Red, Blue And Pigksin

Like A Baby Learning To Walk

Have you ever watched a toddler as they are first starting to walk. They take those first couple steps and get so proud of themselves. But they have no balance so soon they fall on the rears. It goes like this for a while. They then get some balance, and are able to take more steps at a time without falling. Inevitably they end up going too fast, or too far, and then trip over their own feet.

This past weekend, as I watched the Utes struggle in all phases of the game. I watched a Utah defense so afraid of getting burned by a mobile Quarterback that they ended up missing basic assignments. I watched a freshman quarterback play exactly like a freshman quarterback, by which I mean terribly. I watched a young play caller who is learning on the job try to adjust to his struggling freshman quarterback. As I watched all that and more, as the Utes last chance at a meaningful road win this season, and possibly their entire season in general go down in flames, I couldn't help but think of a toddler learning to walk.

The Utes are that toddler. They are still struggling learning how to walk in this new Pac-12 world where they are no longer the big dogs. Whittingham has always referred to this adjustment as a process, and it's clear this year, that it's a process that will take time. Much like learning to walk is a process with it's fair share of falls along the way. This week the Utes tripped on their own feet, and fell face first into the ground. The question will they get back up, or will they be content to stay on the ground and cry.

Fear Made The Problem Worse

Defensively the Utes were just flat out unprepared. It seemed like the Utes were so worried about letting Washington QB Keith Price beat them with his mobility, that they overcompensated. This caused the Utes to miss basic assignments. It allowed Washington to open up holes in the running game.

Trying not to let Price beat them, our Linebackers and Secondary were constantly keeping an eye on the back field. As they watched the back field they missed the receivers running behind them.

As the game wore on, and the Utah defense began to scramble since they were being beaten all night, the thing they feared most began to happen, as in the second half, Price started to scramble, keep plays alive, and finally kill the Utes.

Play Like A Freshman

Just because Travis Wilson hadn't had that disastrous, terrible, horrible, true freshman game, didn't mean that he wasn't going to have it. Unfortunately for Utah he chose a terrible time to have it. With their backs up against the wall, and desperately needing Travis Wilson to continue making strides, Wilson went out there and royally sucked it up.

The Utah offense gained a total of 55 yards passing the entire game. Wilson never looked comfortable. When he did throw it, he clearly wasn't making correct reads as he was more likely to throw into triple coverage than he was to make the correct read.

This was Wilson's worst game as starter. This was also a game that could be expected. It was only a matter of time before the moment and pressure got the best of Wilson. It's why when the Utes decided to start Wilson for the rest of the season, they were effectively punting on this year, in the hopes that Wilson will be better prepared in future seasons.

To make the loss even more difficult, John White was running strong, and running well, finishing with 146 yards. White was running well enough to take pressure off of Wilson. Wilson was just unable to hold up his end of the bargain.

Trapped, Staring At A Ferocious Wildcat

And now the Utes are backed up to the edge of this season's cliff. Coming at them is the Arizona Wildcats. The Wildcats are in the top 20 in most statistical offensive categories. Last weekend Arizona running back Ka'Deem Carey rushed for a Pac-12 record 366 yards in a single game.

In his last four complete games, Arizona QB Matt Scott is averaging 380 yards through the air and 3 Touchdowns. Against Stanford last month Scott threw for 491 yards.

This offense is potent.

One of the few saving graces for the Utes this weekend is that it will be a night game, and should be around 35 degrees at kickoff, which will be a difficult adjustment for the Wildcats who are used to 80 degrees this time of year.

But when you are having to rely on external elements such as weather, it only shows how desperate a team really is.

Senior Send Off

Being the last home game of the season means it's also senior day. This will be the last chance for fans to see the seniors on this team.

It means it's our last chance to see possible top 5 pick Star Lotulelei dominate the interior line like no one we've been able to see. It means it's our last chance to see the single season rushing leader John White run through holes. It's our last chance to revel in the special teams magic of Reggie Dunn

But for the most part, it's also our chance to say goodbye to a group of seniors who have mostly disappointed this season. Highlighted by the failures and lack of effort of DeVonte Christopher. Coming into the season, Christopher was in a position to make some noise with scouts if he had a good season. Instead Christopher spent the majority of the season giving as little effort as he can culminating with his game costing fumble against Oregon State. Christopher was then benched for the Cal game, and didn't see the field against Washington State till Utah was playing their scrubs.

The defensive senior disappointment has to go to Dave Kruger. I don't know how you can start alongside a dominant tackle such as Star Lotulelei and still not manage to get pressure on the QB, or be able to make plays whatsoever, however Dave has shown that it is possible. Thought to be the season where he finally lived up to his pedigree Kruger was part of a defensive line who wasted the senior season of a dominant Defensive Tackle. Unlike his brother Joe, Dave doesn't have an injury to blame it on.

