2016 Utah Football Season - Overall

[sancho]

Do we have a 2016 Utah football season thread? If so, this should go there instead.

Updated ESPN FPI percentages:

SUU - 96%. 1-0
BYU - 64%. Down to 58%.
San Jose State - 67%. Up to 78%.
USC - 29%. Up to 52%. Almost doubled!
Cal - 47%. Now 45%.
Zona - 54%. Now 57%
Oregon St - 69%. Now 68%
UCLA - 20%. Down to 19%?
UW - 34%. Down to 29%.
ASU - 49%. Now 47%
Oregon - 50%. Up to 56% for some reason.
CU - 56%. Down to 41%.

Three %'s changed by double digits.

[LA Ute]

Do we have a 2016 Utah football season thread? If so, this should go there instead.

As you wish.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

I prefer this Massey outlook!

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160905/365e6d40bd57b3268be6e681ba5cfcd0.jpg



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[U-Ute]

From the Laughably Early Bowl Projections: Utah to Sun Bowl.

http://www.espn.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/103534/pac-12-week-2-bowl-projections

[LA Ute]

We fell to #43 in the FPI

Updated ESPN FPI percentages:

SUU - 96%. 1-0
BYU - 64%. 58%. 2-0
San Jose State - 67%. 78%. Falls to 72% for some reason.
USC - 29%. 52%. Falls to 39%.
Cal - 47%. 45%. Steady at 42%.
Zona - 54%. 57%. Up to 66%.
Oregon St - 69%. 68%. Steady at 65%
UCLA - 20%. 19%. Down slightly to 17%
UW - 34%. 29%. Dropping 23%.
ASU - 49%. 47%. Big drop to 37%
Oregon - 50%. 56%. Steady at 51%
CU - 56%. 41%. Down again to 34%.

That's what a win over BYU gets us, I guess.

[Applejack]

We fell to #43 in the FPI

Updated ESPN FPI percentages:

SUU - 96%. 1-0
BYU - 64%. 58%. 2-0
San Jose State - 67%. 78%. Falls to 72% for some reason.
USC - 29%. 52%. Falls to 39%.
Cal - 47%. 45%. Steady at 42%.
Zona - 54%. 57%. Up to 66%.
Oregon St - 69%. 68%. Steady at 65%
UCLA - 20%. 19%. Down slightly to 17%
UW - 34%. 29%. Dropping 23%.
ASU - 49%. 47%. Big drop to 37%
Oregon - 50%. 56%. Steady at 51%
CU - 56%. 41%. Down again to 34%.

These percentages are fun but worthless. Is UCLA that good? Only a 17% chance of winning that game? And I doubt Oregon is a pick'em game--take the money on the ducks.

[DrumNFeather]

So Kyle has 97 wins? I think the 100 win mark, if it comes at either USC or Cal, should be the time for the lifetime contract.

Actually, mid season is a bad time for it, but after a bowl win would be the perfect time. The lifetime contract is a mutual symbol of loyalty. Whitt tells us he won't leave for another job, and we tell him we won't bail after after a couple of poor seasons. We tell recruits that we are a program of stability.

Assuming we win this week, USC would be 99...so first opportunity for 100 would be Cal, then Arizona, etc.

I remember when Majerus won his 400th...it was a Big Monday game and I think it was on the road vs. Wyoming. Would be cool for Whit to be recognized at home...but hopefully win 100 comes @ Cal.

[Utah]

I think in order for us to win the south, we need to hit a couple of benchmarks:

1 - we need to average 34 points per game. Reality: 22. Status: Failing.
2 - we need to average 225 yards passing per game. Reality: 246 yards. Status: Achieving.
3 - we need to average <1 TO per game. Reality: 3.5. Status: FAILING.
4 - we need to force >2 TO per game. Reality: 2.5. Status: Achieving.
5 - we need to average 175 yards rushing per game. Reality: 153. Status: Failing.
6 - we need to average >4.8 yards per carry. Reality: 3.9. Status: FAILING.
7 - we need to hold opponents to less than 120 yards rushing per game. Reality: 129. Status: Failing.

So far: 2/7. Yikes.
Previous Weeks: No previous weeks.

How do we sit?

1 - Goal: 34 points. Reality: 22 points. Yikes. We would need to get 58 points vs SJSU. The crazy thing? Now that Moss is healthy, if we can not friggin turn the ball over, we could get close to that. It would be nice to end the preseason with a great offensive performance. We've seen glimpses, it would be nice for the offense to put it all together.

2 - Goal: 225 yards passing. Reality: 246 yards. Not too bad. We had 194 yards passing vs BYU. Not too bad. Their defense is very solid.

3 - Goal: <1. Reality: 3.5 YIKES. This is our BIGGEST issue. We need to fix this big time. IF we can have zero vs SJSU, then our average would drop to 2.3. Better. This will be a tough whole to dig out of. If we can get under one TO per game on average for the season at this point...we will have won the south.

4 - Goal: Force >2 TO's. Reality. 2.5. We are doing ok here. We'd like to be higher. Not bad though.

5 - Goal: >175 yards rushing per game. Reality: 153.5. This is our second biggest problem. Our OL needs to get better. We had 169 yards rushing vs BYU. 138 vs SUU. So, at least we are getting better and I like the 169 vs BYU. We are improving. I'd expect us to have close to 300 yards this weekend after looking at what SJSU has done in the rush game defense so far this year. We need 300 to get to 218 to get our average where it should be. This is TOTALLY doable.

6 - Goal: >4.8 yards per carry. Reality: 3.9. OUCH. That sucks. The SUU game killed us. We averaged 3.7 yards/carry that game. That is terrible. 4 yards per carry vs BYU. Honestly, with how bad SJSU's run defense is, our goal should be over 5 yards per carry. Our goal should be 100 yards for Moss, McCormick AND Williams.

