# 2017 Utah Utes football team

The 2017 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by thirteenth-year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. They competed as members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 7–6, 3–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in fifth place in the South Division. They were invited to the Heart of Dallas Bowl where they defeated West Virginia.

## Schedule

Utah announced their 2017 football schedule on January 18, 2017. The Utes played FCS North Dakota, in-state rival BYU, and San Jose State in out-of-conference play. In Pac-12 conference play, the Utes did not play cross-divisional foes California and Oregon State.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 5:30 p.m. | No. 8 (FCS) North Dakota* | | Rice-Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | P12N | W 37–16 | 45,905 |
| September 9 | 8:15 p.m. | at BYU* | | LaVell Edwards StadiumProvo, UT (Holy War/Beehive Boot) | ESPN2 | W 19–13 | 63,470 |
| September 16 | 8:00 p.m. | San Jose State* | | Rice-Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | ESPN2 | W 54–16 | 45,881 |
| September 22 | 8:00 p.m. | at Arizona | No. 23 | Arizona StadiumTucson, AZ | FS1 | W 30–24 | 36,651 |
| October 7 | 8:15 p.m. | Stanford | No. 20 | Rice-Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | FS1 | L 20–23 | 45,991 |
| October 14 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 13 USC | | Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA | ABC | L 27–28 | 72,382 |
| October 21 | 1:30 p.m. | Arizona State | | Rice-Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | FS1 | L 10–30 | 45,863 |
| October 28 | 3:45 p.m. | at Oregon | | Autzen StadiumEugene, OR | P12N | L 20–41 | 56,154 |
| November 3 | 7:30 p.m. | UCLA | | Rice-Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | FS1 | W 48–17 | 45,902 |
| November 11 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 19 Washington State | | Rice-Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | P12N | L 25–33 | 45,826 |
| November 18 | 7:30 p.m. | at No. 16 Washington | | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | ESPN | L 30–33 | 65,767 |
| November 25 | 8:00 p.m. | Colorado | | Rice-Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT (Rumble in the Rockies) | FS1 | W 34–13 | 46,022 |
| December 26 | 11:30 a.m. | vs. West Virginia* | | Cotton BowlDallas, TX (Heart of Dallas Bowl) | ESPN | W 30–14 | 20,507 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||
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## Game summaries
### North Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #8 (FCS) Fighting Hawks | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 16 |
| Utes | 0 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 37 |

### At BYU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Utes | 3 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 19 |
| Cougars | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 13 |

### San Jose State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 3 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| Utes | 9 | 21 | 7 | 17 | 54 |

### At Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #23 Utes | 10 | 3 | 14 | 3 | 30 |
| Wildcats | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

### Stanford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cardinal | 3 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 23 |
| #20 Utes | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 20 |

### At USC

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Utes | 7 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 27 |
| #13 Trojans | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

### Arizona State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sun Devils | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 30 |
| Utes | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |

### At Oregon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Utes | 0 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 20 |
| Ducks | 7 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 41 |

### UCLA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bruins | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Utes | 7 | 10 | 21 | 10 | 48 |

### Washington State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #19 Cougars | 13 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 33 |
| Utes | 0 | 10 | 0 | 15 | 25 |

### At Washington

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Utes | 7 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 30 |
| #16 Huskies | 6 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 33 |

### Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buffaloes | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Utes | 14 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 34 |

### Vs. West Virginia (Heart of Dallas Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountaineers | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 14 |
| Utes | 7 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 30 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 20 | 20 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | 25 | 23 | 24 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 23 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |

## Coaching staff

| Name | Title | Years at Utah |
| Kyle Whittingham | Head coach | 13 |
| Morgan Scalley | Defensive coordinator/safeties coach | 10 |
| Troy Taylor | Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach | 1 |
| Jim Harding | Assistant head coach/offensive line coach | 4 |
| Sharrieff Shah | Cornerbacks coach/co-Special teams coordinator | 6 |
| Justin Ena | Linebackers coach/co-Special teams coordinator | 3 |
| Lewis Powell | Defensive line coach | 3 |
| Freddie Whittingham | Tight ends coach | 1 |
| Guy Holliday | Wide receivers coach | 2 |
| Kiel McDonald | Running backs coach | 1 |
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