Northern Illinois’ 23,595-seat Huskie Stadium is the smallest venue to have hosted Utah’s football team in 40 years, and it was two-thirds filled for the Utes’ visit last September, resulting in a hard-earned, 17-6 victory for Utah. So coach Kyle Whittingham is “very pleased” to welcome the Huskies to Rice-Eccles Stadium this week, citing “quite a long trip” last year.
The Utes have two more trips scheduled to Group of Five programs, visiting the Mountain West's Wyoming in 2020 and San Diego State in 2021 in home-and-home series. Such arrangements are not uncommon. Wyoming hosted the Southeastern Conference's Missouri last weekend (winning 37-31) and California just booked a series with the Cowboys in 2028 and '29.