7 - Goal: <120 yards/game for opponents. Reality: 129 yards per game. I'm a little disappointed in this number. This number does not include sacks. SUU averaged 3.6 yards per carry. BYU averaged 5.3 yards per carry. That sucks.

Honestly, as of right now, we look like a 7 win team.

Here is how I break down a season: 6-7 wins = good year.
8 wins = very good year
9 wins and ranked = great year
10 wins and ranked = fantastic year
Win the south = amazingly fantastic year
Win the PAC-12 = dream year.

If we want to get more than 7 wins, we need to clean up a lot, namely our run game and turnovers. If we can't run the ball better and stop turning the ball over, we will struggle big time vs teams like California, Colorado, ASU (pass heavy teams, where we need to run the ball to burn time and shorten the game) and will struggle big time vs Oregon, Washington, UCLA, USC.

We have potential, but we shouldn't be dreaming of winning the south at this point.

[NorthwestUteFan]

We will face 5-6 really good defenses thus year. And now we have put about 1.5 of them behind us.

USC, UCLA, UW, Colorado will be tough. We can handle the rest.

[Rocker Ute]

Fumblin' Joe must go 3 complete games with no fumbles to shed his nickname. What should the new name be once he's done it? I hope he earns the name touchdown joe.

I think you keep it Fumblin Joe... because that is awesome if you never fumble.

[U-Ute]

Wow. Fitts done for the season and Joe Williams retires from football.

[Diehard Ute]

Wow. Fitts done for the season and Joe Williams retires from football.

And Butler-Byrd is reinstated


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[LA Ute]

Wow. Fitts done for the season and Joe Williams retires from football.


And Butler-Byrd is reinstated

I feel bad about Joe Williams. I wonder if something personal is going on with him. Kid has lots of talent. I'm also sorry for Fitts. Happy for Butler-Byrd.

[Diehard Ute]

They're hoping for a medical redshirt for Fitts.


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[LA Ute]

EDIT: This is about Joe Williams.

Michelle Bodkin tweets:


Felt body could no longer handle the beating it once did. Will stick around and help the team in other capacities

https://twitter.com/MBodkinScout/status/775848384775151616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

[Utah]

Michelle Bodkin tweets:


https://twitter.com/MBodkinScout/status/775848384775151616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Is this in relation to Joe Williams?

That's too bad. He was a talented kid.

[U-Ute]

Kyle Whittingham show on 700 is going to talk about this news now.

[Diehard Ute]

Joe came to Kyle and explained he hasn't felt like himself for 2-3 months. His body hurts and he just couldn't get his mind into the game because of that.

Kyle said after talking to Joe he completely understands his decision and supports him.

Kylie is having surgery, they're already working on his appeal.

Mokofisi, Bradley Anae and Chris Hart will be playing DE now.


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[Diehard Ute]

Butler-Byrd is back, whether he plays depends on his state of readiness. He practiced well today.

He will be playing both receiver spots as well as return kicks.

He's done everything they've asked, still has some things he has to continue taking care of and they'll monitor that.


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[LA Ute]

Is this in relation to Joe Williams?

That's too bad. He was a talented kid.

Yes, it's about Joe. Sorry!

[LA Ute]

Joe on Joe.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67wrkJGCslc

This makes it easier to understand why he was playing so tentatively. He seems relieved. I'll miss him. I really like the guy.

[DrumNFeather]

Kylie getting a medical redshirt would ease the pain of some of the guys we lose next year.

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[Utah]

Caleb Repp has been with the scout team and didn't dress on Sat.

I'm going out on a massive, thick, stable limb here and assuming he is redshirting this year.

[concerned]

Caleb Repp has been with the scout team and didn't dress on Sat.

I'm going out on a massive, thick, stable limb here and assuming he is redshirting this year.


Why the redshirt? Is he injured? Throughout spring and summer, he was one of our better receivers, wasnt he? Couldnt we use him if he were healthy?

[Utah]

Why the redshirt? Is he injured? Throughout spring and summer, he was one of our better receivers, wasnt he? Couldnt we use him if he were healthy?

My guess would be this: not athletic enough to play WR and we have better WR's than him.

This gives him a year to put on weight to play TE.

[SeattleUte]

Kylie getting a medical redshirt would ease the pain of some of the guys we lose next year.

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Kyle said it's not a slam dunk. How so?

[Diehard Ute]

Kyle said it's not a slam dunk. How so?

The only time you're guaranteed (well all but guaranteed) is when you lose more than one year to an injury. Kylie played as a true freshman in 6 games, did not miss time due to injury.

Kylie used his redshirt to transfer, sitting out 2014. Played every game in 2015.

Medical slam dunks are more "I lost my redshirt year and this year due to injury". The U will have to argue that over the course of his career he's really only played 1.5 seasons so he deserves another year. It's probably a 50/50 chance.


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[DrumNFeather]

The only time you're guaranteed (well all but guaranteed) is when you lose more than one year to an injury. Kylie played as a true freshman in 6 games, did not miss time due to injury.

Kylie used his redshirt to transfer, sitting out 2014. Played every game in 2015.

Medical slam dunks are more "I lost my redshirt year and this year due to injury". The U will have to argue that over the course of his career he's really only played 1.5 seasons so he deserves another year. It's probably a 50/50 chance.


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Was a similar argument with Tevin Carter I would imagine? Seems like the U has been good at getting these things through. Here's hoping.

[Diehard Ute]

Was a similar argument with Tevin Carter I would imagine? Seems like the U has been good at getting these things through. Here's hoping.

