It's finally here. No. 21 Utah opens the 2026 season tonight at 7 p.m. MT against Idaho at Rice-Eccles Stadium on ESPNU, and for the first time since 2004 the man walking out of the tunnel first is not Kyle Whittingham. Morgan Scalley, the former Ute safety and the architect of Utah's defense since 2016, gets his first regular season game as the head coach, in front of a crowd that has now sold out 95 straight home games.
The stakes for a Thursday night FCS opener are a little different than usual. Utah went 11-2 last season and closed it by hammering Nebraska 44-22 in the Las Vegas Bowl, Scalley's first game in charge after Whittingham left for Michigan. The Utes bring back Devon Dampier, Wayshawn Parker and most of the skill talent from an offense that finished 13th nationally in success rate, but they are replacing nearly an entire offensive line that averaged 266 rushing yards a game. That is the question mark hanging over this whole season, and tonight is the first time we get to see it answered against someone in a different colored jersey.
Idaho is the opponent, and this one has a little history. The Vandals have not played in Salt Lake since Oct. 2, 1993, when they walked out of Rice Stadium with a 28-17 win. Utah leads the all-time series 14-12-2. Nobody on the current roster was alive for the last one, and we would like to keep the Vandals from adding to their side of that ledger.
The Line
Utah opened as a massive favorite and the number has only crept up. As of Wednesday night the spread sits at Utah -34.5 at most books, with a few shops at -35.5, and the total is 57.5. The moneyline is basically unplayable at -10000 for Utah, with Idaho sitting around +1750.
Two things worth knowing before you form an opinion on that number. First, Utah has a habit of burying overmatched opponents: in its last three games as a 35-point or bigger favorite the Utes covered every time and scored at least 49 points in each. Second, Idaho just gave up 38 points and more than 500 yards to Cal Poly, an FCS team that did not even have a named starting quarterback two weeks ago. The line is big, but the market is telling you the Idaho defense is a real problem.
Meet the Vandals
Idaho was 4-8 last year and was picked sixth in the Big Sky preseason poll, but second-year head coach Thomas Ford Jr. flipped a huge chunk of the roster with 21 transfers and a new offensive coordinator, Ian Shoemaker, who came over from Eastern Washington. The result in Week 0 was an offense that looked far better than a 4-8 program and a defense that looked exactly like one.
The Vandals lost 38-34 at Cal Poly on Aug. 28 on a fourth-down heave from the 34-yard line with nine seconds left. Owen Forsman had put Idaho ahead with a 40-yard field goal at the 1:03 mark, and the defense could not close it out. Cal Poly averaged 6.6 yards per play and ripped off 14 plays of 15-plus yards against a unit that already has a new coordinator in Lee Stalker (Iowa State, Kent State). Fifth-year linebacker Cruz Hepburn had a career-high 12 tackles, which tells you both that he played well and that he had to.
The Guy Who Can Make It Interesting
Do not sleep on Joshua Wood. The senior Fresno State transfer went 18 of 25 for 363 yards and two touchdowns against Cal Poly and added 42 yards on the ground, after a 2025 season in which he threw for 1,898 yards and led Idaho in rushing with 589 yards and seven scores. He is a legitimate dual threat, and Shoemaker's offense pushed the ball downfield at over eight yards a snap.
His favorite target was Tony Harste, who caught nine passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard score. Ryan Jezioro, Idaho's leading receiver in 2025, added a 65-yard catch of his own. Idaho will take deep shots, and with Smith Snowden gone and USF transfer Elijah Reed stepping in at corner opposite Scooby Davis, the Utah secondary is going to get tested on a couple of vertical routes early. If Idaho hangs around into the second quarter, it will be because Wood connected on one or two of those.
What We Want to See From Utah
Start with the offensive line, which has zero returning starters and, as of Jordan Gross's last camp update, no officially named first five. The interior looks settled with Solatoa Moea'i, Alex Harrison and Keith Olson, and Montana State transfer Cedric Jefferson has been the favorite at right tackle over Isaiah Garcia. Left tackle is the one to watch: Zereoue Williams is the veteran option, but true freshman Kelvin Obot, the headliner of the 2026 recruiting class, has pushed his way into the conversation. Whoever trots out there is protecting the most valuable player on the roster. Dampier threw for 2,490 yards and 24 touchdowns with just five picks last year, completed 63.5 percent of his passes, and ran for 835 yards and 10 more scores. Idaho's front is the strength of its defense, with the Augustus twins, Javen and Jamarion, as camp standouts, so this is a fair first test of pass protection. Nobody expects the Utes to average 266 on the ground again, but 200 tonight against a Big Sky front would be a fine start.
Wayshawn Parker was voted a team captain and fell 19 yards short of 1,000 last season (981 yards, 6 TDs on 149 carries). He should get his fill in the first half before Scalley starts emptying the bench, and backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin, who ran for 513 yards in limited action, will get real snaps late.
The receiving room is almost entirely new. Utah State transfer Braden Pegan, All-Mountain West receiver Kyri Shoels, and Creed Whittemore in the slot are the projected starters, with Weber State transfer Noah Bennee at tight end. New offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven has been talking all camp about new formations and personnel packages, and Idaho's secondary is exactly the kind of group you want to test them on.
Defensively, Johnathan Hall (67 tackles, 6.0 TFLs) and Jackson Bennee (64 tackles, 4.0 TFLs) are back as the leading tacklers, but John Henry Daley and three interior linemen are gone. Lance Holtzclaw and Kash Dillon at end, Pupu Sepulona and Karson Kaufusi inside, and Rabbit Evans returning from injury at safety are the names to watch. Colton Swan is calling the defense now with Scalley wearing the big headset, and the first thing we want to see is whether the pass rush can get home on Wood before he finds Harste.
Prediction
Idaho's offense is good enough to score, and Wood is going to hit a couple of throws that make you grumble. But the Vandals could not stop Cal Poly, and Utah's offense is a different animal entirely. Dampier and Parker run the score up early, the second-team offense keeps it going, and the only real drama is whether the 34.5 holds when Scalley calls off the dogs in the fourth quarter.
Our pick: Utah 48, Idaho 14. That's a cover, and it lands right around the total, so if you like the over you're betting on Wood keeping Idaho's offense alive into the second half.
Underdog Corner
Before you settle in for kickoff, two things.
Utah's win total is sitting at 8.5 this year. Vegas is asking whether a first-year head coach and a rebuilt offensive line can get to nine wins with Dampier and Parker back. If you think that number is disrespectful, our partner Underdog is the place to put your football opinions to work. Tonight's picks are the obvious starting point: Dampier passing yards, Parker rushing yards, Harste receiving yards, and whether Wood clears his opener number all make for fun first-half sweats.
New Underdog users who sign up through our link get a Play $5, Get $50 in bonus entries offer after their first entry. It's the easiest way to support Top Tier Utes while you're already watching the game: https://play.underdogsports.com/vgwg/p-ttutes. New users only. Terms apply.
Follow @TopTierUtes for live thoughts during the game and a full recap Friday morning. Arkansas comes to town next week and the stakes go way up.
Go Utes.