While not surprising, latest Utah Utes football recruiting loss is devastating

The Utah Utes football team finds itself in a conference that could offer a nice path to the College Football Playoffs. However, if they’re going to keep the streak that head coach Kyle Whittingham has managed to forge, they need a steady influx of talent. 

That’s especially the case when that talent comes from in-state prospects such as Jerome Myles. But they also need to be able to pluck the best of the best from states that might not be traditional pipelines such as Illinois. Such was the case with Iose Epenesa.

While it wasn’t entirely surprising that Epenesa didn’t pick the Utah Utes football team, it still hurts. When the 5-star offensive line prospect chose the Iowa Hawkeyes instead, it showed that Whittingham hasn’t managed to get his tentacles into the Big Ten territories enough. He’ll need to work harder on that in the future.

Utah Utes football suffers a massive recruiting loss

Over the weekend, Edwardsville (Ill.) 2025 5-star defensive lineman Iose Epenesa committed to Iowa. Epenesa announced his commitment to the Hawkeyes over Miami, Missouri, Utah, and Penn State, among others.

Per 247Sports, Epenesa is the No. 16 overall recruit in the 2025 class and the No. 3 defensive lineman. He’s the kind of talent that could have been a game-changer for Whittingham’s squad.

There is one reason why Utah fans can take solace in losing this recruiting battle. Epenesa’s older brother was also a Hawkeye and it looks like the Illinois prospect wants to keep things in the family.

Still, make no mistake. This is a big recruiting loss for the Utah Utes football program. Whittingham can’t afford to have too many more misses at this level. He needs to show his recruiting can hang in the Big 12, as the program transitions to playing so many games in a new region.