Yes and no. Carter had the JC's in the mix as well, and he didn't play a down for Cal originally.

And remember, Carter was denied 3 times, it was his final appeal where he won. So it's going to take some work from compliance.


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[U-Ute]

Utah in the coach's poll at 23

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160918/0740ed7d31a2c54652711b862edb6777.jpg

http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/football/polls/coaches-poll/

[Utah]

I think in order for us to win the south, we need to hit a couple of benchmarks:

1 - we need to average 34 points per game. Reality: 26. Status: Failing. Trending: Up.
2 - we need to average 225 yards passing per game. Reality: 249 yards. Status: Achieving. Trending: Even.
3 - we need to average <1 TO per game. Reality: 3. Status: FAILING. Trending: Up.
4 - we need to force >2 TO per game. Reality: 2.7. Status: Achieving. Trending: Up.
5 - we need to average 175 yards rushing per game. Reality: 169. Status: Failing. Trending: Up.
6 - we need to average >4.8 yards per carry. Reality: 4.4. Status: FAILING. Trending: Up.
7 - we need to hold opponents to less than 120 yards rushing per game. Reality: 105. Status: Achieving. Trending: Up.

So far: 3/7. Getting Better.
Previous Weeks:
2/7

The bad news is that we are still failing. The good news is that we got a lot better in a lot of areas.

At the end of the day, I'd say this so far:

Our defense is special. Championship level.
Our offense can be solid. Better than last year...IF they can quit turning the ball lover. We still had two TO's last night.

And both TO's were silly. Dumb mistakes. Correctable...but, at some point mistakes quit being correctable and you are what you are.

Is Troy Williams a liability in the red zone? That is the key.

[Utah]

Espn has Utah in the holiday bowl vs Penn state in their still too early projections.

That would be fun.

[U-Ute]

That would be fun.

Taking down the Blue Bloods is fun.

First Alabama. Then Michigan and USC. We missed out on Notre Dame.

[Ma'ake]

Is Troy Williams a liability in the red zone? That is the key.

I gotta call the 169 rushing yards vs the target of 175 a wash...

I'm seeing Troy making improvement. But at the same time, the short TD slant he threw to Tim Patrick was a laser. The INT was a mistake, but with a cannon, the line between throwing a dart for a TD and getting picked starts to get a bit hazy. I think Troy has been watching NFL games, where the difference between at TD and an INT is inches. At this level, you rarely need that tight of a window.

Where I hope to see Troy make another leap is scanning the defense better. Against SJSU, with superior WRs and his arm, he can focus and find Tim Patrick on 25 yard sideline routes. We'll play defenses where the pre-snap read changes, and the apparent right throw turns into double-coverage after the snap.

Nice to see Raelon get a key grab, but he got crunched. Siaosi Wilson did a decent job of filling in for Tyrone, and our slot WRs were really good. CBB is a serious talent, it was *great* to see Fulks get a key third down on a slant with a hit coming (on his only pass of the night) and Demari Simpkins just can't be kept off the field. The number of targets we used was impressive.

[Utah]

Some have correctly pointed out that there should be a buffer zone. So, if you are within 10% of the goal, you are almost there. 5%, we will curve you up.

I think in order for us to win the south, we need to hit a couple of benchmarks:

1 - we need to average 34 points per game. Reality: 26. Status: Failing. Trending: Up.
2 - we need to average 225 yards passing per game. Reality: 249 yards. Status: Achieving. Trending: Even.
3 - we need to average <1 TO per game. Reality: 3. Status: FAILING. Trending: Up.
4 - we need to force >2 TO per game. Reality: 2.7. Status: Achieving. Trending: Up.
5 - we need to average 175 yards rushing per game. Reality: 169. Status: Achieving. Trending: Up.
6 - we need to average >4.8 yards per carry. Reality: 4.4. Status: Almost There. Trending: Up.
7 - we need to hold opponents to less than 120 yards rushing per game. Reality: 105. Status: Achieving. Trending: Up.
8 - we need to hold opponents to less than 24 points per game. Reality: 12 pts per game. Status: Achieving. Trending: Even.

So far: 5/8. Getting Better. Almost there on the rushing yards per carry. It would be tough to get there vs USC, but vs Cal, we should be where we need to be.
Previous Weeks:
2/7.

So, we went from 2/7 to 4/7 (almost 5) in one week. Not bad. We probably drop next week, but don't sweat it too much. I'd expect us to be accomplishing all our goals after Cal, Arizona and Oregon State. That would be amazing and quite the game vs UCLA.

[Utah]

I gotta call the 169 rushing yards vs the target of 175 a wash...

I'm seeing Troy making improvement. But at the same time, the short TD slant he threw to Tim Patrick was a laser. The INT was a mistake, but with a cannon, the line between throwing a dart for a TD and getting picked starts to get a bit hazy. I think Troy has been watching NFL games, where the difference between at TD and an INT is inches. At this level, you rarely need that tight of a window.

Where I hope to see Troy make another leap is scanning the defense better. Against SJSU, with superior WRs and his arm, he can focus and find Tim Patrick on 25 yard sideline routes. We'll play defenses where the pre-snap read changes, and the apparent right throw turns into double-coverage after the snap.

Nice to see Raelon get a key grab, but he got crunched. Siaosi Wilson did a decent job of filling in for Tyrone, and our slot WRs were really good. CBB is a serious talent, it was *great* to see Fulks get a key third down on a slant with a hit coming (on his only pass of the night) and Demari Simpkins just can't be kept off the field. The number of targets we used was impressive.

Great post.

[U-Ute]

Was it my imagination or did the pass that was picked off in the end zone actually hit Singleton right in the numbers and the SJSU players just took it from him?

