Tuesday, November 6. 2012Red, Blue And Pigskin
We weren't ever going to learn a whole lot positive about the Utes with this week's game against Washington State. But we could have learned a whole lot of negative, had the Utes not gone out and taken care of business. Instead a 49-
Of course, in typical Utah fashion this season, they manage to shutout their opponent for 60 minutes and still not end up with a shutout. BYU continues preparation for the Poinsettia Bowl, but there was some intrigue in the competition to be their opponent. Complete Game
Admittedly, much of what is said about this week's game by Utah must be prefaced with noting that Washington State is a terrible, horrible team, that not only lost to Colorado, but seems to have given up this season. Utah DE Joe Kruger even said, you could hear the linemen arguing with their coach. So yes, Washington State is terrible, and no they aren't a good barometer for the quality of another team. But the good news is Utah didn't just squeak by them. Utah flat out destroyed them. In so doing the Utes put together their best game of the last two years. The Utes were rolling in all three phases of the game. Utah scored on it's 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and final drive of the first half, and after a mid 3rd quarter score, they subbed out to the 2nd string offense. Jon Hays received a very warm response when he checked into the game and led the Cougars to 3 points in his two drives. Finally the third string offense came in, led by redshirt freshman QB Adam Schulz and finished the scoring with a TD. Defensively the Cougars' passing offense, which averages 324.2 yards per game, was locked down to merely 259 yards, and a pathetic Cougar rushing game (29.1 yards per game) was held to -4 rushing yards (In two games in the state of Utah, Washington State accumlated a total of -9 yards rushing), aided by 6 sacks by the Utes defense. Overall the the defense, all three strings, held a shutout for over 60:00, as the lone Washington State Touchdown came on the last snap of the game, and after the clock showed all zeros. On the special teams side of the ball, Reggie Dunn did it again. In his only attempt, Reggie Dunn came out to receive the 2nd half kickoff. After getting the North End Zone behind him, and chanting, Dunn then took the kickoff, found the lane, and was off for his 3rd 100 yard kickoff TD in two games, and 4th of his career. Things were going so well, that Coach Whittingham actually let Coleman Petersen attempt to chip shot field goals (a 20, and a 22 yarder), even more surprising, Petersen made both. View From The Red Zone I was surprised to see the offensive linemen for the Cougars absolutely drenched in sweat during only their second drive of the game. It was an unseasonably warm day, yes, but it was still just in the 70's. The Cougars also wore grey jerseys, and while I don't know where that falls on the absorbs heat versus reflects heat on the color scale, the Cougars just seemed extremely physically unprepared. I will however give the Cougars credit for having the most interactive opposing Mascot of the season, as Butch the Cougar (Much cooler than that Cosmo guy), would enter the North End Zone often to interact with fans via pictures or just good nature hazing. At least the mascot can find something fun about Washington State's miserable season. Measuring Stick As the Utes stumbled through the extremely difficult, front loaded portion of what has turned out to be the 9th ranked strength of schedule, I kept pointing out that the Utes weren't as bad as they seemed, and had been making strides each week, and were competitive each week, except against Arizona State. On the same token, the Utes aren't as good as they've seemed the last two weeks taking on a bad Cal team, and a dreadful Washington State team. We can begin to find out more about this team with this week's matchup in Seattle against the Washington Huskies. Much like the Utes and the Cal Bears, the Huskies have struggled with consistency all season. That said, they give the Utes one of their only two remaining tests. The Utes have also struggled on the road the past two seasons, being currently winless during 2012 away from Rice-Eccles stadium. While the Huskies have been better at home this season than they have been on the road, although they finally notched their own first road victory this past Friday against Cal. The Price Of Victory This game will come down to how well the Utes can handle mobile QB Keith Price, and on the flip side how well the Huskies can protect him. The Huskies have an absolutely dreadful Offensive Line, considered by many to be the worst in the conference, and it's shown as they lead the conference in sacks allowed. At first glance this should play greatly into Utah's strength. However, the Utes have struggled this year with mobile, dual-threat QB's. In games against Utah State (Chucky Keeton), Arizona State (Taylor Kelly), and UCLA (Brett Hundley), the Utes have struggled to wrap up mobile quarterbacks. Unable to finish against the mobile quarterback, they've been able to slip out of tackles and sacks, keep plays alive, and eventually take advantage of Utah's diminished linebacker corps. It will be important for Utah to not just get pressure with their front four, but also to stay disciplined as they do it. Especially for the Linebackers. They must fight the tendency to bite on the threat of the QB run. They will need to stay home, and not vacate the middle of the field, which will then allow