Utah is ranked No. 12 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, released on Tuesday.

It’s a two-spot jump for coach Kyle Whittingham’s group from their preseason ranking.

The Utes blasted Florida on Thursday night to open their season. Despite missing quarterback Cameron Rising, losing linebacker Karene Reid early, and missing a handful of other major playmakers on both sides of the football, Utah beat the Gators 24-11.

It was a dominant display from the defense, which held Florida to just 60 rushing yards (adjusted for sacks). Utah had five sacks and seven tackles for loss in the game. The top two Gator tailbacks had 31 yards on 10 rushing attempts.

And Utah kept Florida out of the endzone until midway through the fourth quarter when UF quarterback Graham Mertz threw a garbage-time touchdown pass.

The USC Trojans are the highest-ranked Pac-12 team in the AP poll, sitting at No. 6. Washington is just behind them at No. 8. Three other Pac-12 schools made the ranking as well — No. 13 Oregon, No. 16 Oregon State, and No. 22 Colorado.

The rest of the AP Top 25 can be seen below, with first-place votes in parentheses:

  1. Georgia (58)
  2. Michigan (2)
  3. Alabama
  4. Florida State (3)
  5. Ohio State
  6. USC
  7. Penn State
  8. Washington
  9. Tennessee
  10. Notre Dame
  11. Texas
  12. Utah
  13. Oregon
  14. LSU
  15. Kansas State
  16. Oregon State
  17. North Carolina
  18. Oklahoma
  19. Wisconsin
  20. Ole Miss
  21. Duke
  22. Colorado
  23. Texas A&M
  24. Tulane
  25. Clemson

Others receiving votes: Iowa 73, UCLA 55, Arkansas 28, TCU 27, Kentucky 15, Pittsburgh 8, Mississippi St. 5, Miami 4, NC State 4, Auburn 3, Troy 3, Fresno St. 3, Minnesota 3, Wyoming 3, Iowa St. 2, Texas St. 2, Texas Tech 1, Louisville 1, Washington St. 1, Illinois 1, Houston 1, UCF 1, James Madison 1