Joe Coles
@JoeAColes
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Utah football beat writer for the Deseret News. Email: [email protected].
Salt Lake City, UT
Joined May 2014
The University of Utah police say they have arrested 18-year-old William Gardner "on a charge of assault, a Class A misdemeanor.". "Gardner is charged with throwing a water bottle onto the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium that struck a member of the BYU cheerleading team during the.
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For the first time in the Kyle Whittingham era, Utah has lost six consecutive games.
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Philadelphia Eagles TE Dallas Goedert says former Ute Britain Covey is standing out in OTAs
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4-star linebacker Christian Thatcher commits to Utah, as the Utes beat out USC, Washington, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado. ESPN has him as the sixth-best linebacker in the class of 2025.
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The Big 12 presumably moved the BYU-Utah game from its traditional spot on the last week of the season to give it a “spotlight” and avoid having it go head-to-head with other rivalry weekend games, only for ESPN to stick it at 10:15 p.m. eastern on Nov. 9. Great work, everyone.
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Utah gets a huge signing day commitment from four-star Texas running back Raycine Guillory, who chose the Utes over Ole Miss. He's ranked as the No. 30 running back nationally in 247Sports composite rankings.
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Simote Pepa grew up a BYU fan. On why he switched to Utah:. “Every year when I was a kid, I just saw the team down south lose to Utah every year over that nine-game streak and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to go to the winning team.”.
After promising freshman season, Simote Pepa can elevate Utah’s defense in 2023.Story by @JoeAColes .
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Utah officially announces a new Wi-Fi network at Rice-Eccles Stadium:. “The University of Utah installed a public Wi-Fi network over the summer to improve fans' ability to enjoy a better online and mobile experience in the stadium on game day. Fans can locate the network.
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Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck's contract with the school runs from Dec. 6, 2024 to Jan. 31, 2028. Beck's base salary starts at $1.25 million and increases to $1.35 million in 2026 and $1.45 million in 2027. Beck's salary makes him one of the highest-compensated.
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Some personal news: I’m on the Utah football beat this season for the Deseret News. Excited for the opportunity.
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Oklahoma Sate coach Mike Gundy on facing Utah this week:. "I think that this game is one of the reasons that we sold out (season tickets) so quick, in my opinion. Utah brings in a long history of success."
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Mycah Pittman is getting his pilot’s license and has completed several solo flights. Pretty fitting for him to be used in this promo.
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Isaac Asiata is back with Utah as an assistant offensive line coach
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Utah had a players-only meeting this week. Micah Bernard said Isaac Wilson said some words that motivated the team.
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Whittingham says Levani Damuni and Kenan Johnson have both indicated that they'd like to come back to Utah, as of their last conversation.
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Whittingham: Great to see Zacharyus Williams. I think he's going to be a really good player.
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It appears that Ja’Quinden Jackson will be a captain for the Vegas Bowl.
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Utah CB Zemaiah Vaughn is the Big 12's Defensive Player of the Week after posting six tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a pick-six against UCF.
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Isaac Wilson got snaps at QB vs. the defense during practice. Threw an interception on the first throw the media saw (no surprise for a freshman in his first-ever spring practice vs. Utah D). Shook it off and threw a TD pass to Daidren Zipperer on his next series.
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Utah OL Spencer Fano said they practiced the two-point conversion pass to him in practice that week. When the play call came in against Colorado?. "I was kind of (expletive) my pants, you know what I'm saying? I was a little nervous.". Fano caught the pass to get into the end.
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Utah LB Levani Damuni is returning. Played in all 12 games in first year at Utah after transferring from Stanford and started six games this year, including five straight after Lander Barton’s injury. Team-high 75 tackles. Big addition to Utah’s LB room.
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The guest picker has not been announced for “College GameDay,” but Ty Burrell and Lil Nas X will make appearances on the show. Features on Bryson Barnes and Kyle Whittingham will air during “GameDay,” and Whittingham will be live on “The Pat McAfee Show” Fri and “GameDay” Sat.
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Utah still in the mix.
