Utes Rose Bowl Foe Makes College GameDay Pick For Utah Vs. USC

LOS ANGELES – A familiar face made helped make picks for the Utah versus USC game this morning on ESPN’s College GameDay.

C.J. Stroud was on hand as the guest picker and played against the Utes in their first-ever Rose Bowl appearance. Stroud was also highly recruited by Utah out of high school.

Adding to the irony?

Ohio State is playing Utah’s other Rose Bowl opponent today, Penn State.

Unfortunately, while Stroud had high praise for Utah’s defense, he picked in favor of the Trojans along with Desmond Howard, Pat McAffee, and Lee Corso. The lone pick for the Utes came from Kirk Herbstreit who felt Utah’s defense could be a problem for Caleb Williams.

A former #RoseBowl foe for the #Utes helps make the pick on @CollegeGameDay for #UtahVsUSC.

What do you all think? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/6OnroF7MLk

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 21, 2023

More Utah Football College GameDay News: The Pig Farmer Vs. The Heisman Winner

To no one’s surprise, Pete Thamel reported on College GameDay that Utah will once again be rolling with backup quarterback Bryson Barnes against USC.

Barnes started for the Utes last week against Cal in place of redshirt freshman quarterback Nate Johnson and seemed to help spark some offense with the help of safety Sione Vaki and running back Ja’Quinden Jackson.

Utah has been hopefully waiting for the triumphant return of starter Cam Rising, but, according to Thamel, it sounds like conversations are beginning to shift to Rising potentially taking a medical redshirt to return next season. Rising suffered a torn ACL plus a few other things in Utah’s Rose Bowl loss to Penn State earlier this year.

Not a surprise here. @PeteThamel on @CollegeGameDay reporting Bryson Barnes will start today against USC.

Also reported convos around Cam Rising are shifting to taking a medical redshirt for next season. #Utes pic.twitter.com/7cfWmGatGa

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) October 21, 2023

Barnes came to notoriety in the college football world in the Utes’ 2022 Rose Bowl appearance against Ohio State when he came in for Rising after he suffered a concussion. Barnes quickly threw a go-ahead touchdown to tight end Dalton Kincaid that got everyone’s attention.

Unfortunately for Utah, there was too much time left on the clock and the Buckeyes were able to march down the field and kick a game winning field goal.

Barnes and the Utes will be hoping for a much different outcome against the Trojans and the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Caleb Williams later this evening.

Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports

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