BYU and Utah are headed into the 2026 season with the kind of pressure that can only come from an offseason packed with drama and expectations. Both teams are ranked in the AP preseason top 25 - BYU tied for 14th, Utah 21st - and both are being talked about as Big 12 championship contenders. Now the noise has to turn into results.
The Cougars open Sept. 5 against Utah Tech, while the Utes start Sept. 3 against Idaho. So much for a gentle landing. The first week of September gives both teams a tune-up, but it also starts the clock on a season where nearly every major storyline is already hanging in the air.
For BYU, the biggest question is whether the offense can keep humming after losing wide receiver Parker Kingston, just as it survived the departure of quarterback Jake Retzlaff last season. That loss looked like trouble at the time, but it opened the door for freshman Bear Bachmeier, who became the revelation of the year.
Bachmeier’s numbers told the story: 3,000 passing yards, a 65% completion rate, plus another 500 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. The Cougars will go only as far as he takes them.
Kalani Sitake has earned the benefit of the doubt. Over the last two seasons, he’s gone 23-4, a stretch that put him on the radar of bigger jobs and nearly cost BYU its coach in the offseason.
Penn State came close, BYU scrambled with an emergency meeting, and Sitake got a raise. Now he’s making it clear he wants more than that for the program itself.
In a radio interview with Ben Criddle, he said, “ We’ve been given the challenge of doing the most with the least. ... If we get an even playing field with that stuff, I should be able to do more.”
That financial issue sits right alongside the other major BYU storyline: how the team responds after losing another star offensive player, this time Parker Kingston, after a second straight offseason in which a player accused of rape is no longer with the program.
Utah’s side of the ledger is just as loaded. For the first time in 22 years, the Utes have a new head coach, with Morgan Scalley taking over after Kyle Whittingham’s exit.
The move brought the kind of end-of-era tension that doesn’t disappear just because the calendar flips. Whittingham won 10 games last season, but the school and Scalley wanted to move on anyway.
If Utah doesn’t get to nine or 10 wins, the questions about that decision will only get louder.
Whittingham’s own new chapter at Michigan will be part of the 2026 conversation too. He arrived after taking several Utah players and coaches with him, and the reporting around his departure suggests he didn’t exactly make the transition smooth.
Michigan itself is dealing with a long list of problems: a former coach fired for an affair with a staffer, an athletic director set to resign at year’s end, a co-offensive coordinator accused of hacking into the computers of more than 3,000 students and fired, plus NCAA punishment in two separate cases, including the sign-stealing scandal. If Whittingham is going to bring order there, the bar is clear: 10 wins, a victory over Ohio State, or a conference title.
Back in Salt Lake City, one of the biggest football questions is whether the new era brings a little more balance to the offense. Utah has gone 13 years without a 1,000-yard receiver, and the program’s all-time receiving leaderboard still looks like a time capsule.
Bryan Rowley, who played from 1989 to 1993, remains No. 1.
Kevin Dyson is No. 2, and he last played for Utah in 1997. Even Steve Smith, one of the best wide receivers ever to play in the NFL, never topped 43 catches in a season there.
The Utes have long leaned on running backs and tight ends, and the offense has stayed ultra conservative.
The quarterback room gives Utah one more intriguing angle. Devon Dampier, a senior, threw for 2,490 yards and 24 touchdowns while adding 835 rushing yards.
But sophomore Byrd Ficklin flashed in limited action and chose to stay rather than transfer. “You can’t just ditch your own family.”
Ficklin turned 61 rushing attempts into 513 yards and 10 touchdowns, and his burst drew a comparison to Britain Covey for the way he can plant and explode the other direction.
After an offseason that kept delivering one twist after another, BYU and Utah finally get to play football again. And this month, there will be no hiding from any of it.
In Other News...
BYU Freshman Is Forcing His Way Into A Key Backfield Battle
Fall camp is bringing a little clarity to BYUs running back room, but not enough to close the book on the depth chart. LJ Martin remains the established starter, and the Cougars are sorting through the group behind him with Sione Moa, Preston Rex, Devon Eka and newcomer Journee Tonga all in the mix as the staff tries to settle on reliable options before the season tightens.
Tonga has been the newcomer drawing attention, and he has already shown enough in practice to make the battle worth watching. In live work, he turned a short screen into a 10-yard gain after making multiple defenders miss, the kind of play that can quickly change how a freshman is viewed in August. Even so, the competition is still open, and Aaron Roderick has made it clear the running back pecking order is not finished taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Utah Enters The Big 12 Debate With A Frustrating New Reality
Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire is already framing the Big 12 race as one of the leagues toughest recurring tests, noting how rarely anyone has managed to repeat as conference champion since 1996. That backdrop makes the latest round of league projections especially interesting for BYU, which is getting a strong vote of confidence from Stewart Mandels preview as the program most likely to rise to the top in a conference that also figures to keep Houston and Texas Tech in the mix.
The other twist for BYU fans is how much the leagues pecking order could shift around it, especially with Utah entering a new era under Morgan Scalley and expected to face a bumpy year. Mandels outlook has the Utes heading toward a 7-5 finish, a reminder that one of the Big 12s most familiar powers may be dealing with a frustrating new reality just as BYU tries to carve out its place near the top of the standings. [Read more 🡒]