig (6th season)
Defensive coordinatorMorgan Scalley (5th season)
CaptainJake Bentley, Devin Lloyd, Mika Tafua, Orlando Umana
Home stadiumRice–Eccles Stadium
(capacity: 45,807)
2020 Pac-12 Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
North Division
Washington x  3 –1   3 –1  
Oregon y$  4 –2   4 –3  
Stanford  4 –2   4 –2  
California  1 –3   1 –3  
Washington State  1 –3   1 –3  
Oregon State  2 –5   2 –5  
South Division
No. 21 USC xy  5 –0   5 –1  
Colorado  3 –1   4 –2  
Utah  3 –2   3 –2  
Arizona State  2 –2   2 –2  
UCLA  3 –4   3 –4  
Arizona  0 –5   0 –5  
Championship: Oregon 31, USC 24
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • Note: Due to COVID-19, the Pac-12 suspended the season on August 11, but later decided to begin play on November 6. In addition to the title game on December 18, the conference seeded all remaining teams for a game during that weekend.[1]
Rankings from AP Poll.

On August 11, 2020, the Pac-12 suspended all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] On September 24, the Pac-12 announced that football teams would return to play a seven-game conference-only season beginning on November 6, with the conference championship game scheduled for December 18.[3]

On December 18, with a 2–2 record and one game left to play, the Utes announced that they would not pursue a bid to a bowl game.[4] The Utes won their final game, finishing their season with a 3–2 record. Running back Ty Jordan was voted the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.[5]

Schedule

Utah had games scheduled against BYU, Montana State, and Wyoming, but canceled these games on July 10 due to the Pac-12 Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

On November 24, Utah's scheduled game at Arizona State for November 29 was canceled after a COVID-19 outbreak within the Arizona State program.[7] The Pac-12 then announced that Utah would instead play at Washington on November 28;[8] the Huskies' scheduled game at Washington State had also been canceled after Washington State had a COVID-19 outbreak.[9]

Original 2020 Utah Utes schedule
Date Opponent Site
September 3BYU*Rice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT (Holy War)
September 12Montana State*Rice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT
September 19at Wyoming*War Memorial Stadium • Laramie, WY
September 26at CaliforniaCalifornia Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA
October 2USCRice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT
October 10at Washington StateMartin Stadium • Pullman, WA
October 17WashingtonRice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT
October 29at UCLARose Bowl • Pasadena, CA
November 7ArizonaRice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT
November 14Oregon StateRice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT
November 21at Arizona StateSun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ
November 28at ColoradoFolsom Field • Boulder, CO (Rumble in the Rockies)
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
November 7 1:30 p.m. Arizona
ESPN2 No Contest[10]
November 14 8:30 p.m. at UCLA
FOX No Contest[11]
November 21 8:30 p.m. No. 20 USC
  • Rice–Eccles Stadium
  • Salt Lake City, UT
 ESPN L 17–33 0
November 28 5:30 p.m. at Washington
ABC L 21–24 259
December 5 8:30 p.m. Oregon State
  • Rice–Eccles Stadium
  • Salt Lake City, UT
 ESPN W 30–24 0
December 12 10:00 a.m. at No. 21 Colorado
FOX W 38–21 0
December 19 11:30 a.m. Washington State
  • Rice–Eccles Stadium
  • Salt Lake City, UT
 FS1 W 45–28 0

[12]

Rankings
Further information: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP2222*——RVRVRVRVRVRVRVRV——————
Coaches2020*———RVRVRVRVRVRVRV———RVRVRV
CFPNot released—————Not released

