Ryan Leaf isn’t ready to eliminate Utah from the playoff discussion

Ryan Leaf is among those who believe Utah will be able to bounce back from its Week 1 loss to Florida.

“If Utah handles their business I could still see a one-loss Utah still being in the conversation for the College Football Playoff,” Leaf said. “They play as good as they could to ultimately not win the game. This team is still very very talented and very good.”

Even though Utah suffered a devastating loss to Florida on Saturday, don't sell your stock in the Utes!@RyanDLeaf explains why Kyle Whittingham's squad can still be in the mix for the College Football Playoff!#GoUtes | @Utah_Football | #BackThePac pic.twitter.com/qyLarRv1IR

— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) September 5, 2022

The Utes lost 29-26 to the Gators in a tremendous back-and-forth game that should be considered the best contest of Week 1. The game came down to the final play as Gators linebacker Amari Burney intercepted a pass from Cam Rising in the end zone with seconds reamining.

Utah has Southern Utah this weekend and San Diego State (Sept. 17) left on its non-conference schedule before going into the nine-game Pac-12 slate. The Utes are likely to be favored in every game the rest of the way.

Does the loss to Florida completely eliminate Utah even if they run the table? Or does the fact that the Utes went into one of the toughest environments in Week 1 and played a tight game work in their favor?

Corey Long

Corey Long is a freelance writer for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Corey on Twitter @CoreyLong.