In 2018, the Utes nearly reached the precipice of Pac-12 football achievement, winning the South division title and giving Washington a righteous defensive battle in the Pac-12 championship. In a lot of ways, 2018 was the “we’ve arrived” season for Utah football in the P5 world as they destroyed South division foes Arizona, USC, UCLA, and Colorado, while adding Stanford and Oregon from the North to the body count. It was a collection of sound victories over west coast blue bloods the likes of which hadn’t been seen from the Utes before.

Utah had come close to winning the South in 2015 and 2016, but something was different about 2018. Jealous detractors will tell you that Utah made it to Santa Clara because of weaker division foes, but in actuality Utah had the toughest schedule of any division winner in the country heading into bowl week. Additionally, the schedule didn’t do Utah any favors playing 5 road games in conference to only 4 contests at Rice-Eccles, along with 2 sets of back to back road games.

What was different in 2018 is that a multitude of performance factors that had brought Utah so close on a few different occasions, finally aligned in a single season.

The Offense Finally Put It All Together

The biggest challenge Utah faced when joining the Pac-12 was acclimating the offense to take on P5 defenses week in and week out. Utah started to turn the corner in 2014, and in 2015 Utah’s offense stood out as an efficient red zone threat and elite big play producer in conference play, but they struggled to consistently generate yards from scrimmage, and we saw significant lulls at times. The 2016 Ute offense generated the most offense we’ve seen from Utah in the Pac-12, along with big plays, but they were awful in the red zone. These deficiencies became glaring stumbling blocks that ultimately prevented the Utes from becoming division champions in both seasons.

Turning the page to last season, the Utes’ offense found cumulative success across the core metrics that have defined this offense over the last decade.

First and foremost, the Utes succeeded by producing points in the upper segment of the conference finishing with its highest rank since joining the Pac-12. In all 6 conference wins, Utah scored no less than 30 points, something the 2016 and 2015 teams weren’t able to do. The 2018 Utah offense was average in total offense and plays of 10-yards or more, but they were exceptional at creating big plays(40+ yards) and converting in the red zone. Compared to the 2015 Utah offense, we saw that an average attack in terms of total yardage can still be very productive when it creates a high volume of impact plays. The 2016 offense was also very effective at creating big plays but struggled mightily in the red zone, finishing 6th in the conference in points per game.

The eye-test tells you that the 2018 Utah offense was the best we’ve see in the Pac-12 era at consistently moving the ball, but the numbers behind it solidify the case. Led by quarterback Tyler Huntley, running back Zack Moss, and slot receiver Britain Covey, the Utes finally had upper echelon talents at the skill positions playing at a high level at the same time. The scheme itself focused more on simplicity and optimized play calling specific to personnel at a higher level than we’d seen Utah operate at previously. Even when Huntley and Moss went down, Utah had the depth of talent with Jason Shelley, Armand Shyne, and TJ Green to continue to put up 32 points against Oregon, 30 at Colorado in rough weather(both must win games); and 35 more against BYU in an epic rivalry comeback. It’s also worth noting that Utah had key performers emerge that gave the team it’s most diversely skilled offensive unit since 2008. Freshmen Cole Fotheringham and Brant Kuithe reinvigorated the tight end position, while Samson Nacua emerged as the team’s best red zone receiver, and freshman Jaylon Dixon became one of the best deep threats in the conference.

Looking ahead to 2019, almost all of the last year’s production is returning and it’s reasonable to expect improvement as experience and depth take a step forward. If Huntley and Moss can stay healthy for the whole season the offense will be even more potent and should increase its scoring productivity. The Utes don’t necessarily have to be great at everything on offense, but they do need to be elite at a few core components while being at least average in the others.

It Wasn’t the Just Offense that Took a Step Forward

Utah’s defense has been terrific since joining the Pac-12, but last year it did something it’s never done in the Pac-12 era. Over the last 8 seasons 4 core defensive categories have defined Utah’s defensive success: scoring defense, turnovers forced, sacks, and tackles for loss. Looking back again at the 2015 and 2016 Utah teams, the 2018 Utes’ defense found a way to be comparatively better in those categories.

As great as the Utah defense was in 2015, and to a lesser extent, the 2016 defense; the 2018 Utes had a unit that finished in the top 2 in all 4 core defensive metrics. The 2015 defense was a superior unit but perhaps lacked some of the dynamic athleticism the 2018 defense possessed. To be clear though, the 2015 defense was a conference championship caliber unit. The 2016 defense was similarly productive but wasn’t as stout, barely finishing in the top half of the conference in scoring defense. At times, the 2016 unit was exposed for being more limited in terms of playmaking at linebacker, especially compared to Gionni Paul from the 2015 squad, and Chase Hansen and Cody Barton from the 2018 linebacker corp.

The 2018 defense was one for the ages, loaded with 8 All Pac-12 performers and consisted of the greatest combination of athleticism and skill Utah has had in a defense in the Pac-12 era. The defense as a whole was brimming with disruptive impact players at each level. The defensive line owned the line of scrimmage and often found itself in opposing backfields, led by defensive end Bradlee Anae and tackles Leki Fotu and John Penisini. The linebacker duo of Chase Hansen and Cody Barton were one of the best sets in the country. Both had terrific range and were assignment sound, while wreaking havoc behind the line of scrimmage. The defensive backfield featured some of the best athletes in the conference that challenged opposing passing games with physicality, speed, and great coverage skills. Jaylon Johnson was a lockdown corner on one side of the field, while Julian Blackmon and Javelin Guidry were 1st and 2nd on the team in passes defended. Marquise Blair was the standout free safety known for both covering a lot of ground and destroying offensive players with huge hits all over the field. Overall the defense had no real weakness and the exceptional versatility and talent to compete with any offense.

The 2019 defense looks to be just as good as last year and has a chance to be better. Believe or not, the defensive line should be even better, and the defensive backfield is poised to be more disruptive in the passing game. It’ll be tough for the linebacker group to not take a step back, but it should still very good.

The 2018 season was arguably the best year the Utes have had in the Pac-12, finally putting a lot of the pieces together on offense while being even better on defense. Over time we’ve seen certain metrics define this team and seemingly the Utes have figured out the right personnel and schemes to truly succeed at the P5 level on both sides of the ball.