Now all the seniors haven't been huge disappointments. Some have done what was expected like Ryan Lacy, Reggie Topps and Tevita Stevens. But on the whole this is a disappointing senior class that hasn't shown a lot of mental strength or heart as the season went on, and the struggles came.

Just ask Coleman Petersen.

Just So I Can Say I Talked About It

This weekend BYU managed to safely make it to the stadium for their game against Idaho. It was at that point the game was over.

This weekend the Cougars travel to play San Jose State. While the Spartans are improved over the past couple weeks, and will actually be a tougher competition than the Vandals, this game should still easily be in hand by the end of the first quarter.

The Competition Was Off The Field

While the Cougars haven't had to face any actual on the field competition since their victory over Georgia Tech, it appears that three players decided to look for conflict off of it.

News and video broke this past week about a brawl at a Provo Rancheritos involving three BYU players. Redshirt Sophomore Zac Stout, and Senior DB Joe Sampson have withdrawn from school over the incident (In one of the videos, Stout is the guy standing up with the backwards cap that threw the first punch, while Sampson can be seen hitting the guy who had wrestled Stout to the ground in the second video) and Jordan Johnson was suspended for the Idaho game.

Stouts's departure from the school continues the down fall of the "Iggy Boys" and the vaunted 2009 recruiting class in general. Stout was one of the other two who joined Jake Heaps for their press conference at Iggys in June of 2009 to announce their verbal commitment to BYU. Heaps, of course, was the #1 QB prospect in the nations, while Apo had previous committed to Texas, and Stout was one of the higher sought after Middle LB recruits that season, though he had mostly disappointed so far at BYU.

Two of the three are no longer with BYU, and Ross Apo has seen his involvement in the offense dwindle as Riley Nelson, and even when Taysom Hill was in, favors Cody Hoffman.

Even outside of the Iggy Boys, the 2009 class has not lived up to success. While you could argue that Van Oy has been the gem of the 2009 class (who started playing in 2010), Van Oy was originally recruited the previous year, but a DUI caused his actual enrollment to be delayed.

The other high powered offensive recruit from 2009 was Joshua "Juice" Quezada, but he too has left the team due to lack of playing time, despite rushing for 505 yards on 99 carries as a true freshman.

Now I don't pretend to know or care what was said to start the fight, and while Stout threw a nice sucker punch that turned it from words to a physical altercation, at least they can still hold their heads high that they aren't creep who threw punches at the girl.

As we get towards the end of the actual on the field competition for this season, and recruiting begins to get into full swing, this incident, and the failures of that high powered 2009 BYU class serve as a reminder not to get to wrapped up in stars and ratings, because there really is no way to accurately guess how good a player, or collection of players will end up.

Poinsettia Roundup Down To Three

With two regular season weeks to go we are down to three competitors to play the Cougars in the Poinsettia Bowl. Since the three have already played each other (each winning one), it's likely that we're going to end the season with a three way tie at the top, with Nevada vs. Boise being the only likely chance at a monkey wrench being thrown into works.

Boise State (8-2, 5-1) - Despite not being as good as in the past, they're still the crown jewel of the the MWC. They took care of business against Hawaii, and should do the same this week versus Colorado State. After that the only thing standing between them and their third straight Vegas Bowl appearance is Nevada.

San Diego State (8-3, 6-1) - Survived the Air Force option and must now travel to Laramie. A win wraps up a share of the MWC crown, but will still leave them as the likely favorite for the home game Poinsettia Bowl.

Fresno State (8-3, 6-1) - The surprise team of the bunch, and also the most likely to be dropped from the top 2. Like San Diego they can claim a share of the MWC crown with a victory this week over Air Force, but most likely they'll end up being the third selection of the three.

Dropouts: Air Force, Nevada - Losses by both have effectively removed them from the chase for #2, but they'll each get a chance to play spoiler to one of the top three over the next two weeks.

Last Chance At Relevance

Ever since Gary Anderson left to coach the Aggies, he's seemingly had them on the verge of shedding their little brother label and actually becoming relevant. Close calls against national powers (Oklahoma, Auburn, Wisonsin) have made them semi-newsworthy, but they've never been able to get over the hump.

Despite in state victories over BYU (2010), and Utah (2012) the past few years, the Aggies have managed to undo goodwill that was seemingly theirs for the taking with collapses (2011), and flat out laying an egg (2012) against BYU, forcing them to once again accept their little brother fate.

This weekend the Aggies will get their last chance this season to prove they deserve to be relevant as they faced 20th ranked Louisiana Tech. Winner of this game will forever be known as the final WAC Champion. This is exactly the kind of game that the Aggies have had trouble closing out during Anderson's tenure. A win puts the Aggies on track for a double digit win total, and may put Gary Anderson's as a top name for the next level (Top end Non-AQ, Low End AQ) of head coaching jobs, but a loss will once again condemn the Aggies to their little brother irrelevance, and may actually hurt Anderson's chances of moving up in the next year or two, as it will show a history of not making it over the hump.