Washington State RB transfer Wayshawn Parker, the No. 2 portal RB, has canceled two visits for the week and is now down to two schools
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Isaac Wilson is the first Ute true freshman QB to throw for three TDs in his first-ever start.
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Huge news for the Utes. Fano was one of the best tackles in the entire country this year.
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Oregon freshman linebacker transfers to Utah. Redshirted this year for the Ducks.
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Four-star Spanish Fork offensive tackle Aaron Dunn is staying home, choosing Utah over Oregon and USC.
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Utah TE Landen King is back.
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Washington State RB Wayshawn Parker is transferring to Utah. One of the top RBs in the transfer portal this year will reunite with his position coach in SLC.
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Utah DE Logan Fano is practicing on Day 1 after tearing his ACL on Sep. 29. DE coach Lewis Powell said Fano was “not restricted at all the whole summer” and set personal records during testing last week. “His comeback has been impressive,” Powell said.
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Kyle Whittingham said after practice tonight it’s looking optimistic for “three, four, maybe five” of the 16 injured contributors to return this week vs. UCLA.
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Tight end Caleb Lohner was the last player off the field at practice today, staying late while working with the JUGS machine. Freddie Whittingham praised his hands last week, and Lohner certainly looks the part of a football player in pads. 6-foot-8, bulked up to 250 pounds.
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“… This place might be the No. 1 overall seed in terms of the reception, the hospitality, the cooperation, because this is a big undertaking,” “College GameDay” host Rece Davis said about Utah.
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Micah Bernard is the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Week, and Isaac Wilson was named the Newcomer of the Week. First Big 12 honors for the Utes.
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Utah radio voice Bill Riley has been named the athletic department's Director of Broadcasting and will leave his afternoon radio show on ESPN 700, the school announced.
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I’m late on the draw here, but Micah Bernard becomes the first Ute this season to declare for the NFL draft.
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Cam Rising is throwing 30-yard passes in warmups and is looking good thus far.
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Dorian Singer on Cam Rising: “He’s going to be ready to go this week.”.
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Isaac Wilson is now out of the medical tent. Cam Rising has his arm around him.
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Former Michigan State punter Jack Bouwmeester commits to Utah football
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Kyle Whittingham on his ESPN 700 coaches show:. "We will see what happens this week with Cam (Rising) and we're hoping, and I think it's looking encouraging, but I'm not going to say anything until we actually get to the game.". "Practiced well today. He practiced well, so we'll.
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Utah gets a late-night commitment from UTEP defensive end Kanious Vaughn. The 6-foot-2, 223-pound Vaughn had 19 tackles, six sacks and two forced fumbles while playing in all 12 games for the Miners.
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Kyle Whittingham said that if the Utes had to play today, it would be Zemaiah Vaughn and Kenan Johnson at the two outside cornerback spots, Smith Snowden at nickel. Tao Johnson at one safety spot and a battle between Nate Ritchie/Alaka'i Gilman/Johnathan Hall for the other.
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For the record, Cam Rising is a fan of “Bad Moon Rising.”. When the song plays Thursday, it’ll mark the end of an arduous journey to get back onto the field, and the start of a new one for the QB — one that just might end with a third conference title.
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Whittingham: "Luke Bottari came in and really provided a spark. Luke will be the starter this week.".
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Some “Whittingham” chants from Utah fans as the game draws to a close.
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Kyle Whittingham announced today on ESPN 700 that offensive guard Michael Mokofisi is out for the season.
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Utah quarterback Cam Rising impresses at Manning Passing Academy
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Utah is creating a football Ring of Honor at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Former quarterback Alex Smith will be the first inductee.
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Isaac Wilson on being named QB2: ."It's just a great opportunity for me to even be here. The offensive staff, everyone's been doing so much for me and I'm just trying to give back by being on top of my plays, helping around. Of course it's a good feeling, but I got to keep.
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Washington DE Lance Holtzclaw signs with Utah. 8 tackles and a sack in his sophomore season with the Huskies.
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Punter visit.
I am excited to be on an official visit to the university of Utah this week. @JakeCookus @ShaneSmithUtah
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Hard to overstate the importance of Cam Rising announcing he’s returning before the end of the season. Beyond the impact it could have on other Utah players’ stay/go decisions, have to imagine it makes Utah a more desirable destination when transfer portal opens in early Dec.
