Curtis on :
Nice work. Keep it up.
Go Utes!
Go Utes!
Tuesday, August 26. 2014Red, Blue And Pigskin
Has anyone ever figured out why two equal amounts of time can feel so drastically different? For example, this year's offseason will last a grand total of 234 days, the exact same amount of days that last offseason lasted. Yet for some reason, this year, it seems to have been an extremely long, and slow time frame.
Of course, that's all about to come to an end. The Cougars and Utes are both in game week preparation This means, the two most disturbing trends in the world are about to come to an end. This Thursday marks the start of the 2014 season, and today officially marks the end of no more Red, Blue And Pigskin. There will be one major difference in the 2014 season. For the first time since the Axis and the Allies were busy squabbling like siblings at a reading of a rich relatives will, the Cougars and the Utes will not play each other. While there are some who won't miss it, I sure will. I love the Holy War, even if I can't stand a lot of the crap on both sides that lead up to the game. Since they won't be playing a game this year, I won't be able to write by annual Tale of the Tape comparison, so I'm co-opting it and using it as my season preview. Tale Of The Tape: 2014
When Last We Saw Them The ending to 2013 was bitter sweet for both teams. For Byu they were last seen ending their season with a disappointing performance in the Fight Hunger Bowl as they were defeated by the Washington Huskies, as the Cougars finished the season with an 8-5 record. While 2013 did have the high point of ending the Mack Brown era at Texas, the entire season was disappointment (Virginia), deja vu (Utah, again), and missed opportunities. For Utah, the secret of the 2013 team is that they were actually a good team. It could even be argued that they were the best Utah team since 2008. However, much like Byu suffered through deja vu in losing to the Utes once again, Utah was forced to relive their Quarterback woes, as once again they failed to have a qb start every game of the season. In fact only twice in the last 11 years has Utah had a single Qb start every game of the season (2004, 2008). Even though the Utes got their first signature win as a member of the Pac-12 when they upset #5 Stanford at home, injuries, and a top 5 ranked schedule doomed the Utes to their second consecutive 5-7 season, leaving them once again at home. Advantage: Byu - Utah may have clearly been the best team in the state, but in the end going bowling, even if you get thumped, trumps watching at home. Offseason For the Utes there have been two questions that have engulfed the offseason. The first, and most prevalent have been in regards to how warm is the seat under Coach Kyle Whittingham, and should the Utes fail once again to make a bowl game, will, or should he be back in 2015? When people weren't questioning the future of the head coaching position on the hill, they seemed to be focusing on would Travis Wilson be able to come back this season. Well one question will be answered over the next 5 months, but the second question received an answer during the summer, as Travis Wilson received medical clearance to return to the field. However, the Utes aren't solely relying on Wilson this year, as they seem to have finally learned from the past, and brought in a Junior QB From Oklahoma, Kendall Thompson. Since Thompson has already graduated from OU, he's immediately eligible this season. Another consistent at Utah the past 5 years has been a new Offensive Coordinator every season, and this year was no different as Utah Brought in former Wyoming Head Coach, and former Offensive Coordinator at Missouri to take over the duties from Brian Johnson and Dennis Erickson. This of course means 7 years, 7 OC's. Down South, Byu didn't have the best offseason out there. While there was nothing extremely disastrous there were a lot of small things throughout the year. Consider it as though they never suffered a knockout punch, but took a lot of body blows. There were off season drinking incidents, rumors of suspensions from an honor code violating party, actual suspensions from various incidents. There was also the internal investigation currently underway at Byu. As is usual at this point of investigations, not much is known, other than it started with socks. How much more is involved we don't know, nor will we until Byu and the NCAA reveal the results. Since the investigation, and many of the honor code incidents are all internal, and we will only know exactly what's going on, if and when Byu chooses to let us know (they made the proper decision after this off season to stop talking about Honor Code violations unless it was public news such as an arrest.) The worst blow to Byu this offseason was on a perception level. As Byu fights to prove they belong and deserve to be a part of the new playoff era, their battle was dealt a blow by the SEC and the ACC. During the offseason, the SEC and the ACC both showed their cowardly colors by deciding to chicken out and not join the Pac-12, Big XII, and B1G on the 9 game conference schedule front. Instead the ACC and the SEC decided to stick with 8 game conference schedules, but that one of their out of conference games must against a Power 5 opponent. A week later they clarified that while Notre Dame counts as a P5 opponent, the other independents, including Byu, don't. This means that in the eyes of the SEC Iowa State is