Personnel
2020 Utah Utes football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 1 Bryan Thompson Jr
RB 3 Micah Bernard  Fr
WR 3 Tyrone Young-Smith Sr
RB 5 Jordan Wilmore So
RB 6 Devin Brumfield Jr
QB 7 Cameron Rising So
QB 8 Jake Bentley Sr
QB 9 Cooper Justice Fr
WR 10 Money Parks Fr
QB 12 Drew Lisk Sr
QB 14 Carter Robinson  Fr
QB 15 Nick Billoups Fr
WR 17 Devaughn Vele  Fr
WR 18 Britain Covey Jr
WR 21 Solomon Enis Jr
RB 22 Ty Jordan Fr
RB 24 Elvis Vakapuna Fr
WR 25 Kyrese Rowan  Fr
WR 26 Maxwell Cotton  Fr
WR 27 Pierre Moudourou Jr
WR 28 Robbie Colenzo  Fr
WR 29 Sebastian Macaluso  Fr
RB 31 Aaron Tapusoa Sr
QB 34 Bryson Barnes Fr
RB 34 Braedon Wissler Fr
RB 35 Charlie Vincent  Fr
RB 37 Faysal Aden  Fr
TE 39 Joe Ludwig Jr
TE 40 Ali'i Niumatalolo Sr
TE 43 Mufi Hill-Hunt Sr
TE 45 Samson Nacua Sr
OL 50 Orlando Umana Sr
OL 51 Keaton Bills  Fr
OL 53 Johnny Maea So
OL 54 Paul Maile So
OL 55 Nick Ford Jr
OL 60 Shintaro Mann Fr
OL 64 Marist Talavou  Fr
OL 68 Jaren Kump Fr
OL 69 Simi Moala So
OL 70 Hunter Lotulelei Fr
OL 71 Braeden Daniels So
OL 72 Luke Felix-Fualalo  Fr
OL 74 Jaxon Garcia Fr
OL 76 London Bartholomew Sr
OL 77 Bamidele Olaseni Sr
OL 78 Sataoa Laumea  Fr
OL 79 Alex Harrison Fr
TE 80 Brant Kuithe Jr
WR 81 Connor O'Toole Fr
WR 82 Dylan Slavens Jr
WR 83 Cameron Gardner So
WR 84 Dominique Thompson So
TE 85 Soa Rosales  Fr
TE 86 Dalton Kincaid Jr
TE 87 Thomas Yassmin So
TE 88 Branden Anderson Fr
TE 89 Cole Fotheringham Jr
OL 94 Falcon Kaumatule  Fr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 0 Devin Lloyd Jr
CB 2 Aaron Lowe So
CB 3 Drew Rawls  Fr
CB 4 JaTravis Broughton So
CB 5 Caine Savage Fr
S 6 Nate Ritchie Fr
DE 7 Van Fillinger Fr
CB 8 Clark Phillips III Fr
LB 9 Sione Fotu Fr
LB 10 Ethan Calvert Fr
S 10 R. J. Hubert Jr
S 11 Dakota Hansen Jr
DE 12 Tyler Wegis Fr
S 13 Kamo'i Latu Fr
S 14 Ben Renfro Fr
CB 15 Malone Mataele So
S 16 Zemaiah Vaughn Fr
DB 18 Ousmane Doumbia Fr
S 19 Vonte Davis Sr
LB 20 Jeremy Mercier Jr
CB 23 Faybian Marks Fr
CB 25 Kenzel Lawler Fr
S 28 Jake Biggs Fr
LB 29 Nephi Sewell Jr
LB 30 Chris Wilson Fr
CB 31 LaCarea Pleasant-Johnson  Fr
LB 32 Moroni Anae Jr
S 38 Stone Azarcon Jr
DT 41 Hauati Pututau Sr
DE 42 Mika Tafua Jr
DE 44 Xavier Carlton Fr
DE 46 Miki Suguturaga  Fr
LB 47 Rob Bonar Fr
DT 49 Pita Tonga Sr
DT 50 Fua Pututau So
LB 51 Samuelu Elisaia Sr
DE 52 Max Miner Fr
LB 54 Hayden Furey So
LB 55 Andrew Mata'afa So
DE 56 Tyler Gonzalez So
DT 57 Eli Morrow So
DE 58 Junior Tafuna Fr
LB 59 Sione Tuha Fr
DE 65 Tyler Gleed Fr
DE 66 Gavin Nawahine Fr
LB 81 Taniela Pututau Fr
DE 90 Devin Kaufusi Jr
DE 91 Blake Kuithe So
DE 92 Maxs Tupai Sr
DL 93 Semisi Lauaki  Fr
DT 95 Aliki Vimahi Fr
DT 96 Tanoa Togiai Fr
DT 98 Viane Moala Sr
DL 99 Tennessee Pututau Fr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 22 Jordan Noyes Fr
P 33 Ben Lennon So
K 36 Skylar Southam Jr
P 37 Jared March  Fr
LS 48 Noah Rodriguez-Trammell Jr
K/P 61 Tanner Cragun Fr
LS 93 Keegan Markgraf Sr
K 97 Jadon Redding So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
  • Morgan Scalley – Defensive coordinator/safeties
  • Andy Ludwig – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
  • Jim Harding – Assistant head coach/offensive line
  • Sharrieff Shah – Special teams coordinator/cornerbacks
  • Freddie Whittingham – Tight ends/recruiting coordinator
  • Guy Holliday – Wide receivers
  • Kiel McDonald – Running backs
  • Sione Po'uha – Defensive tackles
  • Lewis Powell – Defensive ends
  • Colton Swan – Linebackers
  • Ryan Blakney – Offensive Analyst
  • Vince Conti – Offensive Analyst
  • Ryan Lindley – Offensive Analyst
  • Dom Conti – Special Teams Analyst
  • J. J. Dielman – Offensive Graduate Assistant
  • D. J. Gillins – Offensive Graduate Assistant
  • Justin Mallgrav – Defensive Graduate Assistant
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 4/27/23

Depth chart
†

Game summaries

USC
See also: 2020 USC Trojans football team
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 20 Trojans 3 21 6 3 33
Utes 3 14 0 0 17

At Washington
See also: 2020 Washington Huskies football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Utes 7 14 0 0 21
Huskies 0 0 17 7 24

Oregon State
See also: 2020 Oregon State Beavers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Beavers 0 10 0 14 24
Utes 6 10 7 7 30

At Colorado
See also: 2020 Colorado Buffaloes football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Utes 7 3 14 14 38
No. 21 Buffaloes 0 14 7 0 21

Washington State
See also: 2020 Washington State Cougars football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 7 21 0 0 28
Utes 0 7 14 24 45

References
  1. Pac-12 Conference. "Pac-12 announces resumption of football, basketball & winter sports seasons". Pac-12 Conference. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  2. "Pac-12 Conference postpones all sport competitions through end of calendar year". pac-12.com. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  3. "Pac-12 announces resumption of football, basketball & winter sports seasons". pac-12.com. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  4. Call, Jeff (December 18, 2020). "Utah Utes won't play in bowl game, season finale will be Saturday vs. Washington State". Deseret News. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  5. "2020 Pac-12 Football All-Conference honors and annual awards announced". Pac-12 Conference. December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  6. Bromberg, Nick. "Pac-12 follows Big Ten's lead and won't play non-conference games in 2020". Yahoo News. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  7. "Pac-12 statement on Utah at Arizona State football game". pac-12.com. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  8. "Pac-12 statement on Utah at Washington football game". pac-12.com. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  9. "Pac-12 statement on Washington at Washington State football game". pac-12.com. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  10. "Statement on the Cancellation of Utah's Game Versus Arizona". utahutes.com. November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  11. "Utah Football Game at UCLA is Cancelled". utahutes.com. November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  12. "2020 Pac-12 Football Schedule". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
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