UCLA coach Chip Kelly and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham shake palms after Utah’s loss on the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
Coming off a tough 42-32 loss final week at UCLA, No. 20 Utah has one other difficult matchup — this time at house in opposition to No. 7 USC.
The Trojans are restoring glory to their program after years of mediocrity. Underneath first-year coach Lincoln Riley, USC is unbeaten and off to its first 6-0 begin since 2006.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham stated he doesn’t know Riley “very effectively in any respect.”
“We’ve crossed paths a number of instances on the recruiting path when he was at Oklahoma,” Whittingham stated. “In fact, I’ve sat in conferences with him a few instances since he’s been within the league for Pac-12 conferences.”
Since arriving at USC, the Trojans have been attracting big-time expertise by the switch portal — quarterback Caleb Williams (Oklahoma); vast receivers Jordan Addison (Pittsburgh) and Mario Williams (Oklahoma); operating backs Travis Dye (Oregon) and Austin Jones (Stanford); and cornerback Mekhi Blackmon (Colorado), to call a handful.
USC even added a Utah participant by the switch portal through the offseason — linebacker Carson Tabaracci.
Whereas speaking about how the Trojans are performing underneath Riley, Whittingham pointed to the switch portal and the way it’s affected Riley’s new program — and his outdated one.
Oklahoma is 3-3 this season and the Sooners are coming off a 49-0 loss to Texas.
“Clearly, he’s doing an excellent job at USC. Clearly, the switch portal is being manifest how impactful it may be there and at Oklahoma,” he stated. “Oklahoma had mass departures and USC had a mass inflow of expertise. You may see what’s occurring.
“You may see that groups are capable of make main enchancment or go the opposite method — extra so than ever earlier than due to the quantity of turnover in your roster. There’s way more turnover in your roster now than there ever has been within the trendy period of school soccer.”
When requested about the right way to retain gamers on this trendy period, Whittingham stated, “Pay them a bunch of cash. … That’s type of what it comes all the way down to. I’m not accusing anybody of unlawful improprieties or something like that as a result of it’s all above-board now with NIL. However as I’ve stated earlier than, there’s going to come back a time within the very, very close to future the place the highest 25 NIL pots of cash are going to reflect nearly precisely the highest 25 packages within the nation.
“That’s simply how it's. That’s the place it’s headed. There’s no debate about it, until they alter the foundations. However I don’t understand how (the NCAA is) going to backpedal now with the can of worms that they’ve opened.”
For the ultimate query throughout his weekly Monday morning information convention, Whittingham was requested if this new switch portal paradigm is tough to embrace.
“It’s greater than laborious,” he stated. “It offers you an enormous distaste for the sport and for the way it’s run and for the course it’s going. Is that harsh sufficient?”
Utes on the air
No. 7 USC (6-0, 4-0)
at No. 20 Utah (4-2, 2-1)
Saturday, 6 p.m. MDT
Rice-Eccles Stadium
TV: Fox
Radio: ESPN 700