more valuable as an opponent than Byu. Advantage: Utah Schedule Enough of the past, we're all ready for the future, so let's get to it by talking about who exactly these two teams will be up against. Last year the Utes faced an extremely tough schedule. One that was consistently ranked in the top 5 of toughest schedules. On paper, the Utes 2014 schedule is tougher with some even calling it the toughest schedule in the country. Sure the Utes start the season this Thursday with the Annual Prostitution game, this year against Idaho State. That's the only guaranteed W on the slate. The rest of the out of conference schedule consists of Mountain West Champion Fresno State, though they will be without Derek Carr who is now in the NFL, a bye week, and then a road game at the Big House against Michigan. In conference the Utes face the typical southern division foes, as well as Oregon, a trip to the farm against a Stanford team looking for revenge, Washington State, and Oregon State. One nice bonus for the Utes is that the only consecutive road games during the year, have the Utes second bye week squeezed in between. For the Cougars there is no pretense of a tough schedule. While 2013 was supposed to be the toughest schedule ever for the Cougars, before many teams began to disappoint on the field, there's no same guise about 2014. The tough game is week 2 with a trip to Austin against the now Charlie Strong coached Texas Longhorns. The Cougars should honestly be favored in every other game the rest of the season, a schedule that includes Boise State post Chris Petersen, a road game against UCF who will be replacing QB Brian Bortles, and the annual conference weekend matchup against Utah State with Chucky Keeton back. Those are your headliners. While Utah has a schedule that could beat them up in their quest to win 6 games, if the Cougars win less than 10 this year, it may seriously be time to rethink Bronco as coach. Advantage: Utah - Not to rub salt in the wounds, but really really sorry about that November home schedule BYU fans. Quaterbacks Terrance Cain, Jordan Wynn, Jon Hays, Travis Wilson, Adam Schulz, Jake Heaps, Riley Nelson, James Lark, Taysom Hill. That is the parade of quarterbacks at the top 2 teams in this state since Brian Johnson led the Utes to the Sugar Bowl in 2008, and Max Hall had his post rivalry therapy session. Not exactly a murderers row of passers. With more than one player who is a glorified running back in the Quarterback position. Speaking of I must give credit where it's due. Last year I called Taysom Hill a faster, more athletic Riley Nelson. However, Taysom did improve his throwing ability enough last year, that I think we can now say Riley Nelson is an extremely poor Taysom Hill. While Riley was a 1 read (if you were lucky), huck and pray type passer, as the year went on, Taysom actually showed the ability to make decent decisions, and throw balls that were more than lame ducks. Still Taysom isn't now, nor will he ever really be an elite passer who is a danger with his arm. Taysom's weaponry still revolves completely around his legs and his running ability, and if a defense can take that away they've gone a long way to winning the game, but Taysom can throw just well enough, especially on quick hit type passes, that the defense can't completely sell out against the run. One thing that would really worry me as a Byu fan, is the pronouncement by Offensive Coordinator Robert Anae, that they are actually installing a package of plays where Taysom will have the freedom to change the play. If Taysom didn't have the freedom last year, and he called his own number as much as he did, just imagine what it'll be like when he has the freedom to do what he wants. Up on the Hill, it's different verse, same as the first. Utah was finishing up a fourth quarter drive against Stanford. Utah was leading and on the verge of a major upset. As QB Travis Wilson came off the field I saw him shaking his hand and looking down at it. In came a sense of dread. Sure enough it was announced that he had injured his hand during the game but he should be fine the following week against Arizona. It didn't take long to see that he clearly wasn't okay. Then the USC Game came and he still was completely out of whack. A bye week before Arizona State gave Wilson time to get the hand healed, but he was clearly a little bit shaken. A concussion during the game, led to a test that revealed a previous intra cranial injury that threated not just his season, but could be life threatening should he continue playing. With another starting qb gone, the Utes just didn't have the depth to recover, and stumbled to a 1-5 closing stretch. Now that's not to say Wilson didn't have some issues. He had a high interception rate for the games he did play, finishing with 16 interceptions in 8 games, but there was a difference in the leadership and of the offense when Wilson wasn't in there. Finally the Utes have some QB depth. Wilson was cleared medically to come back, and won the starting QB job, but only after an intense QB Battle with Oklahoma transfer Kendall Thompson. Thompson is a QB similar to a Taysom Hill, or a Marcus Mariota where the legs are the first weapon. Thompson impressed the Coaches enough, that even though he lost the starting qb battle by a slim margin, he worked himself into a package of plays (hopefully red zone.) Behind Thompson are two redshirt freshmen qbs, that the coaching staff feel so high on, that they did