It might be hard to believe, but Utah is in an unenviable position as it heads into spring football practice on March 8.Yes, the Utes are making a much-anticipated move to the Pac-12, becoming the first non-AQ to make the jump to an AQ league since 2005, but they're doing so with no starting running back, no starters returning in the secondary, a new offensive coordinator and system, and a starting quarterback who's on the shelf because of shoulder surgery.
It's not the way coach Kyle Whittingham envisioned his entrance onto the Pac-12 stage.
Utah is 4-3 against the old Pac-10 since Whittingham took over in 2005. But those games were either bowl or non-conference games that were easy to get up for. Preparing the Utes to face the caliber of talent they will see in the Pac-12 game in and game out is going to take some time and some strong recruiting.
"I think depth is probably the factor there," Whittingham said. "When you're talking about playing the physical teams that we'll be playing week in and week out, I think your depth of your squad is going to become even more important than it was in the Mountain West Conference. I think that, really, in my opinion, is what separates conference from conference is the overall talent of your roster from one to 85. In my opinion, the teams in the Pac-12 have more depth on their rosters than what you find in the Mountain West Conference."
Whittingham, his staff and his players have spent countless hours watching film of various Pac-12 members, trying to establish tendencies, trends and see just where the Utes need to get better. One of those areas was offense, so Whittingham brought in former UCLA and USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow. Last season, the Utes went from averaging 45 points per game in the first eight games to just 11 in the final five.
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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2011/02/23/utah-readies-for-transition-to-pac-12/
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