If so, I put this one on him, not Williams.

I may be in the minority here, but I have not been impressed with Singleton.

[Applejack]

Was it my imagination or did the pass that was picked off in the end zone actually hit Singleton right in the numbers and the SJSU players just took it from him?

If so, I put this one on him, not Williams.

I may be in the minority here, but I have not been impressed with Singleton.

Nope, not in the minority.

[Ma'ake]

Was it my imagination or did the pass that was picked off in the end zone actually hit Singleton right in the numbers and the SJSU players just took it from him?

If so, I put this one on him, not Williams.

I may be in the minority here, but I have not been impressed with Singleton.

Good question. I went to the game, was standing at the concourse level more or less at the goal line. It looked like a Gionni Paul-esque play by their safety, McKnight, but I wasn't that close.

(I have the 2nd half of the game recorded, the TV crew was using some very big Canon HD cameras that were huge, like the old TV cameras. There was a camera in the SW corner, at one point the operator was zoomed in on the near-full moon, and on his display (at least), you could see a ton of detail on the moon. Don't know if the broadcast was HD or SD.)

Singleton is one of the receivers who could make the next step up, or fade. It's hard to tell. Tim Patrick is unquestionably the leader of the WRs, but with Tyrone out, it's not clear who the 2nd of the "wideouts" is. Is it Raelon? The tools are there. Is Siaosi Wilson ready to make a name for himself? He's thin, but long, with good speed. I have no idea what's going on with Repp.

The slot WRs look the deepest. CBB is really good. Fulks is showing signs. Simpkins could blow up.

Guy Holliday has done a nice job with the WRs, so far. They're stepping up, but the "preseason" is over. I hope Tyrone gets healed up.

The move Butler-Byrd made on his early bubble screen that turned into a 45 yard pickup was just sick. The Ute fans I was sitting next all crowed in unison "Whoa ! ! !"

[DrumNFeather]

This week's ESPN Bowl Projections have us vs. Penn St. in the Holiday bowl.

Also, listed as a team trending upwards...and even asks the question "Are the Utes the team to beat in the South?"

[LA Ute]

This week's ESPN Bowl Projections have us vs. Penn St. in the Holiday bowl.

Also, listed as a team trending upwards...and even asks the question "Are the Utes the team to beat in the South?"

That question is about one week premature, IMO.

[DrumNFeather]

That question is about one week premature, IMO.

Agree to agree.

[Utah]

I third that. I'm not sure SUU, SJSU or BYU are any good. We might be a terribly average team. Glad this game is on Friday.

[mUUser]

That question is about one week premature, IMO.


Two weeks. Lets see how we handle the road.

[Utah]

I was re-watching some of Milton Vanderslice's youtube videos and there needs to be a shout out to Jason Thompson. That guy has been amazing for us on special teams this year. What a great special teams player. Best since Bird.

Team captain, fumble recovery vs SJSU, caught the onside kick vs BYU. Amazing season so far for Thompson. What a great Ute.

[LA Ute]

Kaelin Clay not even mentioned. I'm sure he's fine with that.

Cal has a new touchdown rule for its players after near turnover vs. Texas

http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/cal-has-a-new-touchdown-rule-for-its-players-after-near-turnover-vs-texas/

[LA Ute]

Utah's 15 sacks for the season are divided among 10 players.

[DrumNFeather]

Utah's 15 sacks for the season are divided among 10 players.

Let's get another 10!

[mUUser]

Updated ESPN FPI rankings:

Down two spots to #45

SUU - 96%. 1-0
BYU - 64%. 58%. 2-0
San Jose State - 67%. 78%. 72% 3-0
USC - 29%. 52%. 39%. Up to 47%. This one swings wildly!
Cal - 47%. 45%. 42%. Now at 40%. Little lower each week.
Zona - 54%. 57%. 66%. Another jump to 70%.
Oregon St - 69%. 68%. 65%. Up to 71%.
UCLA - 20%. 19%. 17%. Up to 21%.
UW - 34%. 29%. 23%. Up to 29%
ASU - 49%. 47%. 37%. Up to 44%.
Oregon - 50%. 56%. 51%. The most steady percentage is now at 53%.
CU - 56%. 41%. 34%. Up to 36%.

So by this method, they had us predicted at 6-6 to begin the season, and still have us at 6-6 3 weeks into the season?

[U-Ute]

Utah up to #18

http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/football/polls/coaches-poll/2016/5/

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160925/a3380a26be3dc8a87d38a6abf9aea9e8.jpg

[SeattleUte]

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/17625071/college-football-power-rankings-week-4-wisconsin-badgers-jump-top-ten

[LA Ute]

I love seeing the Utes ranked. But am I the only one responding cautiously? It's still early in the season. We've got a great win over USC, but I'm not sure yet whether the Trojans are a good team, or just a super-talented team. We need a couple more wins. I'm loving the ride and am hoping we keep improving (as we have been, big-time) and keep winning.

[U-Ute]

I am more optimistic than most years based on the play of Troy Williams. We finally have a decent passing attack to go with our running game and defense.

[mpfunk]

I am more optimistic than most years based on the play of Troy Williams. We finally have a decent passing attack to go with our running game and defense.
This. I'm perfectly fine with the Utes being conservative and winning games with defense. If we don't open up the play book, that's fine with me. The problem is we have had no backup plan when things fall through on defense. We do now. Our offense won us a game against a talented team.

I'm very optimistic about the season.

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[U-Ute]

I will always respect Travis Wilson for his warrior attitude and his toughness running the ball, but Troy Williams made 4-5 passes against USC that Wilson just could not make. It really allows us to do some good things.

