Rabbit Evans didn’t hide the mood around Utah this week: there’s real excitement, but no sense of letting up.
With Houston coming to town and College GameDay in the mix, Evans said the Utes understand what’s in front of them, and they’re treating it like a chance to show what they can do.
“Oh yeah. I mean, we're for sure excited.
You know, it's a good opportunity, a good opportunity to show the world what we can do, you know, and we're excited. We're practicing well, so we're ready.”
That confidence comes with a clear message for Utah’s secondary, which has had some rough patches over the last two weeks. Evans said the fix starts with sticking to the basics and trusting the style that got them here.
“Well, you know, just play our game, just hone in on the technique that we play, you know, keep playing fast, keep playing physical. And I would say keep being us at the end of the day.”
Evans also broke down the interception he made, saying it came from work put in earlier in the week. Utah had already seen that look in practice, and once he recognized the quarterback’s eyes drifting toward the tight end, he jumped the route.
“You know, we ran that play a few times in practice earlier that week. And, you know, I felt the bend coming, and I was looking at, looking at the quarterback, seeing him look at the tight end. I kind of just drove on it and just made the play.”
For Utah, the narrow win in Boulder served as a useful stress test. Evans said it showed the team how to handle adversity, something he believes will matter again.
“I would say we learned how to face adversity. That's kind of our second game really facing adversity.
And that game just helped us come together as a team more because, shoot, the rest of the game's going to be tough. It's going to be like that.
So just coming together, just playing as a team, playing as a family. I'll say we learned that.”
When asked about Houston, Evans didn’t sugarcoat what the Utes are facing. He described an offense that’s fast, balanced, and loaded with weapons at every level.
“Shoot, man, they play well. So they play together, they're fast, they got some good receivers, a great tight end, great backs.
The quarterback is good. So I for sure say we gotta be on our, be on our stuff this week.”
In Other News...
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Houston brings a different kind of problem, with Conner Weigman operating at a high level and finding the end zone through the air. The Cougars also arrive with history on their side in this series, and with Big 12 title implications already in the mix, Utah is staring at more than just another ranked game at home. [Read more 🡒]
Utahs College GameDay Spotlight Could Get Even Bigger Soon
ESPNs College GameDay stop at BYU last weekend didnt just go well for the state of Utah, it set a benchmark. The broadcast drew 3 million viewers, making it the most-watched GameDay of the season and the third-most-watched regular-season episode ever, a sign of how much national attention is building around football in the state this fall.
Now the spotlight shifts to Salt Lake City for Utahs game against Houston, and theres already a natural next chapter waiting down the road. The highly ranked BYU-Utah matchup on Nov. 7 has the kind of profile that could draw the show back, though ESPN says it evaluates each week on its own merits, with plenty of other top-10 games in the mix. Utah athletic director Mark Harlan has already pointed to the significance of having two elite teams in one state, and it is easy to see why GameDay keeps circling back. [Read more 🡒]
Deion Sanders Took An Unusual Tone After Utah Loss
After the loss in Salt Lake City, Colorados locker room took on a different feel than usual, and safety Randon Fontenette noticed it right away. Deion Sanders, who typically does not lean into praise after defeats, offered his players a message they do not often hear from him, and Fontenette said it helped steady the mood inside a team that has been searching for answers.
For a group sitting at 2-4 and trying to stop a slide, the tone mattered as much as the result did. Fontenette said the postgame message brought the Buffaloes closer together, and he sounded convinced the season is still there for the taking with six games left to play. [Read more 🡒]