everything they could last season to protect their redshirts. Truth is, Utah fans solely want to see the starter go for all 12, hopefully 13, pipe dream 14, games. But should/when the backup have to come in, it's no longer a grand canyon sized change. Advantage: Utah Running Taysom may have got all the publicity, but Jamaal Williams is the true cog that makes that offense run. Jamaal Williams is far and away the best player on the Cougars, and is in the top 3 for players in the state (Dres Anderson, Healthy Chuckie Keeton.) In 2012 Williams did not become the featured back until the 5th game of the year, and still put up 775 yards rushing, this despite Riley Nelson taking a good chunk of rushing yards that should have been his. Last year, Williams missed a game and a half with an injury and still put up 1233 yards of rushing, this despite Taysom taking a good chunk of carries that should have been his. The fact that defenses have to account for the threat of Williams, helps open up running lanes for Taysom. Something that will be missed in week one at UConn when Williams serves a 1 game suspension. The other part of the Cougar running game is of course, Taysom himself. Taysom exploded onto the scene with a 259 yard output against Texas, but showed he wasn't a one game pony throughout the year. Taysom ended just behind Williams with 1211 yards rushing, good for 3rd best for a quarterback in the nation. While deciding who is RB1 and who is RB2 is still up in the air, the Cougars know who their top two running backs are. Utah, not so much. While Utah would prefer to have someone come up and take the job, it hasn't happened yet, and as of now are a committee running team. Last year Bubba Poole looked like he was going to steal the mantle of featured back, but as the year went on, he began to falter. Instead of hitting the hole with authority like he was at the beginning of the season, Poole spent too much time, dancing in the backfield, and was never able to wrestle the job away. Devontae Booker was the star of the Summer, showing a nice blend of speed and power, but problems putting the ball on the ground during Fall Camp led to some Depth Chart infused motivation tactics from Whit. When it comes to just pure blazing speed, the Utes also have a young combination of Dre'vian Young, and Troy McCormick, who can both burn. The Utes have a lot of potential, but Poole is really the only one who has seen any time in action. Advantage: Byu - Hill and Williams are a killer two running back combo. Wide Receivers/Tight Ends If you can't keep your QB healthy, at least give the backup plenty of targets with which to work. Unfortunately for Utah when Kenneth Scott went down on the second play of the season last year, and Jake Murphy went down with an injury a few games later, that left all of the play making up to Dres Andersen. And While Dres had a fantastic year, earning Honorable Pac-12 honors on his way to 1002 yards, it didn't take long for teams to realize they only needed to roll a safety over to Dres, and the Utes didn't have many options. This year Kenneth Scott is back, and looks to help take some of the pressure off of Dres. The Utes also brought in Junior College transfer Kaelin Clay to take reps in the slot. It's the Utes hope that with three guys who can stretch the field, defenses won't be able to just smother Dres Andersen who could have a special senior season. For Byu, they enter the season without Cody Hoffman. Honestly I kind of feel bad for Cody. During his time at Byu his quarter backs were Jake Heaps, Riley Nelson, and Taysom Hill. Despite all this he still managed to become the best statistical WR in Byu history. Imagine if he only had a real quarterback. How do you replace Hoffman? Well the Cougars brought in a crop of new faces to go along with returning players Mitch Matthews, and Ross Apo. Ross Apo of course was a member of the Iggy's group of young prospects. And while Apo has been a major bust during his time here, He's probably the most successful of the group, as he's the only one who's never left the team. Unfortunately for Byu some of their hope at WR took a hit when they learned they lost Nick Kurtz for about 8 weeks. On top of that, Devon Blackmon, a Junior College recruit who used to be at Oregon, was suspended for the first game. While it'll be a surprise if this is Blackmon's only rules related suspension during his career, it means the Cougars will probably run a lot during week 1. Advantage: Utah Outside of Dres the WR's are all about potential in state this year, But Dres is a known commodity and better than anyone else on either team. Offensive Line Byu is really hoping they can upgrade their offensive line play from truly atrocious that it was last year. In year one of "Go Fast, Go Hard", the OL struggled to match the intensity and the pace of the offense, and seemed to lack any real nastiness during their play. While the coaching staff has talked about a vast improvement in their play this camp, it can't be a good sign, that they are still shuffling the OL around, with just a few days before game 1. They can blame it on the fact that their pace requires so many offensive lineman all they want, it's still not a valid excuse. Another bad sign for Byu: The only Offensive Lineman last year, that had real fire and nastiness, Brayden Kearsley, is academically ineligible. For Utah, they were never truly terrible last year, they just weren't any good. CJ Poutasi who earned Honorable