[Applejack]

I am more optimistic than most years based on the play of Troy Williams. We finally have a decent passing attack to go with our running game and defense.

I agree, but I'm not totally sold on our defense as "elite." Yes, they are good, but USC gashed us over the middle all night. Inexperienced linebackers and a thin D-line are to blame. I think the weakness on D will cost us a few games.

[Applejack]

Updated ESPN FPI rankings:

Up three spots to #42 (there are two 4-0 teams ranked below us here. Any guesses?)

SUU - 96%. 1-0
BYU - 64%. 58%. 2-0
San Jose State - 67%. 78%. 72% 3-0
USC - 29%. 52%. 39%. 47%. 4-0
Cal - 47%. 45%. 42%. 40%. Finally rising with 43%
Zona - 54%. 57%. 66%. 70%. Reaching a steady state at 69%?
Oregon St - 69%. 68%. 65%. 71%. Up to 74%
UCLA - 20%. 19%. 17%. 21%. Up to 25%.
UW - 34%. 29%. 23%. 29%. Up to 30%.
ASU - 49%. 47%. 37%. 44%. Down to 43%
Oregon - 50%. 56%. 51%. 53%. Steady 55%
CU - 56%. 41%. 34%. 36%. Wow, down to 32%. FPI doesn't know I'll be there, I guess.

They still have us at 7-5 for the year.

The schedule this year looks a lot more lopsided than year's past. The next three are key, because after that it's just fire.

But these are obviously done without consideration to who's in attendance or lucky buttons.

[LA Ute]

Scroll down to number 10. This guy's writing will put a smile on your face.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/9/25/13043888/tennessee-volunteers-florida-gators-2016

[Utah]

I am used to hearing Utah fans describe our defense as elite, but it rarely is. We always have a good defense, but every year there are a couple of teams that completely pick us apart. You can't have an elite defense without elite recruits, even if your coach is a top 3 coach in the Pac-12.

When you consider how terrible our offense has been, our defense has been pretty damn special in year's past. They asked Kalani what made the difference between playing Arizona at Utah/Oregon State. He said it was having an offense that can stay on the field.

[Utah]

I think in order for us to win the south, we need to hit a couple of benchmarks:

1 - we need to average 34 points per game. Reality: 27. Status: Failing. Trending: Up.
1a - In PAC-12 play, we are averaging 31 points per game. Status: Almost There.
2 - we need to average 225 yards passing per game. Reality: 254 yards. Status: Achieving. Trending: Even.
2a - In PAC-12 play, we are averaging 270 yards passing per game. Status: Achieving.
3 - we need to average <1 TO per game. Reality: 2.5. Status: FAILING. Trending: Up.
3a - In PAC-12 play, we are averaging 1 TO per game. Status: Achieving.
4 - we need to force >2 TO per game. Reality: 2.8. Status: Achieving. Trending: Up.
4a - In PAC-12 play, we are forcing 3 TO's per game. Status: Achieving.
5 - we need to average 175 yards rushing per game. Reality: 173. Status: Achieving. Trending: Up.
5a - In PAC-12 play, we are averaging 186 yards rushing per game. Status: Achieving.
6 - we need to average >4.8 yards per carry. Reality: 4.3. Status: Almost There. Trending: Down.
6a - In PAC-12 play, we are averaging 4.3 yards rushing per game. Status: Almost There.
7 - we need to hold opponents to less than 120 yards rushing per game. Reality: 132. Status: Failing. Trending: Down.
7a- In PAC-12 play, we are giving up 132 yards per game rushing. Status: Failing.
8 - we need to hold opponents to less than 24 points per game. Reality: 16 pts per game. Status: Achieving. Trending: Down.
8a - In PAC-12 play, we are giving up 16 points per game. Status: Achieving.

So far: 5/8 (7/8 in PAC-12 Play). All things considered, even with some flaws, we are playing really good football right now. Every team in the PAC-12 is flawed, but we have a very "complete" team. Our holes aren't tragic, and we have no real flaws. Pretty dang good.

Previous Weeks:
5/8
2/7.

[chrisrenrut]

Scroll down to number 10. This guy's writing will put a smile on your face.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/9/25/13043888/tennessee-volunteers-florida-gators-2016

Hack! Sancho beat you by 45 minutes. http://www.utahby5.com/showthread.php?2070-2016-Utah-Football-Season-Overall&p=83921&viewfull=1#post83921

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Hack! Sancho beat you by 45 minutes. http://www.utahby5.com/showthread.php?2070-2016-Utah-Football-Season-Overall&p=83921&viewfull=1#post83921

I like to consider LA as our resident ICYMI watch dog.


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[LA Ute]

I like to consider LA as our resident ICYMI watch dog.


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Yeah! That's it! That's what I was doing!

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160926/76e6c942b03c08f1a71646c5eff47e0f.jpg

[DrumNFeather]

Homecoming game vs. Arizona will be at 8:00 PM, Mountain on FS1.

[LA Ute]

If you want to take a big gulp of Kool-Aid, here you go:

http://masseyratings.com/team.php?t=8315&s=286577

Who's Massey Ratings? Is it a credible site?

[LA Ute]

Some really good stuff here at about 35:00. Get ready for a few swigs of Kool-Aid.

http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=17652081&s=espn

[SoCalPat]

You can count on a Kyle Whittingham team to do the following just about every year: Lose a game in which you feel there's no way the program will ever win the South (Cal 2011, ASU 2012, Wazzu 2014, Cal 2016), and win a game where you think, "You know, if things go right, we could win the South and get to the Rose Bowl. Maybe even be in the playoff mix." (Stanford 2013, UCLA 2014, Oregon 2015, USC 2016).