Price to scramble for big gains. If the Utes are able to not only pressure, but contain Price, their offensive progression from the past five weeks should continue. With John White finally healthy, and the Utes leading the conference in time of possession at 33 minutes per game, Utah should be able to keep pressure off of Wilson, and take advantage of what is still a lesser Husky defense. With Utah needing to win against either Washington or Arizona, you can bet the Utes don't want to fall to the Huskies, and put so much pressure on the Arizona game. They would much prefer to leave some room for error. This About Sums It Up Speaking of Cougars and blowouts, BYU is a 37 point favorite for this week's Senior Day game against Idaho. This marks the second largest spread involving 1-A teams from Utah, trailing only Utah -42 vs Northern Colorado in week one. Personally I'd say lay the points, that seems like too small a line. Yes that's how bad this game is. Also I personally would set the Over/Under for Defensive/Special Teams TD's at 3.5. I'd take the over of that as I think there will probably be about 4. Senior Moment With this week's game being the only home game of the last 6 weeks of the College Football regular season for BYU, it also doubles as Senior Day for the Cougars. There are some notable seniors who will be playing leaving at the end of the year. While there's been a lot of focus on Riley, I want to focus more on the other side of the ball, and look at who is leaving from this great defense. Graduating notable defensive seniors: Ezekial Ansah, Romney Fuga, Preston Hadley, Austen Jorgenson, Uona Kaveinga, Brandon Ogletree, Eathyn Manumalenua (Although he's trying to get a medical redshirt), Joe Sampson, Russel Tialavea. No wonder that defense was so good, just look at the experience on it. So does looking at the sheer number of losses on defense, make the missed opportunities of this season more painful? What about when you add in the Kyle Van Oy factor. Van Oy will get some interest by scouts. You've got to think it'll be tempting for him to leave. Especially when he starts to weigh it versus coming back. BYU players haven't had a lot of luck coming back for their senior year, in recent history. Also you have to think that coming back to a defense that's losing so much experience, might make it more difficult next season, and have an adverse effect on his stock. From a skill standpoint Van Oy could use the extra year, but from a draft stock standpoint, I'm not sure he can risk coming back. Poinsettia Watch An interesting week in the competition to face BYU in the Poinsettia Bowl, as the San Diego State Aztecs became just the third team to win in Boise in Chris Petersen's tenure. In so doing, they eliminated any slim BCS hopes for the Broncos, but also put the Conference championship in question. Just a reminder that the Vegas Bowl gets top pick of MWC teams. If Boise is tied with any number of other teams at the top of the standings, the Broncos will be the selection, since they are the marquee team of the conference. However, if the Broncos are sitting behind one or multiple teams in the standings, things will get interesting. Boise State (7-2, 4-1) - Beaten on the smurf turf by the Aztecs, and looking down at a frisky Nevada team to finish the season. Hawaii and CSU won't provide any difficulties. A win versus Nevada and it's Vegas Baby, but another loss and things can get interesting. San Diego State (7-3, 5-1) - An upset of the Broncos on the smurf turf should pave the way for the Aztecs to claim a share of the conference crown. Air Force is always frisky, but the only thing stopping the Aztecs now would be the Aztecs. Not likely to get picked by Vegas if tied with Boise, but you gotta believe they'd be the favorite for the Poinsettia Bowl. Fresno State (7-3, 5-1) - Trounced the Rainbow Warriors and now face Nevada. With Air Force after that, and having beaten San Diego already this season, Bulldogs are the surprise in the race for the crown. If Poinsettia doesn't want the home town Aztecs (who struggle to sale out Qualcomm normally), maybe the other California team in the race might be intriguing. Nevada (6-3, 3-2) - Back to back losses to SDSU and Air Force have derailed a great season. The Wolf Pack aren't really much of a threat for the Conference championship, but could be the monkey wrench with a final week victory over Boise. Air Force (5-4, 4-1) - On the list because they only have one in conference loss, but with 4 losses overall, including an embarassing loss to Army this past week, Air Force will be removed from this list following their next loss, which should be this week against San Diego. Still can't imagine they'd be chosen ahead of any of the other 4 teams for any bowl. I still think it's likely a SDSU matchup, which is probably the preferred matchup, since the Boise game would be a rematch. In all honesty, despite listing 5 possible candidates, it's a two horse race between Boise and SDSU. If Nevada wins on December 1st, it's Boise, otherwise it's the Aztecs. So BYU fans which matchup would you prefer and why? Podcast Recording The third episode of the Red, Blue And Pigskin podcast will be recorded this Friday. This was supposed to be the mid season report, but real life intervened, and it's now the 4th Quarter report. Please send in any comments, questions, insults, criticism, or other reader participation objects. If you don't, than you'll just make me feel lonely. Trackbacks
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