The 2025 Utah football football schedule was released today, with the Big 12 Conference making the 16-team announcement on ESPN. The Utes’ upcoming campaign will feature six home games and six road games, however, when it comes to Big 12 play, the Utes will have five conference home games and just four conference road games.
The Utes look to bounce back after finishing the season with a losing record (5-7). It was the first time the Utes didn’t make a bowl game in more than a decade. Kyle Whittingham wasn’t going to go out like that. While many thought he might retire, the 21st-year coach wanted to run it back one more time. As for defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley, the coach in waiting, the wait just keeps getting longer.
Scalley will continue to lead a defense that ranked third in the Big 12 in 2024, including a No. 2 national ranking in first downs allowed and No. 3 in opponent third-down conversion percentage (27.4%). Meanwhile, Jason Beck will take over as the new offensive coordinator this year after leading a New Mexico offense that ranked fourth in FBS in yards per game (484.3).
Utah’s 2025 Schedule — The Good And The Bad
Let’s start with the good news.
Season ticket holders are going to get a lot of great games this year with the Utes hosting the likes of Texas Tech, Arizona State, and Kansas State.
Utah’s 2025 schedule also features two bye weeks, which fall in weeks 6 and 11—both of which work out very nicely for the Utes, unlike rival BYU which has their bye weeks at week 3 and 11.
The first break for the Utes comes before arguably the toughest stretch of games, giving Utah an extra week to rest and regroup before facing off against Arizona State, followed by the Holy War showdown against BYU, and then a home game against Colorado.
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The second bye comes in November which may seem late, but it comes at a strategic time. Utah will have a full week to prepare for their final three matchups: a road game at Baylor, a home contest against Kansas State, and a season-ending trip to Kansas. Bye weeks may not seem like a big deal, but as the Utes found out, they are, as both Arizona and TCU beat the Utes coming off of their bye weeks.
Overall, the schedule is pretty manageable and there aren’t any back-to-back road games either. Of the nine conference games, five are at home, with just four on the road.
So what’s the bad news?
A great schedule often means top teams and tough competition. The Utes will go up against most of the Big 12 contenders: Arizona State, BYU, Baylor, Kansas State, and Texas Tech. The only silver lining is that 3 of those 5 games are inside Rice-Eccles Stadium. At the same time, it doesn’t help that Arizona State and BYU are back-to-back weeks as well as Baylor and Kansas State.
Utah-BYU Rivalry Game Keeps Moving Up
In the past, when Utah and BYU were both in the same conference—whether in the WAC or Mountain West—their annual rivalry game was always scheduled as the final regular-season matchup for both teams.
After Utah joined the Pac-12 and BYU became an independent, the rivalry was moved to September as part of the nonconference schedule. However, with both schools reuniting in the Big 12, many expected the rivalry to return to its traditional spot at the end of the season. But so far, that hasn’t happened.
Last year, BYU edged out Utah 22-21 on November 9, and this year, the game is set even earlier, on October 18. For Utah, it will be their fourth conference game of the season, coming right after their matchup against Arizona State. BYU, on the other hand, will play at Arizona the week before the rivalry clash.
Overall, the schedule is solid and most importantly, manageable. It also offers several firsts such as hosting Texas Tech, Cincinnati, and Kansas State for the first time at Rice-Eccles Stadium, as well a first-ever trip to Morgantown to take on West Virginia. Both teams have met twice, with both meetings taking place in bowl games (1964 Liberty Bowl and 2017 Heart of Dallas Bowl).
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