Segments of Twitter are aghast over a suggestion I made that we've peaked under Kyle. Of course, most of the dim bulbs that responded as if I was suggesting we're doomed for a string of 7-win or less seasons, or that this season is beyond repair. Obviously, after tonight, I feel that Utah lost a game that has me thinking we'll never win the South under Kyle.

Forget about everything that happened tonight, this is the new reality Utah faces for the 2016 season. 3 of our 4 remaining South games are on the road. We have Washington coming to town the weekend before our bye and after we play UCLA (if you thought we were beat up now ...). We have never covered the spread against Colorado, we play in Boulder and that team is flat-out on a mission.

And next week, we draw a team that we've had the absolute least success against within our own division. Arizona is about as much of a must-win for Utah as it gets, unless you're happy with winning 7-8 regular season games and going to the Sun Bowl. There are certainly worse things for a college football team, but forgive me if that prospect doesn't get me all warm and tingly inside.

[LA Ute]

You can count on a Kyle Whittingham team to do the following just about every year: Lose a game in which you feel there's no way the program will ever win the South (Cal 2011, ASU 2012, Wazzu 2014, Cal 2016), and win a game where you think, "You know, if things go right, we could win the South and get to the Rose Bowl. Maybe even be in the playoff mix." (Stanford 2013, UCLA 2014, Oregon 2015, USC 2016).

Segments of Twitter are aghast over a suggestion I made that we've peaked under Kyle. Of course, most of the dim bulbs that responded as if I was suggesting we're doomed for a string of 7-win or less seasons, or that this season is beyond repair. Obviously, after tonight, I feel that Utah lost a game that has me thinking we'll never win the South under Kyle.

Forget about everything that happened tonight, this is the new reality Utah faces for the 2016 season. 3 of our 4 remaining South games are on the road. We have Washington coming to town the weekend before our bye and after we play UCLA (if you thought we were beat up now ...). We have never covered the spread against Colorado, we play in Boulder and that team is flat-out on a mission.

And next week, we draw a team that we've had the absolute least success against within our own division. Arizona is about as much of a must-win for Utah as it gets, unless you're happy with winning 7-8 regular season games and going to the Sun Bowl. There are certainly worse things for a college football team, but forgive me if that prospect doesn't get me all warm and tingly inside.

Kyle is who he is and his program is what it is: blue-collar, grind-it-out, play-the-percentages fundamental football that lives up to his motto "respect the process." His program will only rarely embarrass itself, will always be respectable, and almost always will be admirable. He'll win a lot. No opposing coach looks forward to playing Kyle's team. There will be special seasons when everything goes just right (2008). We'll see great, inspiring wins (you listed some) and head-scratching losses (ditto). He'll probably be at Utah until he doesn't want to be anymore. I'm OK with that and I think we're lucky to have him. I enjoy the ride but don't expect it to be spectacular all the time or even much better than it has been over the last 2-3 seasons. I sense you're in about the same place.


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[U-Ute]

You can count on a Kyle Whittingham team to do the following just about every year: Lose a game in which you feel there's no way the program will ever win the South (Cal 2011, ASU 2012, Wazzu 2014, Cal 2016), and win a game where you think, "You know, if things go right, we could win the South and get to the Rose Bowl. Maybe even be in the playoff mix." (Stanford 2013, UCLA 2014, Oregon 2015, USC 2016).

Segments of Twitter are aghast over a suggestion I made that we've peaked under Kyle. Of course, most of the dim bulbs that responded as if I was suggesting we're doomed for a string of 7-win or less seasons, or that this season is beyond repair. Obviously, after tonight, I feel that Utah lost a game that has me thinking we'll never win the South under Kyle.

Forget about everything that happened tonight, this is the new reality Utah faces for the 2016 season. 3 of our 4 remaining South games are on the road. We have Washington coming to town the weekend before our bye and after we play UCLA (if you thought we were beat up now ...). We have never covered the spread against Colorado, we play in Boulder and that team is flat-out on a mission.

And next week, we draw a team that we've had the absolute least success against within our own division. Arizona is about as much of a must-win for Utah as it gets, unless you're happy with winning 7-8 regular season games and going to the Sun Bowl. There are certainly worse things for a college football team, but forgive me if that prospect doesn't get me all warm and tingly inside.

As Majerus eloquently pointed out so many years ago: we are who we are and SLC isn't getting any closer to LA.

[NorthwestUteFan]

As Majerus eloquently pointed out so many years ago: we are who we are and SLC isn't getting any closer to LA.
SLC is an amazing, beautiful, clean, progressive city. But that is not the outside perception of the city. As Kyle says once he can get the kids to visit the campus they absolutely love it, but getting them to come out first place is the biggest challenge.

Also Melquise Stovall was a huge recruiting loss. He was very impressive last night.

[SeattleUte]

A lot of Ute fans are still pretty immature. By that I mean that they are still nostalgic for the MWC. We could be in Houston's or Boise's shoes. For them, the journey is you get one stiff test early on (if that), then play 8 or 9 or 10 or so teams that are patsies or not very good. Then, if you survived your one stiff test, and didn't trip on your shoe laces in the remaining games, you get a bowl game that's inevitably among the most important games in your school's history. Get sky high for those two stiff tests, play above your heads, particularly in the bowl game against a storied program that would rather be someplace else, and you wind up on the front pages for a few days. (Yes, I know, easier said than done, but it happens every year, we did it twice, and it's not the same test by any stretch as what confronts the Utes now.) Some people like that better than what a we have. Me, I'm glad we've graduated beyond the intermediate level.

Some of you remember Babs, a big Oklahoma fan. She's still a friend of mine. She laughs at some Utah and BYU fans' obsession with going undefeated.

