What are your feelings on Utah as a team, Utah as a fanbase, Utah as the setting for a South Park-style musical? Also, make your early picks!
Vincent S: I'm too nervous to provide a final score prediction. Utah matches up very well against us, so I hope that Lasco is 100%, Goff has a wonderful game, Kragen and the defense are good to go, and the offense and defense put together complete games at the same time.
A.W. Johnston: "Hello, my name is Elder price. And I would like to share with you the most amazing book". Best musical ever. Utah is a great place with a growing tech scene and wonderful mountains for snowboarding, what's not to like? They look great this season and I look forward to seeing how we handle a big road test Saturday night.
Nick Kranz: GRRR I HATE UTAH, OUR BITTER RIVALS FOR NIGH ON FOUR YEARS! WHO WILL EVER FORGET WHEN 7-6 CAL BEAT 8-5 UTAH IN FRONT OF A ROLLICKING CROWD AT AT&T PARK?!
You know, it's nice to actually have a meaningful game coming up against one of our new conference members. Right now, about all I know about Utah as a fanbase/program is that they have an impressively loud, occasionally premature student section, and Alex Smith beat Reggie Robertson/Aaron Rodgers that one time.
As for the game and the match-up . . . I'm not feeling optimistic. Cal's offense has struggled (relative to expectations) against defenses weaker than Utah's defense. I'm really worried that Cal's line will simply be overwhelmed, to the point where Cal's defense, improved as they are, won't be able to keep things close. And that's before getting into special teams, which is likely to be a big plus for Utah. If I'm being 100% neutral, I'd go with a final score around 34-23. But college football is weird, and the sample sizes are still very small and potentially deceptive for both teams. Who the hell knows?
Piotr T Le: Utah as a team - they are my play-off team pick. Great defense and a good offense that does not make mistakes. That is a recipe for a championship team. Plus Alex Smith is still my favorite NFL player.
Utah as a fanbase - no idea... I never met any.
Utah as a setting for a musical - why not?
Early picks - Utah is going to physically overwhelm its way through the Pac-12, go to the play-offs and be in the Natty game. Cal will go to a good 8-4/7-5 team bowl where Goff will put an exclamation mark on his Cal career with a 35/52 577 yard 6TD game.
KWBears: Utah as a team = eh, I like their Under Armour gear. Utah as a fanbase = eh, they all probably wish they went to BYU is my only guess. Utah for a South Park musical = lots of Mormon jokes. My (honest) game prediction = Utah wins by around 7 points.
Alex Ghenis: I honestly have the least emotional connection to Utah (and Colorado) out of all the Pac-12 teams. Chock it up to having started school before they joined the conference, or their strange disconnect from having traditional in-conference rivalries/pairs. So largely ambivalent.
One thing about Utah, though, is that I have a bit more respect for their program and what Wittingham has done, than with any other P12 team. The undefeated 2008 season was an exclamation point for non-P5 teams, though their recent success (or lack thereof) is a bit meh. Either way, props for their past successes and stepping up to the big leagues after years of MWC dominance.
atomsareenough: Utah is a team that is solid on offense, and potentially elite on defense and special teams. Beating them, especially in Rice-Eccles, will be extremely challenging, especially with the Utes coming off a bye week rested and probably with some extra wrinkles added. I think this is Utah by 2 scores, but if our offense really comes to play this week, who knows.
Nik Jam: The only Cal home game I missed since I became a student in 2009 was the Utah game in 2011. It sucked to miss it as that's Cal's only win in Utah in the last decade, but it was okay at the time because I still didn't consider Utah a conference rival. Now that they've really found a place in the Pac-12 hierarchy, I hope it can be a fun all-time series. I have no opinion on their fanbase or campus. Although it won't happen this year, hopefully four years from now (or five) I can take my first trip to Salt Lake City and the University of Utah campus.
Cal and Utah should have a spirited fun game, and I think it could be as high scoring as the Texas game this year. I'm not anticipating Cal getting it handed to them, although it could very well happen. I think Utah has more experience in tough games this year and it'll ultimately decide the game. If Cal wins, it'll probably mean that they were successful with a trick play or two and also got some lucky bounces. Utah by 14.