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Whittingham says he can't detect any division in the locker room.
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Former Utah football running back Jordan Wilmore transfers to Utah State
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Whittingham thinks Cam Rising will make his decision on whether or not to return to Utah in the next week to 10 days.
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Big 12 has five teams in the top 25 of the opening coaches poll — No. 13 Utah, No. 17 Kansas State, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 21 Arizona, No. 24 Kansas.
Utah debuts at No. 13 in the USA Today coaches poll.
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USC offensive tackle transfers to Utah.
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“It hasn’t been football-wise why I haven’t been competitive. It’s been some things that I just need to clean up in my personal life, and so practice-wise, football has been my outlet,” Jaylon Glover said.
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Utah WR Devaughn Vele is selected in the seventh round by the Denver Broncos. Will join former Utes Jonah Elliss, Tim Patrick and Garrett Bolles in the Mile High City.
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Nate Johnson returns to Utah. He was at Vanderbilt last season.
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Kyle Whittingham said postgame that Isaac Wilson took a “big step” forward today.
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3-star, 6-foot-2, 180-pound WR Tavian McNair commits to Utah. Chooses Utes over a final four of Cal, Kansas and UNLV.
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Utah linebacker Karene Reid warming up early. He's missed the last four games for the Utes.
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Isaac Wilson is back at Utah after entering the transfer portal.
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Ja’Quinden Jackson is in Las Vegas. Was listed as RB1 on today’s depth chart.
Welcome @Utah_Football to the @SRSDistribution Las Vegas Bowl. 🛬 . #LVBowl | #Vegas | #BowlSeason | #GoUtes
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Utah QB Cam Rising reveals the full extent of his injury suffered in the Rose Bowl on ESPN 700. “I think it’s important that I just kind of let everybody know I didn’t just tear my ACL, I tore my ACL, meniscus, MPFL and MCL.".
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Kyle Whittingham: Micah Bernard is giving us everything he's got.
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Isaac Wilson to UCLA transfer TE Carsen Ryan in the bottom right.
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3-star safety Nathan Tilmon commits to Utah, picking the Utes over Texas and TCU.
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Whittingham: Very proud of Micah Bernard. 6.2 yards per carry, a really productive game. As close to being RB1 as we have now.
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Utah makes Corner Canyon five-star WR Jerome Myles’ Top 5.
Five-star receiver Jerome Myles plans to reveal a commitment on Oct. 30 and has five schools standing out in his recruitment heading into the college season:
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UNLV freshman RB Devin Green commits to Utah. 29 carries for 123 yards and a TD this year.
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Matt Thaiss will make his MLB debut with the Angels. Here’s my story from May on how Thaiss embraced positional versatility with the @SaltLakeBees: .
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Rising to Brant Kuithe for a TD. Kuithe made a nice grab for the score.
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I thought this was interesting from Devaughn Vele after the Washington loss. Vele was asked by Scott Mitchell on the ESPN 700 postgame show about why Utah didn't go uptempo as much in the second half.
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Utah interim OC Mike Bajakian on Isaac Wilson:. "Isaac, he's a smart player. He's driven, he's dedicated. He works really hard. He's got a lot of arm talent. He's got a lot of athletic ability. As a freshman, he's still learning, but shoot, I'm 50 years old and been coaching for.
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For the first time since I can remember, Utah won't be holding a press conference on signing day. Might be a little busy with other things at the moment.
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Kyle Whittingham on LB Lander Barton on ESPN 700 coaches show:. "I'm convinced if he made a wholesale commitment to tight end, he would be the best TE in the Pac-12 . We're thrilled to have him at linebacker and maybe down the road there may be some two-way action for him.".
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Cam Rising will make his full return to practice as the Utes prepare for an early road test at Baylor on Sept. 9.
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Former walk-on QB Bryson Barnes was placed on athletic scholarship after the Florida game. “It definitely helps a lot. You don’t have to worry about paying for school. I don’t have to go back to Lowe’s and kind of work a part-time job anymore,” Barnes said.
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