I count one Pac 12 team that is undefeated--Washington, and that probably won't last. Colorado and Washington are the only teams undefeated in the conference. For the Utes, yesterday's loss was worth a half game, because it was to a Northern Division foe. We still are undefeated against the South, and our chances of winning the southern division have not materially decreased. Yesterday our quarterback threw for 266 yards and no interceptions, and the team had 440 years total offense compared to 360 for a very talented Cal team. Nearly every week the Utes play teams that have more talent. But the program has come a long ways in five years.

Cal has a weak defensive line, they say? No it doesn't. It's a matter of degree. Toledo has a weak defensive line. There aren't any like that in the Pac 12.

I'm going to enjoy our journey, because that's what being a competitor week in and week out in the country's most glamorous conference is all about.

[LA Ute]

I'm going to enjoy our journey, because that's what being a competitor week in and week out in the country's most glamorous conference is all about.

:clap:

[SoCalPat]

Sigh ... Here comes SU, telling some of us we don't understand what it's like to be in the Pac-12, underestimating by large degrees the feats of previous great Utah teams and that we're "immature." Maybe some of us understand better than you the margin of error that exists in the Pac-12.

I remember Ute fans being over the moon by losing by only 2 points at USC in our very first league game. I was pissed, and called the usual names by the fan police and fanboys. If you're going to achieve anything meaningful, you can't leave games like that on the table. And sure enough, had we won that game, the Colorado loss wouldn't have mattered as far as repping the South in the title game -- had we beaten CU as well, we're Pac-12 South champs in our very first season in the league.

It's almost a certainty that yesterday's loss will cost us in some fashion -- the most likely being a lesser bowl. After what happened last year, I think we can all agree we want to be in a position that puts us as far as possible from the Las Vegas Bowl. Meanwhile, the most similar ending to yesterday's game that I can remember under Kyle was 2005 Colorado State. We weren't winning the league that year, we weren't ranked, we had to put up with BYU's taunts, etc. But in the grand scheme, that loss didn't cost us anything. Now, it's 2016, and we have people trying to discount last night's loss. If anything, those are the people still stuck in a MWC mentality.

[SeattleUte]

Sigh ... Here comes SU, telling some of us we don't understand what it's like to be in the Pac-12, underestimating by large degrees the feats of previous great Utah teams and that we're "immature." Maybe some of us understand better than you the margin of error that exists in the Pac-12.

I remember Ute fans being over the moon by losing by only 2 points at USC in our very first league game. I was pissed, and called the usual names by the fan police and fanboys. If you're going to achieve anything meaningful, you can't leave games like that on the table. And sure enough, had we won that game, the Colorado loss wouldn't have mattered as far as repping the South in the title game -- had we beaten CU as well, we're Pac-12 South champs in our very first season in the league.

It's almost a certainty that yesterday's loss will cost us in some fashion -- the most likely being a lesser bowl. After what happened last year, I think we can all agree we want to be in a position that puts us as far as possible from the Las Vegas Bowl. Meanwhile, the most similar ending to yesterday's game that I can remember under Kyle was 2005 Colorado State. We weren't winning the league that year, we weren't ranked, we had to put up with BYU's taunts, etc. But in the grand scheme, that loss didn't cost us anything. Now, it's 2016, and we have people trying to discount last night's loss. If anything, those are the people still stuck in a MWC mentality.

I think the point is it's a lot easier to move backwards than forwards, especially from where we are. Look how long it took Colorado to recover from a couple of bad hires after winning the national championship not so long ago--and, don't kid yourself, we don't have cattle to match Colorado. Look at all the programs with more natural resources who haven't smelled our success under Whit--Illinois, Arizona State, Mississippi, Cal, Minnesota, Colorado, even UCLA; the list is miles long.

Did you know that this season is the first in fifteen season that Washington has been in the top 10? How many times have the Utes been there under Whit? A lot. Utah didn't win a WAC or MWC title from the sixties to 2004. I remember you and LA were among those saying no problem, we could hire a big name coach to move up from where Majerus had "peaked". We lived off of Majeus's program and reputation for how long?

Bear in mind this fan base would make Trump president if it had its way.

[SeattleUte]

Sigh, here comes SoCalPat with his pipe dreams of Utah being Alabama (Alabama, which went decades with mediocre teams during the Shula, Perkins, etc. years).

[SeattleUte]

SLC is an amazing, beautiful, clean, progressive city. But that is not the outside perception of the city. As Kyle says once he can get the kids to visit the campus they absolutely love it, but getting them to come out first place is the biggest challenge.

Also Melquise Stovall was a huge recruiting loss. He was very impressive last night.

Progressive by what standard? 82% percent of that Tribune poll respondents want BYU to keep discriminating against LGBTQ. Trump is leading in the polls.

[LA Ute]

Progressive by what standard? 82% percent of that Tribune poll respondents want BYU to keep discriminating against LGBTQ. Trump is leading in the polls.

In fairness to NWUF, he said Salt Lake City is progressive, not the state of Utah. That happens to be quite true, and the trend continues in that direction.


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[NorthwestUteFan]

Yes, SLC. It has long been an oasis of blue in a sea of tea-party Red State. Almost every mayor over the past 40+ years has been a Democrat. The city is on Advocate Magazine's top ten list of lgbt-friendly cities every year, and the mayor is an open lesbian.

As for the Trib poll, we know that BYUFan specializes in stuffing online ballot boxes. And besides, screw them. Let byu keep being the weird religious school. I think the bigger differentiation between the schools the better. There biggest recruiting challenge at Utah is fighting the perception Utah is some weird madrassa that indoctrinates students into a self-important religion and suspends minority athletes for doing normal college student things.