Pac-12 honors as a true freshman playing the right side in 2012, never quite adjusted to playing on the left side, as he seemed a step slow at his new position, and is hoping that losing 25 pounds this year will help. The rest of the line, outside right guard Junior Salt, was adjusted, and tinkered with all season. Junior Salt may very well be the safest NFL bet in the state this year, but the Utes really need to get him some help this season, or their QB history may rear it's ugly head again. Advantage: Push There's equal amounts of worry on both lines. Defensive Line "Next man up!" That seems to be the mantra for the Utes when it comes to replacing defensive line players. Next man up. Paul Kruger leaves, in come Sealver Siliga. Siliga out, replaced with a Star. Star goes Reilly and Tenny Palepoi hold the spot. Reilly/Palepoi graduate, now it's Orchard's time to shine. Granted not all those players were on equal level, but the point holds. For quite a while now, the Utes have managed to just keep cranking defensive line talent through the system. 2014 shouldn't be any different. This time it's Nate Orchards turn to anchor the defensive line. Orchard who has played in all 37 games since his true freshman season, is 5th all time on the Utes in forced fumbles. This year though will be the first time he'll be the man that the opposing team focuses on. While the Right end is solidified, the Utes will have rotating depth at the other three positions. But there's a name that will be seeing time at tackle spot that will make Ute fans happy, and announcers cringe, as true freshman Lowell Lotulelei, yes Star's brother, has cracked the depth chart. In such a pass happy conference, getting pressure with the front seven, and specifically the front four, will be very important for Utah. For Byu gone are the days of Ezekiel Ansah, and Eathyn Manumaleuna. Instead there is a lot of unknowns on the defensive line. The most well known player on the dl, is the player who was supposed to replace Ansah, and that's Bronson Kaufusi. Kaufusi is a two sport player for the Cougars as he also plays basketball. But so far after his freshman season, he's been all hype, with very little to show for it. He's flashed enough talent to seem like he could be a big contributor, but mostly he seemed lost and pushed around by the oppositions OL. Byu's defensive scheme relies mainly on it's Linebackers for production, but with the LB corps also suffering some defections, and no longer having Kyle Van Oy back there as a disruptor, the Cougars desperately need someone on this defensive line to make a name for themselves. Advantage: Utah Linebackers Rob Morris. Brady Poppinga. David Nixon. Kyle Van Oy was the next Nfl bound Linebacker for the Cougars. One could even make an argument that he was the best linebacker to play at Byu. But he's gone now. Also gone are his LB mates Spencer Hadley, and Uani Unga. It's hard to replace a great player at a position. It's even harder to replace 1 great player, and 2 good ones all at the same time. Alani Fua is about the only LB from last years squad with a lot of playing time. Outside of Fua, the Cougars are hoping that true freshman Fred Warner can be the next Van Oy. Warner is very athletic and a heavy hitter but is also raw. Harvey Langi, yes the very same one, is fresh off his mission, and has seemed to crack the two deep at his line backer position. It's unsure if this is a sign of lack of depth, or Langi's talent. Finally former Iggy Boy, and shamed Line Backer Zac Stout has been brought back on the team, and the Cougars are desperately hoping to finally get some of that production they hoped for back when he was sharing the table with Heaps, and Apo. For the Utes the Linebacking corps was the weak link when they entered the conference, and has slowing started to improve into a strength. Van Oy may have gotten all the publicity, but the best line backer in the state last year was Trevor Reilly. Reilly is gone, but the Linebacking corps may be better than it's been in a while. Jason Whittingham has shed the label as the Coach's nephew, and is making his own name for himself. University of Miami transfer Gionni Paul has been wowing people for two years now. Paul will be slowed by a foot injury that could keep him out for the first couple weeks, but now that he's able to play, many figure he'll be the anchor in the middle. Pita Taumoepenu is raw, but is a name that many mention when asked who they are excited to see play, and Uaea Masina is another young prospect the Utes are really high on. Advantage: Utah - I know it's blasphemous to think so, but there is just so much unknown about Byu's corp. Like exactly who's playing. Defensive Backs Years of replacing players finally caught up to the Utes last year, as their defensive backs struggled all year with production. As a team the Utes only managed 3 interceptions all season. 