PlainsUte

10,9,8,7,6…   #6 Justin Medlock and Ricky Parks
Justin Medlock, Freshman LB, 6-0 220
Justin is a true freshman from Missouri City, Texas (a Houston suburb), son of a Texas A&M linebacker Jason Medlock.  This was a big recruiting win for the Utes as Justin was expected to go to Miami.  At Manvel HS he logged 97 tackles (12 TFL), 3.5 sacks, two…[Read more]

10..9..8..7   #7 Cam Rising and Van Fillinger
Cam Rising, Junior QB, 6-2 218
Everyone knows the story of the 2021 season with Cam “Bad Moon” Rising entering for Brewer in the SDSU game and leading the Utes to a Pac-12 Championship.  Overall, for the season, he started 11 games, played in 13, racking up 2493 passing yards (204-320, 12.2 ypc),…[Read more]

10…9…8… #8 Cole Bishop and Brandon Rose
Cole Bishop, Sophomore Safety, 6-2 206
Cole was the Freshman surprise of 2021; as a newcomer he steadily earned more playing time and became a starter for the last 6 games.  In 2021 he had 54 tackles (9.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks) plus 5 pass break-ups.  He also blocked a punt in the first Oregon game.  The…[Read more]

10…9…ignition sequence start…  #9 Elijah Davis and Tavion Thomas
9 Tavion Thomas, Junior RB,  6-2 238
Thomas was Pac-12 All Conference first team in 2021 as a result of leading the Utes in rushing with 204 carries for 1108 yds (5.4 ypc) and 21 TDs (a Utah RB season record).  This year he may get more recognition on the national level…[Read more]

#10 Ethan Calvert and Money Parks 
Ethan Calvert, RS Freshman LB, 6-1 215
Ethan, like his older brother #14 Josh, comes to the Utes from Oaks Christian HS, but unlike his brother he avoided taking a detour to Washington.  He played in one game for the Utes in 2021.  At Oaks Christian Ethan missed senior season due to COVID restrictions, but as a…[Read more]

#11 Makai Cope and R.J. Hubert
Makai Cope, RS Freshman WR, 6-3 195
Hollywood Cope comes from Culver City, California and is studying film and media arts.  On the football field his role is WR and special teams.  At Utah he saw action in 2 games in 2021, both on special teams, so he made that a redshirt year. In High School he grabbed 46 catches…[Read more]

I don’t think he’ll put up gawdy numbers like CJ Stroud, but none-the-less you can wager on Cam Rising for Heisman. He has the same odds as Will Rogers who was an entertaining guy from Oklahoma who died in 1935.  I wish you could bet against players because I’d like to bet against Caleb Williams; at +700 I think that’s nuts, but maybe all the…[Read more]

#12 Tyler Wegis and Sidney Mbanasor
Tyler Wegis, RS Freshman DE, 6-6, 228
Tyler is a DE from who came to Utah in 2020 from Orange County, California. As a senior at San Juan Hills HS, Tyler had 92 total tackles (37.0 TFL, 10.5 sacks), 3 passes defended, 2 fumble recoveries, 3 fumbles forced and a blocked PAT all the way to the 2019 CIF SS…[Read more]

#13 Chase Kennedy and Nate Johnson
Kennedy and Johnson, a famous combo from the 1960s…
Chase Kennedy, Freshman DE, 6-3 223
Kennedy comes to the Utes from Dallas, not from Daley Plaza, but from Episcopal HS where he played RB and DE.  He’s a big play guy on defense who logged 18 tackles for loss, 6 forced fumbles and 2 defensive TDs in his…[Read more]

#14 Josh Calvert, Sophomore LB, 6-2 225
Josh is a transfer from Washington where he suffered an injury in 2019, redshirted, and did not see action in 2020.  He joined the Utes in fall 2021 and appeared in one game, versus Stanford.  Calvert is originally from Oaks Christian HS in Westlake Village (NW of Los Angeles), California.  At Oaks…[Read more]

Still catching-up on the countdown…  number 15 today…
#15 Tiquan Gilmore, Junior WR, 5-11 180
Gilmore is a JUCO transfer from College of the Canyons, in Santa Clarita, California (North Los Angeles County).  He logged 45 catches for 950 yards (21.1 ypc) and 15 TDs over two seasons for the Cougars.  He was rated the #7 JUCO WR in 2022 by…[Read more]

Utah Jersey #16: Bryson Barnes and Zemaiah Vaughn
Belated daily countdown from Thursday (sorry, real life tasks are kicking me hard right now)…
16 Bryson Barnes, Sophomore QB, 6-1 206
Ute fans will remember Bryson coming in for Cam Rising in the 4th Q during the Rose Bowl; he did a great job leading that drive for the Utes’ final TD (2-2…[Read more]

#17 Devaughn Vele and Clayton Isbell
Devaughn Vele, Sophomore WR, 6-5, 205
Vele is one the most electric returning members of the Ute offense.  He played in 14 games in 2021, starting in 6, after playing in all 5 games of 2020, was originally a walk-on from Rancho Bernardo HS in San Diego, California.  Although he hasn’t had a large number of…[Read more]

#18 Luke Bottari, Junior QB, 5-10 205
Luke is a JUCO transfer from the College of San Mateo (CSM) in San Mateo, California.   While at CSM Luke set the school record for career passing TDs (46) while throwing for 4673 yards and leading the Bulldogs to the Conference Championship in his first year (2019).   He also set 8 passing records as a high…[Read more]

#19 Luca Caldarella and Bryson Reeves
Luca Caldarella, Sophomore WR, 6-3, 194
Luca is a JUCO transfer from Cerritos College in California.  He played one season, 2021, at Cerritos, grabbing 35 receptions for 482 yards and 7 TDs.  He had 3-TD, 109 yard game vs Southwestern.  As a newcomer to Utah, I expect he will be on the scout team or perhaps…[Read more]

#20 Lander Barton and Jett Meine
#20 Lander Barton, Freshman LB, 6-4, 230
Lander comes from an all-Ute all-star athlete family, from his parents to his brothers Cody (Utah LB 2015-19, Seattle Seahawks) and Jackson (Utah OL 2014-18, LV Raiders) and sister Dani (Utah Volleyball star 2017-21).  He is a 4-star recruit, High School All-American from…[Read more]

3 weeks!  #21 Solomon Enis and Karene Reid
#21 Solomon Enis, Senior WR, 6-3 203
Solomon has grown into one of the Utes’ leading WR.  In 2021 he had 22 receptions for 248 yards (11.3 ypc) and 1 TD.  Over his career at Utah he has caught 60 passes and scored 3 TDs.  He’s also been on Pac-12 honor roll since his sophomore year.  He graduated in May…[Read more]

#22Forever


 

#23 Faybian Marks, Sophomore CB, 5-10 189
While Faybian’s brothers played football at Alabama (Xavian reserve WR, KR 2015-18, Torin scout team DB 2015-16), he chose to come to Utah from Richardson, Texas (outlying suburb of Houston).   At George Rach HS he competed as a DB, WR and KR as well as on the track team.   His senior year he caught 2…[Read more]

Two-fer today … going to become a regular feature…
#24 Chris Curry, Junior RB, 5-11 220
Chris is a transfer from LSU (SEC, SEC, SEC …)  who had a reserve role with the Utes last year, playing in 9 games with 18 carries for 90 yards (4.4 ypc).   At LSU (2018-20) he logged 91 career carries for 336 yards (3.7 ypc) with four catches for 33…[Read more]