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Home games against Oregon and USC, and a road trip to Michigan highlight Utah's 2014 football schedule, which was released Wednesday.

The Utes, who will play five of their nine conference games on the road, have two Thursday games and just one set of back-to-back home games. The Utes also play home games against Idaho State and Fresno State and road games at UCLA and Oregon State, which are separated by a bye.

Utah opens the season with the Thursday game against Idaho State on Aug. 28. Its first road game is at Michigan on Sept. 20. Utah opens league play the following week against Washington State at Rice-Eccles Stadium. While the Utes play the majority of their league games on the road, they finish the season with three home games and three road games, which appears to be a more favorable schedule than they had in 2013 when they played four of the last six games on the road.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, whose team has gone 5-7 the last two years, believes this schedule is just as tough, if not tougher, than the one the Utes faced in 2013.

"When it comes to competing in the Pac-12 conference, there are no weeks off, and a non-conference schedule that includes Michigan and Fresno State will be challenging as well," Whittingham said. "As was the case this past season, our schedule should prove to be among the toughest in the country, which is the kind of competitive situation you expect when you are a member of one of the nation's premier conferences."

The Pac-12 title game is set for Dec. 5 at the home field of the team with the best overall conference record. Every game will be televised through a combination of ESPN channels, ABC, FOX and FOX Sports 1 and the Pac-12 Network. —

2014 Utah football schedule

Aug. 28 Idaho State

Sept. 6 Fresno State

Sept. 13 Bye

Sept. 20 at Michigan

Sept. 27 Washington St.*

Oct. 4 at UCLA

Oct. 11 Bye

Oct. 16 at Oregon St.*

Oct. 25 USC*

Nov. 1 at Arizona State

Nov. 8 Oregon*

Nov. 15 at Stanford*

Nov. 22 Arizona*

Nov. 29 at Colorado*

*Conference games