1 was by a linebacker. Brian Blechen missed all of last season as an injury, but is back this year, and has apparently earned his teammates respect enough to become a team captain. Eric Rowe has moved from the Safety position he's played for two seasons to become a corner. The Utes can only hope he's as successful as the last player who made that move, Keith McGill last year. JuCo transfer Tevin Carter was supposed to be a big play safety for the Utes last year, before being unable to clear academics. This year he's cleared academics and taken the second starting safety spot. Davion Orphey, and Justin Thomas will be on the opposite side of Rowe. The problem for the Utes though is depth. They don't have much experience depth wise beyond those mentioned. In a conference that passes as much as the Pac-12 that could be a problem. Afterall if you have a player playing both ways, like Utes will be doing with Dominique Hatfield, it means he's either a special talent, or you are really hurting for depth, and if he's a special talent, wouldn't he have cracked the depth chart sooner. For Byu, the Cougars are hoping that Jordan Johnson, and Trent Trammell have recovered enough from their season ending knee injuries suffered last season, that Byu can finally shed the "slow white secondary" mantra that's plagued them for a while. Craig Bills is the next in a long line of nosy safeties who, while not the most athletic, are usually some of the more disruptive. Last season the Cougars had to line up 10 yards deep to limit the damage with the deep ball. If Trammell and Johnson can live up to some of the expectations they had before last year, that might change. Advantage: Utah - But not nearly the advantage it's been in the past, and could easily flip. Special Teams This may be the biggest separation on a position group for one team. While both teams will be trying out new players in the kick return game, Byu is also replacing long time starters at both kicking positions. Meanwhile Utah's Andy Phillips is a preseason All American selection by Sports Illustrated and was one of the more accurate kickers all of last season. Tom Hackett also was a preseason All American selection and is a master at directing his punts. In fact it was during the Arizona State game that I saw something I'd never seen before. Tom Hackett had hurt the Sun Devils all game long by angling his punts away from the returner and gaining the Utes an extra 20 yards of field position, that the Devils actually put a second punt returner back there to stop the damage. For kickoff returns having a second returner is the status quo, but I've never seen a team have two punt returners back. Advantage: Utah Coaching One may be coaching for his job, the other is trying to battle perception. For the Utes, Coach Whittingham is on the hot seat. There are many who think that the Utes must get back to a bowl game, for Whit to be brought back for another season. Personally I think, unless it's a flat out disaster of a year, Whit has done enough to get one final season. After all he always said it would take 4 years before Utah could begin to compete, and this is year 4. That and the depth on this team, is finally starting to match that of some of the Pac-12 brethren. However that's not to say that Whit deserves a free pass for the struggles of the last few years. Afterall the neglect at the QB position as Brian Johnson ended his career greatly led to the QB struggles of the past few years. Also one cannot cycle through offensive coordinators, and play callers as frequently as Whit has and not see on the field play suffer because of it. That said, this last OC reshuffling may not be all of Whit's fault, and may not be as bad as some of the previous. Apparently, despite being the OC, or Co-OC last year, Dennis Erickson really didn't want to be as involved in the gameplan last year. Erickson mainly just wanted to coach, and recruit. So that left it up to Brian Johnson to gameplan and call plays. While I still maintain that one day Brian Johnson will be a good OC, now is not that time, so when Wyoming fired Christensen as head coach, Whittingham saw an opportunity to fix some issues. And while it meant Brian Johnson moved on, Whittingham hopes that he finally has the right combination calling plays to stop his offense from sputtering. Meanwhile, now more than ever, Bronco Mendenhall has to battle the perception that his team cannot compete with the big boys. After all for every 2013 Texas Game, or 2009 Oklahoma game, there are far too many 2013 Virginia, 2013 Washington, 2008 TCU, 2009 FSU games. The knock against Bronco is that he treats every single game exactly the same, and this means Once in a great while you'll win a game you aren't supposed to, but more often than not, you win the ones your are supposed to win, and typically struggle against anyone better. The Cougars are also now in year two of era two of Robert Anae, and while last year was a different scheme, it was still a lot of the same from the first era. A little to predictable, and not much adjustment. The Utes and Cougars don't play each other again until 2016. There is a strong chance that one coach won't be there, but don't discount the chance that both teams will be without their coach. For me, I'll still take Whittingham over Bronco every day of the week, and twice on Saturday. Afterall while faith, family and all that are extremely important, and both coaches to a great job of molding young boys into men, I want my coach thinking Football is higher than fifth. That all said, I have to add one more thing in regards to Bronco. I've taken plenty of jabs at him in the past for no personality, so I have to say I am extremely happy to see his true personality start to poke through his previously carefully crafted coach facade. The Bronco that was the Defensive Coordinator, was drastically different than Coach Mendenhall, but over the last two years that's started to change. It's also partially why I believe he won't return at the end of his contract. Advantage: Utah So How Will