The University of Utah football team has received plenty of coverage during the Pac-12 media days. One such story came from Los Angeles Times writer Jesse Dougherty quoted coach Kyle Whittingham often in focusing on the Utes talent improvement since joining the conference.
"Kyle Whittingham thinks his team finally has caught up to the competition all over the field," wrote Dougherty.
Followed up by a great line from Whittingham: “I think that was manifest last year, particularly in the secondary, where I think we were second or third in interceptions. When we went into the league, there were mismatches most weeks in the secondary, and we don’t feel that’s the case anymore."
Utah’s offensive line comes into focus
Lindsay Schnell of Sports Illustrated covered a different angle of the Utes during media day, focusing on the experienced offensive line and what it could mean for Utah's chances in the Pac-12 this season.
When talking about Utah's potential to be Pac-12 champs Schnell wrote, "But as it turns out, the Utes are in the perfect situation to do so — because they return all the guys who are charged with protecting the quarterback and running back."
Can BYU stay on the winning track in the face of a tough 2016 schedule?
In a story by 247Sports, Christian Corona takes a look at why the Cougars' projected win total isn't higher after being consistently successful over the last decade. He writes, "BYU doesn’t play a single team in the preseason model’s Top 20 but it does play six Top 50 teams — all in its first nine games. Each of those first nine contests are projected to be decided by 10.5 points or fewer, with six of them projected to be decided by 5.5 points or fewer."
Corona continues, "BYU is projected to be a double-digit favorite in each of its last three games. But the Cougars are projected to have just a 4-5 record going into that three-game home stretch. It also doesn't help that head coach Bronco Mendenhall, who won 99 games in 11 years there, left to be the head coach at Virginia. Unless they can outperform the preseason projections early on in the season, they might have some trouble making it 11 straight seven-win seasons."
Jay Yeomans is a sports writer for Deseretnews.com. Contact him at jmoney34@hotmail.com. Twitter: @jmoney3334