Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt Has High Praise For Utah Football
Aug 23, 2023, 12:58 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt had some high praise for the Utes as he revealed his Preseason Top-25- sighting “death, taxes, and Utah football”.
Klatt placed Utah just outside of his of his Top 10 at No. 11 behind Pac-12 conference-mates Washington at No. 6 and USC at No. 8.
The college football analyst noted the lone question mark for the Utes is quarterback Cam Rising’s health, but regardless, Utah presents a problem for the more “blue chip” teams in the Pac-12 due to the consistency of head coach Kyle Whittingham.
"Utah's not going anywhere and they present a hell of a problem…" @joelklatt 🤝 https://t.co/hQjdIWtT4i pic.twitter.com/QgCmfIYKXi
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 23, 2023
Joel Klatt’s Thoughts On The Utes
Klatt pulled no punches stating flatly he loves pretty much everything about Utah from the coaches, players, and the culture they have built. While there are some questions remaining about starting quarterback Cam Rising’s availability, Klatt is high on what the Utes bring to the table in 2023.
“Love Utah,” Klatt said. “Love Kyle Whittingham, love what they represent. Their biggest question is Cam Rising and his health. If Cam Rising comes back and is healthy- which he should be- he obviously tore his knee up in the Rose Bowl, let’s hope he gets back to full-strength. But this is going to be an excellent team- just like they have been for the last few years winning the Pac-12 and going to the Rose Bowl.”
“This is a team that is incredibly consistent year after year,” Klatt continued of his praise. “They win big games; they won the conference back-to-back.”
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Don’t Let The Defense Fool You, Utah Is An Offensive Team
Klatt went on to acknowledge Utah’s reputation for top-defenses, and a tough, “ram-it-down-your-throat” style of offense with the run game but also pointed out something that may be surprising to a lot of college football fans. Utah can put points up with the best of them.
“I used to believe they had to win with the run game and defense,” Klatt said. “You look at the stats- they scored 38.5 points last year per game. That’s 11th in the country. Just to give you some sense of where that fell- Washington- offensive juggernaut posted 39.5. TCU, great year, lost the National Championship- 38.8 right there. Those two teams you would say were offensive teams. Utah was right there. They’ve figured some things out on that side of the ball and I’m in. Death, taxes, and Utah football.”
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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