# Utah Utes

Big 12 · Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, UT
Head coach: Morgan Scalley · year 2 · 1-0 career over 2 seasons, all at UTAH
Offense: Multiple · Defense: 4-2-5

## 2026 outlook

- 2025 record: 11-2 (7-2 in conference), final AP rank #14
- National title odds: +17500 (#26 on the futures board)
- Season win total: 8.5 (over priced -132)
- Returning starter games: 44%
- Schedule difficulty: 64th-hardest of 138 FBS teams

## Returning production by unit

| Unit | Returning games | Games back | Depth back |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Skill offense | 34% | 25/73 | 10/17 |
| Offensive line | 79% | 50/63 | 6/8 |
| Defensive front | 30% | 26/86 | 11/19 |
| Secondary | 40% | 26/65 | 6/12 |

## Roster movement

- Key returning: Devon Dampier (QB), Jackson Bennee (SAF), Elijah Davis (CB), Zereoue Williams (OL), Reece Parmenter (OL)
- Key departures (with destination): John Henry Daley (DE) – MICH, Tao Johnson (DB) – UCLA, Smith Snowden (CB) – MICH, Michael Mokofisi (OL), Logan Fano (DE)
- Key arrivals (with previous school): Braden Pegan (WR) – USU, Kyri Shoels (WR) – SJSU, Steve Chavez-Soto (RB) – SJSU, Brandon Rose (QB) – MASS, Ethan Day (DE) – UNT

## Depth chart

### Offense

- WR-X: Larry Simmons, Tobias Merriweather, Daidren Zipperer
- WR-Z: Braden Pegan, Ricky Johnson
- WR-SL: Kyri Shoels, Creed Whittemore
- LT: Zereoue Williams, Kelvin Obot
- LG: Solatoa Moea'i, Reece Parmenter
- C: Alex Harrison, Isaiah Kema
- RG: Keith Olson, Roger Alderman
- RT: Cedric Jefferson, Isaiah Garcia
- TE: Hunter Andrews, Noah Bennee, Will Monney, Semi Taulanga, Sione Motuapuaka
- QB: Devon Dampier, Byrd Ficklin
- RB: Wayshawn Parker, Daniel Bray, Steve Chavez-Soto, LaMarcus Bell

### Defense

- LDE: Lance Holtzclaw, Paul Fitzgerald
- LDT: Karson Kaufusi, Jireh Moe, Jamal Wallace
- RDT: Pupu Sepulona, Lucas Samsula, Mike Tauteoli
- RDE: Ethan Day, Kash Dillon, Alex Cloward
- ROVER: Cyrus Polu, Trey Reynolds, Brock Fonoimoana
- MAC: Johnathan Hall, Elijah Elliss, Tayson Reid
- LCB: Elijah Davis, JC Hart
- SS: Rabbit Evans, Nate Tilmon
- FS: Nate Ritchie, Jackson Bennee, Marcus Wimberly
- RCB: Elijah Reed, James Chenault
- NB: Rock Caldwell

### Special Teams

- PT: Orion Phillips
- PK: Dillon Curtis, Tanner Cragun
- KO: Dillon Curtis, Tanner Cragun
- LS: Logan Castor, Charlie King
- H: Orion Phillips
- PR: Mana Carvalho
- KR: Daniel Bray

## 2026 schedule

| Week | Opponent | Site | TV | Spread |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Idaho Vandals (FCS) | Home | ESPNU | UTAH -34.5 |
| 2 | Arkansas | Home | ESPN | UTAH -7.5 |
| 3 | Utah State | Home | FOX | – |
| 4 | Iowa State | Away | – | – |
| 6 | Kansas | Home | – | – |
| 7 | Colorado | Away | – | – |
| 8 | Houston | Home | – | – |
| 9 | Cincinnati | Away | – | – |
| 10 | BYU | Home | – | – |
| 11 | Arizona | Away | – | – |
| 12 | TCU | Away | – | – |
| 13 | West Virginia | Home | FOX | – |

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Source: SharpData OS – https://www.sharpdataos.com/cfb/teams/utah
Depth chart updated 2026-08-11. Odds shown are point-in-time snapshots.