It All Work Out Truthfully how the teams matchup against each other doesn't matter, since they don't play each other. What matters is how they will match up week in and week out. So here is a run down of the weekly matchups for both teams. Week 1 Utah vs. Idaho State - My thoughts on playing Idaho State are not secret. In fact I've talked about my disdain for this particular prostitution game matchup 3 of the last 4 years. Outcome: If it's in doubt at the end of the 2nd quarter, Whittingham might as well get that resume ready. Brigham Young @ UConn - UConn is not a good team, last year they won only 3 games. Then again, it's not the first time that BYU opened up the season on the road to the east against a terrible team. And while last year you could blame extenuating circumstances like the weather, this year's game also has some extenuating circumstances. Specifically Jamaal Williams suspended, Devon Blackmon suspended, Brayden Kearsley academically ineligible, and rumors of possible more suspensions. Outcome: Byu should win, but with all the extenuating circumstances, and Bronco's history, a loss wouldn't be a shocker. Week 2 Utah vs. Fresno State - Fresno State won the Mountain West Conference crown last year, largely behind the arm of eventual 2nd round draft pick Derek Carr. Carr is off to the NFL, but former Utah co-offensive coordinator Dave Schramm, who is now calling plays for the Bulldogs might be out to prove that the answer to Whit's OC problems may have been on his staff at the start. Outcome: Utah should win, but Fresno is good enough to make it scary Byu @ Texas - It's not a stretch to say that Texas is really looking forward to this game, which would be the exact opposite of Texas' opinion of the game last year. To say Byu embarassed Texas last year doesn't give Byu enough credit. Outcome: Texas may not be as talented as years past, but you remember what happened last time a team from Texas spent all summer aiming for the Byu game, right? Week 3 Utah Bye Byu vs. Houston - Byu finally opens up it's home schedule. Last year this game closer than it should have been as Byu edged Houston 47-46. But that game was in Houston. Houston's high powered offense could put Byu's defensive backfield up against a real test. Outcome: Despite possible Ackbar Alert vibes coming off this game, there's no way Byu loses it's home opener here. Week 4 Utah @ Michigan - The last time the Utes went to the big house, it was the start of a special season. This year, the game very well could be the most important game of the Utes season as they strive to return to a bowl game. While a win won't guarantee bowl eligibility, having to win 3 games against the rest of their schedule is a lot more manageable than having to win 4. This could very well be the Hot Seat bowl, with the losing coach leaving town. Outcome: My heart says the Utes win, my head says they'll lose (There are a lot of these on the schedule this year.) Either way the Utes' 8-1 non conference record since joining the Pac-12 gets a real test. Byu vs Virginia - Easily the most embarrassing defeat for the Cougars last year, and one of the more embarrassing losses of the Bronco era. It's easy to blame the weather delay, except that affected both teams, and a similar delay didn't affect Byu a week later. The Cougars went into that game completely unprepared. Much like Texas for Byu this year, Byu will be just as ready for Virginia this season. Especially with the extra few days of rest from the Thursday game the week before. Outcome: Byu's largest margin of victory the entire year. Week 5 Utah vs. Washington State - Mike Leach has done an admirable job getting the Cougars back to respectability. Now comes the continuing it part of his job. Last year despite two early pick sixes by Adam Shulz this was a one score game late in the 4th quarter. This game also comes early in the season hopefully before attrition can affect the defensive backfield, because that's what's needed most against Leach's Air Raid offense. Outcome: This is one of the games I'm confident Utah wins with Wilson last year. This year with Wilson, and back at home, Utah wins a game that won't make defensive minded people happy. Byu Bye Week 6 Utah @ UCLA - Last year Travis Wilson played both sides of the coin as he was Horrible enough to throw 6 interceptions in the game, but good enough that until he threw #6 he was on the verge of leading the Utes to victory in one of their many oh so close losses. Travis Wilson will hopefully make better decisions with the ball this year, but UCLA is the favorite of many to not only win the Pac-12, but some have even got them winning the National Title. Outcome: On the road this is too much to ask against a really well coached Bruins team. Byu vs. Utah State - Conference time means Byu and Utah State. This was the game that Chucky Keeton got hurt in last season, so he'll be out to prove somethings. The Aggies have had multiple chances the last few years to show their recent victories over Byu (2010), and Utah (2012) were anything more than just flukes, but they're never quite able to get back over that hump. With this being Keeton last year, it's also likely the Aggies last chance for a while to make a statement. Outcome: Another moral victory for the Aggies, another Actual victory for the Cougars. Week 7 Utah Bye Byu @ Central Florida - There are many picking this game as a tough game for Byu because UCF made a Bcs Bowl last year. A Couple things to remember