Utah’s bowl game will make history. Here’s how

Kelsey Dallas
·3 min read
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Utah players huddle as the Utes and Trojans play at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022.
Utah players huddle as the Utes and Trojans play at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Utah players will be doing more than playing football when they take the field against Northwestern on Saturday in the Las Vegas Bowl.

They’ll also be taking part in a historic experiment, which could help change college football forever.

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports reported Thursday that Saturday’s Las Vegas Bowl will be the first major college game to involve both smart tablets and a helmet communications system. The two technologies have long been part of NFL action, but college teams have continued to rely on older communications methods, including hand signals.

“The college game has resisted evolution mostly because of cost-containment reasons,” Dellenger reported.

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College football’s relative lack of modern technology was in the spotlight earlier this season when the Michigan sign-stealing saga became front-page news. Observers noted that teams would not be able to so easily surveil their opponents if college programs were allowed to use a coach-to-player helmet communication system.

But the use of tablets and advanced helmets at certain bowl games was approved before the Michigan scandal emerged, according to Dellenger.

“College leaders had (previously) approved the use of these technologies during bowl season as a way to evaluate them for possible permanent use,” he reported.

Already, at least two 2023 bowl games have featured tablets on the sidelines and in coaches’ booths, Dellenger said. The technology allows coaches and players to review plays.

And at the Independence Bowl between Cal and Texas Tech on Dec. 16, players and coaches were able to communicate with smart helmets.

The Las Vegas Bowl will be the first to involve both technologies, Dellenger reported.

“In approving the experimental trial, the NCAA Rules Committee created little to no rules around the use of the technologies, leaving the participating bowl teams to each agree on a set of rules,” he wrote.

Teams like Utah that take part in the trial runs will be asked to give feedback to the NCAA, said Steve Shaw, NCAA coordinator of officials, to Yahoo! Sports.

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He noted that he expects the feedback to be positive, since coaches have been clamoring to have access to these technologies.

“These two areas of technology are by far and away the thing the coaches talk about and want most,” he said.

Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire proved Shaw’s prediction to be true in his conversation with Dellenger.

Utes on the air

Utah (8-4, 5-4 Pac-12)
vs. Northwestern (7-5, 5-4 Big Ten)
Saturday, 5:30 p.m. MST
Allegiant Stadium
TV: ABC
Radio: ESPN 700/92.1 FM

“However we can get it passed, we need to get it passed,” he said of a potential policy change allowing regular use of tablets and smart helmets. “We are hoping like crazy it gets passed for next year.”

Dellenger said that NCAA leaders are expected to discuss updating the rules several times over the next few months.

A key part of the discussion will be figuring out when and for how long coaches will be able to communicate with players on the field and how many players will be allowed to use the high-tech helmets, Dellenger reported.

During the Independence Bowl, “as many as three” defensive players and the quarterback had smart helmets, he said.

“The NFL permits no more than one player on each offense and defense to have the communication capability,” Dellenger noted.