# 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.
On August 11, 2020, the Pac-12 suspended all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.
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. 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.

## 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.
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. The Pac-12 then announced that Utah would instead play at Washington on November 28; the Huskies' scheduled game at Washington State had also been canceled after Washington State had a COVID-19 outbreak.
Original 2020 Utah Utes schedule :
| Date | Opponent | Site |
| September 3 | BYU* | Rice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT (Holy War) |
| September 12 | Montana State* | Rice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT |
| September 19 | at Wyoming* | War Memorial Stadium • Laramie, WY |
| September 26 | at California | California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA |
| October 2 | USC | Rice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT |
| October 10 | at Washington State | Martin Stadium • Pullman, WA |
| October 17 | Washington | Rice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT |
| October 29 | at UCLA | Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA |
| November 7 | Arizona | Rice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 14 | Oregon State | Rice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 21 | at Arizona State | Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ |
| November 28 | at Colorado | Folsom Field • Boulder, CO (Rumble in the Rockies) |
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| November 7 | 1:30 p.m. | Arizona | Rice–Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | ESPN2 | No Contest | |
| November 14 | 8:30 p.m. | at UCLA | Rose BowlPasadena, CA | FOX | No Contest | |
| November 21 | 8:30 p.m. | No. 20 USC | Rice–Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | ESPN | L 17–33 | 0 |
| November 28 | 5:30 p.m. | at Washington | Husky StadiumSeattle, WA | ABC | L 21–24 | 259 |
| December 5 | 8:30 p.m. | Oregon State | Rice–Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | ESPN | W 30–24 | 0 |
| December 12 | 10:00 a.m. | at No. 21 Colorado | Folsom FieldBoulder, CO (Rumble in the Rockies) | FOX | W 38–21 | 0 |
| December 19 | 11:30 a.m. | Washington State | Rice–Eccles StadiumSalt Lake City, UT | FS1 | W 45–28 | 0 |
| Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 24 released prior to gameAll times are in Mountain time ||||||||

## 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 | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | 22 | 22* | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | 20 | 20* | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |

## Depth chart

Defense :
* CB
* CB
Offense :
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
* QB
* Special teams

## Game summaries
### USC

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 Trojans | 3 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 33 |
| Utes | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah
* Date: November 21, 2020
* Game time: 7:30 p.m. PST
* Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C) Mostly Clear, Humidity at 58%
* Game attendance: 0
* TV announcers (ESPN): Dave Flemming, Rod Gilmore, Stormy Buonantony
Game information :
1st Quarter
Utah (9:07) – #97 Jadon Redding kicks a 36 yard field goal – Utah 3–0
USC (5:17) – #48 Parker Lewis kicks a 35 yard field goal – Tied 3–3
2nd Quarter
USC (14:04) – #29 Vavae Malepeai runs for a 2 yard TD (#48 Parker Lewis kick) – USC 10–3
Utah (11:53) – #29 Nephi Sewell recovered a fumble for a 23 yard TD (#97 Jadon Redding kick) – Tied 10–10
USC (9:28) – #9 Kedon Slovis to #21 Isaiah Pola-Mao for a 8 yard pass TD (#48 Parker Lewis kick) – USC 17–10
USC (5:45) – #9 Kedon Slovis to #84 Erik Krommenhoek for a 10 yard pass TD (#48 Parker Lewis kick) – USC 24–10
Utah (0:49) – #8 Jake Bentley to #45 Samson Nacua for a 7 yard pass TD (#97 Jadon Redding kick) – USC 24–17
3rd Quarter
USC (9:32) – #48 Parker Lewis kicks a 44 yard field goal – USC 27–17
USC (4:47) – #48 Parker Lewis kicks a 43 yard field goal – USC 30–17
4th Quarter
USC (1:03) – #48 Parker Lewis kicks a 47 yard field goal – USC 33–17
Passing
USC – #9 Kedon Slovis 17/28 217 yds 2 touchdowns 1 interception
Utah – #7 Cameron Rising 3/6 45 yds, 0 touchdowns, 1 Interception #8 Jake Bentley 4/8 41 yds 1 touchdown 0 interception
Rushing
USC – #29 Vavae Malepeai 13 Att, 55 yds, 1 touchdown
Utah – #8 Jake Bentley 2 Att, 33 yds, 0 touchdown
Receiving
USC – #21 Tyler Vaughns 4 Rec, 62 yds, 1 touchdown
Utah – #21 Ty Jordan 1 Rec, 21 yds, 0 touchdown :

### At Washington

Due to Arizona State not having the minimum number of scholarship players available due to positive COVID-19 tests Utah was rescheduled to play at Washington.
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Utes | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Huskies | 0 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 24 |
at Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA
* Date: November 28, 2020
* Game time: 4:30 p.m. PST
* Game weather: 47 °F (8 °C) • Mostly Cloudy• Wind @ 0 mph (0 km/h)
* Game attendance: 259
* Referee: Mark Duddy
* TV announcers (ABC): Beth Mowins, Kirk Morrison, and Stormy Buonantony