though. UCF got there by winning the AAC (formerly Big East) which is a terrible conference that still had an auto-bid. UCF is also going to be without 3rd overall draft pick Blake Bortles. Finally Bortles wasn't the only high draft pick UCF lost. Yes the game is still in Florida, but this won't be the test everyone is thinking it will be. Outcome: A solid Byu showing gets everyones attention. Week 8 Utah @ Oregon State - Of all of last year's oh so close games, this one was arguably the closest. The Utes lost 51-48 in overtime, as the winning touchdown pass from Sean Mannion went through the defenders hands for a missed interception. Despite the high scoring, it wasn't bad defense, but exceptional passing by Sean Mannion and his receiver Brandin Cooks. Mannion is back, Cooks isn't, that could be just enough. Outcome: Another close matchup, but the Utes fall on the road. Byu vs Nevada - Unlike last year, I doubt the Wolf Pack can rely on Byu having four more penalties (9) than first downs (5) in the first half. Nevada will be in year two of it's post Pistol era, and despite the possible Ackbar Alert potential for this game, and the Middle Tennessee game, Byu is home. Outcome: Remember earlier when I said Byu wins the games it should, this is one of them. Week 9 Utah vs Usc - Surprisingly enough, Utah has matched up okay with Usc during it's first three years in the Pac-12. Not surprisingly enough Utah has lost all three. Usc is entering year three of it's scholarship sanctions, and depth is starting to be an issue, especially when players hurt themselves by not rescuing family members. Usc will be without Lane Kiffin this year, which was their biggest weakness the last few years. The good news is they didn't really upgrade that much with their new coach. Outcome: Utah finally manages to pull off the victory against the men of Troy. Byu @ Boise State - The Cougars travel to the smurf turf to face the Broncos for the first time without Chris Petersen at the helm. It'll be interesting to see if the Broncos can remain relevant post Petersen. After all, everyone originally thought it was Dan Hawkins who was the architect, but we know how that turned out. There seems to be a tendency by many to write off the Broncos, but that could be dangerous. Outcome: A laissez-faire seeming attitude by the Cougars leads to more pain on the Smurf Turf. Week 10 Utah @ Arizona State - No team's Pac-12 resurgence has been as damaging to the Utes as the Sun Devils. Typically making short work of Utah. No team, not Oregon last year or Usc in 2012 when they were flat out better than Utah, has made the Utes look like they don't belong more than the Sun Devils. Outcome: Utes finally look like they belong on the field with the Sun Devils, but still come up short. Byu vs Middle Tennessee - Sadly this is the best opponent left on the Cougars schedule. Truthfully this is probably the 4th or 5th best team on all of Byu's schedule this year. When that is an average-at-best C-USA team, you know your schedule sucks. Outcome: Byu rolls Week 11 Utah vs. Oregon - So do you remember in 2011 and 2012 when everyone said how lucky Utah was not to be facing Oregon and Stanford? Do you realize that no matter what happens this year, Utah can't do any worse than what they did against Cal and Washington the first two years. Outcome: Ummm.... Nope Byu Bye - Well at least it's not the weakest November opponent.... Week 12 Utah @ Stanford - The reason Utah was able to beat Stanford last year, is because Stanford is probably the best matchup for the Utes in the Pac-12. It's a Pro-Style power run offense, which plays into what Utah's defense likes to do. Defensively the Cardinal are a little bit lacking on the edges, which allows Utah's offense to get into space. That said, there's a reason that Stanford has been as good as they have been recently. David Shaw is a great coach, and he doesn't get out coached very often, I really wouldn't expect it to happen twice in a row. Outcome: Utah survives an early first rush, holds on tight, but eventually the Tree gets their revenge. Byu vs Unlv - I've never understood why a team in Las Vegas hasn't ever been able to recruit very well. Unlv should be at least a little better than it's been in the past. The Rebels finally made it back to a bowl game last year, but expecting anything more than average is asking a lot. Outcome: Byu begins installing packages as part of Bowl Game prep into the game plan. Week 13 Utah vs. Arizona - Arizona has been the biggest fraud of the Pac-12 the last two years. Despite not being very good, they've managed to win 8 games, and pull off a couple major upsets. But truthfully they aren't that good. They've been helped a lot by Ka'Deem Carey who has been among the nations best runners each of the last few years. Outcome: Utah remains bowl eligible. Savannah State - Really? Really? Can't they just pay Savannah State, get the W on the record, but not actually have to play this game? Outcome: Will anyone actually show up to this game? Week 14 Utah @ Colorado - The last time Utah and Colorado played each other with something actually on the line, the Buffs ended a 20+ game road losing streak. It's still not a rivalry game, no matter how many times we're told otherwise during the week. A loss by Utah might add a bit of hostility towards the Buffs, but it still won't be a rivalry. Outcome: Utes go bowling Byu @ Cal - Believe it or not the Buffs won't be the worst team in the Pac-12 for