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Emily Potter Wins Pac-12 Women's Basketball Player of the Week

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Redshirt sophomore forward Emily Potter won Pac-12 Women's Basketball Player of the Week. In games against Creighton and BYU, Potter averaged 26 points and 18 rebounds. She set career highs in both points (28) and rebounds (19) in Utah's 74-58 win over Creighton. In three of Utah's last six games, Potter has had at least 24 points and 17 rebounds. New head coach Lynne Roberts certainly has a young star on her team.

Utah Signs 2016 QB Tyler Huntley

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Today is the first day that 2016 early enrollees can sign with a school. Utah has had three sign today including three-star quarterback Tyler Huntley from Hallandale HS (Hallandale, Fla.). 6' 1", 178 pound quarterback won the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Florida. Huntley was primarily recruited by Utah assistant head coach and running backs coach Dennis Erickson. Utah was able to beat out Louisville among others for his services. Huntley is rated the No. 20 pocket passer and the No. 82 player from the state of Florida according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Huntley has been compared to fellow south Florida native and current Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Watching Huntley's Hudl film, it becomes clear why some compare him to Bridgewater. He moves in the pocket well and can run if he needs to, but he primarily looks to throw the ball. He is accurate and showed he could carve up elite defenses in high schools, including St. Thomas Aquinas, who he threw for 468 yards and four touchdowns against. Huntley is a big-time talent, and he will be available starting this spring.

Utah Signs 2016 WR Demari Simpkins

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Today is the first day that 2016 early enrollees can sign with a school. Utah has had three sign today including three-star wide receiver Demari Simpkins from Hallandale HS (Hallandale, Fla.). The 6' 0". 180 pound speedster is rated the No. 114 wide receiver and the No. 106 player from the state of Florida according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Here is a link to his Hudl film. Having Simpkins available this spring is huge because Utah will have multiple holes to fill at wide receiver with Kenneth Scott graduating and Britain Covey leaving to serve an LDS Mission for two years. Simpkins was primarily recruited by Utah assistant head coach and running backs coach Dennis Erickson. Utah was able to beat out Wisconsin to land Simpkins.

Utah Signs 2016 OT Scott Peck

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Today is the first day that 2016 early enrollees can sign with a school. Utah has had three sign today including three-star offensive tackle Scott Peck from Central Valley HS (Spokane, Wash.). Utah beat out hometown Washington State to land Peck. He is rated the No. 105 offensive tackle in the nation and the No. 12 player in the state of Washington according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. The 6' 7", 296 pound lineman will be available to participate in spring football for Utah. Here is a link to Peck's Hudl film. Peck's primary recruiter was Utah co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Jim Harding. Peck plays with a nastiness that Utah loves in their offensive linemen. He also shows the athleticism to get out in front and block screens, which have become a bigger and bigger part of the Utah offense lately.

Athete Kahi Neves Flips from Utah to Arizona

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Utah lost their top in-state commit when Timpview (Provo, Utah) athlete Kahi Neves flipped to Arizona. He was committed to Utah as a quarterback but will play linebacker at Arizona. Honestly, I think he would end up at linebacker at Utah as well. He was on an official visit to Arizona when he he decided to flip to Arizona. Neves played for four different high schools in four years, and he has shown interest in Arizona since they offered him. Losing a talented in-state prospect to a Pac-12 South rival hurts, and it continues the trend of Utah failing to keep the top in-state home. Neves was the No. 5 player in the state of Utah according to the 247Sports Composite Ranking. The top rated prospect, Brighton (Salt Lake City, Utah) wide receiver Simi Fehoko has already committed to Stanford. Four-star Murray (Salt Lake City, Utah) defensive end Maxs Tupai is still uncommitted. Utah has 23 players committed to their 2016 class and is still in the running for several top prospects. Make sure to stay tuned to BlockU for more recruiting news in the run up to National Signing Day in February.

Utah QB Commit Troy Williams Radio Interview

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This morning, Utah QB commit Troy Williams joined David James and Patrick Kinnahan on 1280AM/97.5FM here in SLC to talk about his commitment to the U. He made it very clear how important it was to return to the Pac-12, after transferring out of Washington this past season. I believe Williams is the front runner to start next season, and was a really good pick up for the Utes. His film in JC showed that he really likes to stand in the pocket to throw, but isn't scared to run the ball when needed. He addressed that in the interview, actually, that he was more focused on staying in the pocket in JC to preserve his body and his health. That's a good mentality to have, because as we've seen with mobile QBs, the less shots one takes the better. Williams also said he plans on being here in January and will be ready to participate in spring ball. Give a listen to the interview.

Pac-12 Breakdown - Bowl Preview & Heisman Talk

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I joined Mark Rogers and a couple of bloggers that cover Pac-12 teams, and we previewed the bowl games, we chatted about some of the match ups, and we also dove into the Heisman race.

Will Britain Covey Play for Utah in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl against BYU?

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True freshman wide receiver/return man Britain Covey burst onto the scene for Utah this year. Many expected the 5-8, 166 dynamo to have much of an impact prior to the season. However, Covey led Utah in receiving yards and was a dynamic return man for the Utes. His small size did not hold him back from big things. Covey was a standout at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah. Playing in the shadow of BYU and being a BYU legacy, many believed Covey would end up playing for BYU. Instead, the Cougars may have to try to stop him in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl. Covey suffered a an ankle injury against UCLA, which caused him to miss the rest of that game and the season finally against Colorado. While it is far from a done deal that Covey will play in the Vegas Bowl, he told reporters Tuesday, he "wouldn't miss this game for the world." Covey will have plenty of time to recover after the game because he plans to serve a two-year LDS Church mission. Getting Covey back would be a huge boost for a Utah offense that has struggled to throw the ball in his absence. Utah threw for only 110 yards against UCLA and 108 yards against Colorado. "We have not been the most explosive offense all year, but he was one of our most explosive players, and when we lost him, it showed," said co-offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. You can read more about Covey, Andy Phillips possibly going pro, and head coach Kyle Whittingham's reaction to playing BYU in the Vegas Bowl in the linked article by Matthew Piper of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Kyle Whittingham does not Stop Eating for Anything... Even the Fire Alarm

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We all knew Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham was awesome, but he has taken it to a new level. The fire alarm went off in the cafeteria in the Spence Eccles Football Center, and Whittingham instead of responding to the alarm, kept doing what he was doing, eating. A video of the scene was posted to Twitter by Utah offensive lineman Isaac Asiata. Whittingham looks completely unfazed by the blaring alarm. He already has a reputation for toughness, and he just added it to it with this video.

The College Football Playoff is Set... and the Pac-12 is Missing

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The second annual College Football Playoff is set, and the Pac-12 is missing. The match ups are No. 1 Clemson vs No. 4 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl and No. 2 Alabama vs No. 3 Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl. It is not surprising that Pac-12 Champion Stanford was left out, since they were the only Power Five Conference champion with more than one loss, but it is still disappointing. The Pac-12 showed it was by far the deepest conference, with 10 out of 12 teams bowl eligible with a nine game conference schedule. The only other conference with as many bowl eligible teams is the SEC, which has 14 teams and only plays eight conference games.