### Oregon State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Beavers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 24 |
| Utes | 6 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 30 |
at Rice-Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, Utah
* Date: December 5, 2020
* Game time: 8:30 p.m. MST
* Game weather: Clear, 30 °F (−1 °C)
* Game attendance: 0
* Referee: Mike McCabe
* TV: ESPN
* Reference
Game information :
First quarter
UTAH – Jadon Redding 33-yard field goal, 10:21. Utah 3–0. Drive: 9 plays, 60 yards, 4:39.
UTAH – Jadon Redding 20-yard field goal, 6:50. Utah 6–0. Drive: 4 plays, 8 yards, 1:31.
Second quarter
UTAH – Jadon Redding 27-yard field goal, 12:27. Utah 9–0. Drive: 11 plays, 60 yards, 5:12.
OSU – Everett Hayes 33-yard field goal, 9:16. Utah 9–3. Drive: 7 plays, 54 yards, 3:05.
UTAH – Ty Jordan 1-yard run (Jadon Redding kick), 3:10. Utah 16–3. Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 6:06.
OSU – Calvin Tyler Jr. 1-yard run (Everett Hayes kick), 0:50. Utah 16–10. Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 2:20.
Third quarter
UTAH – Britain Covey 8-yard pass from Jake Bentley (Jadon Redding kick), 6:22. Utah 23–10. Drive: 14 plays, 89 yards, 7:45.
Fourth quarter
UTAH – Britain Covey 64-yard punt return (Jadon Redding kick), 14:37. Utah 30–10.
OSU – Calvin Tyler Jr. 6-yard run (Everett Hayes kick), 11:50. Utah 30–17. Drive: 8 plays, 65 yards, 2:41.
OSU – Kolby Taylor 21-yard pass from Chance Nolan (Everett Hayes kick), 5:07. Utah 30–24. Drive: 9 plays, 61 yards, 2:11.
Top passers
OSU – Chance Nolan – 20/38, 202 yards, TD, INT
UTAH – Jake Bentley – 18/27, 174 yards, TD
Top rushers
OSU – Jack Colletto – 1 rush, 40 yards
UTAH – Ty Jordan – 27 rushes, 167 yards, TD
Top receivers
OSU – Tyjon Lindsey – 3 receptions, 37 yards
UTAH – Brant Kuithe – 8 receptions, 76 yards :

### At Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Utes | 7 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 38 |
| No. 21 Buffaloes | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |

### Washington State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cougars | 7 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Utes | 0 | 7 | 14 | 24 | 45 |
at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah
* Date: December 19, 2020
* Game time: 10:30 a.m. PST
* Game weather: Partly cloudy, 38 °F (3 °C)
* Game attendance: 0
* Referee: Mark Duddy
* TV: FS1
Game information :
First Quarter
WSU – Max Borghi 8-yard run (Blake Mazza kick), 4:34. Washington State 7–0. Drive: 7 plays, 57 yards, 4:26.
Second Quarter
WSU – Deon McIntosh 11-yard run (Blake Mazza kick), 8:31. Washington State 14–0. Drive: 7 plays, 88 yards, 4:01.
UTAH – Britain Covey 91-yard pass from Jake Bentley (Jadon Redding kick), 3:37. Washington State 14–7. Drive: 3 plays, 95 yards, 0:58.
WSU – Jamire Calvin 8-yard pass from Jayden de Laura (Blake Mazza kick), 1:51. Washington State 21–7. Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:46.
WSU – Jayden de Laura 3-yard run (Blake Mazza kick), 1:21. Washington State 28–7. Drive: 1 play, 3 yards, 0:04.
Third Quarter
UTAH – Ty Jordan 5-yard run (Jadon Redding kick), 6:09. Washington State 28–14. Drive: 9 plays, 81 yards, 4:39.
UTAH – Bryan Thompson 9-yard run (Jadon Redding kick), 0:55. Washington State 28–21. Drive: 8 plays, 68 yards, 3:38.
Fourth Quarter
UTAH – Ty Jordan 33-yard run (Jadon Redding kick), 12:01. Tied 28–28. Drive: 7 plays, 70 yards, 2:15.
UTAH – Ty Jordan 13-yard run (Jadon Redding kick), 6:29. Utah 35–28. Drive: 2 plays, 13 yards, 0:12.
UTAH – Jadon Redding 44-yard field goal, 2:37. Utah 38–28. Drive: 7 plays, 30 yards, 3:37.
UTAH – Clark Phillips III 36-yard interception return (Jadon Redding kick), 2:06. Utah 45–28.
Top passers
WSU – Jayden de Laura – 17/28, 204 yards, TD, int
UTAH – Jake Bentley – 7/14, 153 yards, TD, int
Top rushers
WSU – Max Borghi – 10 rushes, 95 yards, TD
UTAH – Ty Jordan – 22 rushes, 154 yards, 3 TD
Top receivers
WSU – Jamire Calvin – 7 receptions, 104 yards, TD
UTAH – Britain Covey – 6 receptions, 134 yards, TD :