the second straight year. That would be the Cal Bears. It's got to really irk Byu fans that Cal counts for the SEC/ACC schedules but they don't. Outcome: The beginning of Byu fans bragging about their 10 win season, top 15 ranking, but trying to dodge the strength of schedule argument. Seriously, MWC schedules were better than this. Final Records: Utah 6-6, Byu 10-2 Games most likely to lose that they shouldn't: Utah - Fresno State, Washington State, Colorado. Byu - Utah State, UCF Games most likely to win they shouldn't: Utah - Usc, Arizona State, UCLA. Byu - Texas (It's not that I think they'll win this game, it's the only game on their entire schedule you could say they shouldn't.) Plausible best case scenario: Utah - 8 wins (Beating what turns out to be a sub-par Michigan, and 1 of OSU, UCLA, ASU.) Byu - 11 wins Plausible worst case scenario: Utah - 4 wins (Mid season slides has losses to Arizona and Usc.) Byu - 10 wins. Seriously, if Byu loses more than 2 games this year, Bronco should be canned. Games least comfortable in predicting: Utah - Usc, Byu - None. Jake Heaps Watch Well Jake Heaps fell flat on his face last year at Kansas, and thanks to the rule about having graduated was able to transfer to Miami and be eligible to play this year. He celebrated by promptly losing a QB battle to a redshirt freshman, so unless something happens, there will be no schadenfreude at the expense of Mr. Silver Spoon. Where to Watch, What to know Utah kicks off the season at 5:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. It will be the second annual Stripe the Stadium game. It will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. Byu kicks off the following night at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, and can be viewed on Espn. Trackbacks
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Curtis on :
Nice work. Keep it up.
Go Utes! ThRhett on :
I'm super busy but quick thoughts:
- The utes don't have the toughest schedule, just the most unevenly matched one. - Most the Y's schedule problems came about because teams dropped us because they are afraid of us. (Exhibit A: Chris Hill) - Serious question: would you rather watch your team get crushed every week or beat sub-par opponents? - Taysom is better than Wilson. I hope this is proven this season. - I had hoped for some more love about Chucky. No one can hate this guy right? - I think our WR have a TON of potential this year. Let's see. - Um dude. Van Noy was CLEARLY the best LB in the state last year. - Coach Whit over Bronco? And yet he is on the hot seat? I think you defense of the overrated Whit is going whither this season. The u has done nothing but regress with him at the helm. - There is NO way the utes get to 6-6 this year. Another bowlless year for the MUSS and the Utah Man (or Fan, whatever). Sideshow on :
Alright we'll easily refute your points one by one.
- You obviously don't understand strength of schedule. It's not determined by how your opponent compares to you, but how your opponent performs overall based on wins and losses. Oh and ESPN tends to disagree with you about Utah not having the toughest schedule. See: http://02804cf22a6e7b7042d7-acae2c2628dcdf3f1dfc3ee4f6e97624.r48.cf1.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/college-football-schedule-2014-570x312.jpg - Hard to claim afraid when Utah is already playing toughest SOS in country -Well considering Utah hasn't been getting crushed every week that's not part of the argument, but I will say this, last year's 5-7 was week in and week out more enjoyable than any of the previous 10 MWC seasons outside of 2003, 2004, and 2008. So I'd rather see tough competition than crappy boring games. -Taysom may be a better athlete, but no way is he even close to a better Quarterback. Taysom is at best the 4th best QB in the state. But he may be the 2nd or 3rd best Athlete at that position. -I'm rooting for Chucky, but I think he's in for a rough road, and so is Utah State. We'll see how he handles the knee injury but he's playing behind a rebuilt offensive line with no running game and not many weapons for receivers. He's going to have a rough year. I hope not, but it's going to be tough. -I've mentioned it to you before but it seems year in and year out, Byu has a ton of WR potential, but it never pans out. Doesn't help when your QB only locks onto a single guy, and doesn't help that Kurtz is out for a while. -Sorry dude Reilly was better than Van Oy last year. -Whit is clearly a better coach than Bronco in every respect. He's a better game manager, He's better at making adjustments, he's just flat out better. Had Byu been playing the same schedule as the Utes the last three years, Bronco would be gone. -We'll see. Utah was much better than 5-7 last year, but wins and losses are all that matters. Like I said anything from 4-8 to 8-4 would not be a surprise. And no matter what they end up, it will still be a whole lot more enjoyable than the 10 wins (Although with Bronco as the coach 9 wins is extremely likely) season Byu will be playing. Sideshow on :
Also since you tried to make the claim of Bronco being better, and Utah being afraid, I do have to give you the obligatory reminder
4 in a row, 5 out 6, 6 out of 9 For Whit v. Bronco And that the 4 in a row means there's an entire recruiting class of Bronco's that went on a 2 year mission, and played 4 years and has no idea what it's like to win the Holy War. |
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