It is helpful for our coaches to say, "Nah, that's the other school..."

And as always, remember that friends don't let friends send their kids to byu.

[Solon]

Updated ESPN FPI rankings:

Down three spots to #45

SUU - 96%. 1-0
BYU - 64%. 58%. 2-0
San Jose State - 67%. 78%. 72% 3-0
USC - 29%. 52%. 39%. 47%. 4-0
Cal - 47%. 45%. 42%. 40%. 43%. 4-1
Zona - 54%. 57%. 66%. 70%. 69%. Holds at 68%
Oregon St - 69%. 68%. 65%. 71%. Up to 80%. On the road versus a Pac-12 team. SJSU was never this high.
UCLA - 20%. 19%. 17%. 21%. 25%. Now at 23%. ESPN just doesn't like us vs UCLA.
UW - 34%. 29%. 23%. 29%. 30%. Down to 23%. For a home game, that's tough.
ASU - 49%. 47%. 37%. 44%. 43%. Now at 46%. Pretty even all season.
Oregon - 50%. 56%. 51%. 53%. 55%. Slowly climbing to 59%.
CU - 56%. 41%. 34%. 36%. 32%. Down to 28%. No one saw this one coming.

They still have us at 7-5 for the year, but it's no longer a bunch of tossups. They really don't give us any chance against UCLA/UW/CU, and they really don't give OSU or Zona much of a chance against us. [/QUOTE]

SL Trib reporting that Dielman is out for the season.
Too bad. That really hurts.

http://www.sltrib.com/blogs/uofusports/4428033-155/utah-football-senior-center-and-captain

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

JJ Deilman out for the season with a lower leg injury. Things really starting to pile up.

[SoCalPat]

Updated ESPN FPI rankings:

Down three spots to #45

SUU - 96%. 1-0
BYU - 64%. 58%. 2-0
San Jose State - 67%. 78%. 72% 3-0
USC - 29%. 52%. 39%. 47%. 4-0
Cal - 47%. 45%. 42%. 40%. 43%. 4-1
Zona - 54%. 57%. 66%. 70%. 69%. Holds at 68%
Oregon St - 69%. 68%. 65%. 71%. Up to 80%. On the road versus a Pac-12 team. SJSU was never this high.
UCLA - 20%. 19%. 17%. 21%. 25%. Now at 23%. ESPN just doesn't like us vs UCLA.
UW - 34%. 29%. 23%. 29%. 30%. Down to 23%. For a home game, that's tough.
ASU - 49%. 47%. 37%. 44%. 43%. Now at 46%. Pretty even all season.
Oregon - 50%. 56%. 51%. 53%. 55%. Slowly climbing to 59%.
CU - 56%. 41%. 34%. 36%. 32%. Down to 28%. No one saw this one coming.

They still have us at 7-5 for the year, but it's no longer a bunch of tossups. They really don't give us any chance against UCLA/UW/CU, and they really don't give OSU or Zona much of a chance against us.

I would not be surprised if we're double-digit underdogs in Boulder. I will be surprised if Utah is less than a TD underdog against UW.

[Applejack]

SL Trib reporting that Dielman is out for the season.
Too bad. That really hurts.

http://www.sltrib.com/blogs/uofusports/4428033-155/utah-football-senior-center-and-captain


JJ Deilman out for the season with a lower leg injury. Things really starting to pile up.

Ugh, that is three starters of all Pac-12 caliber who are gone. Not good.

[LA Ute]

I would not be surprised if we're double-digit underdogs in Boulder. I will be surprised if Utah is less than a TD underdog against UW.

I think we are looking at 9 wins max. Remaining wins:

AZ
OSU
ASU
Oregon

Of these I'm only confident about OSU.

Would love to be wrong.

[Rocker Ute]

I would not want to be Arizona facing a pissed off Utah at home. Monkey on our back comes off. I'm confident in a win there and OSU.


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[SeattleUte]

LA, I'm tired of being your damn shrink. My rate is $625/hr. Same to you, SoCalPat.

[Utah]

Every team that ends up in the playoff is a great team...and lucky.

You have to be good, disciplined, able to run the ball and play defense to have a chance.

Kyle gives us that chance. Do we lose that game if these players are playing:

Lutui
Dielman
If Joe Williams didn't take all the reps in fall camp, taking away from Shyne's progression
Fulks
Butler-Byrd
Patrick
Fakaiolatonga
Lotulelei
Fitts
Porter

Were playing?

What if Phillips doesn't have a broken toe?

My point is this:

We are a damn good team and will probably win 9-10 games this year. We still have a shot at a PAC-12 title.

What Kyle has done at a school like Utah is stunning.

What we have to hope for, is that one year, we will get lucky. Maybe have half the injuries we've had so far.

Until then, let's hope some of these young guys step up.

[LA Ute]

LA, I'm tired of being your damn shrink. My rate is $625/hr. Same to you, SoCalPat.

I've never seen you as my shrink. You're my self-appointed hair shirt.

[Irving Washington]

I've never seen you as my shrink. You're my self-appointed hair shirt.

And what's your zealoty?

[mUUser]

..... Same to you, SoCalPat.


Beggin' you, no more back-n-forth with SoCalPat. The weight of your respective egos could crash the server -- permanently.

[LA Ute]

And what's your zealoty?

Um, Utah football and basketball?


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[Irving Washington]

Um, Utah football and basketball?


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Try harder.

[LA Ute]

Try harder.

You're murdering my metaphor.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161005/6fcb0dffd89ea5785e6b6418f63bf17b.png

:blink:


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[Irving Washington]

You're murdering my metaphor.

Just trying to give you a chance for a humorous response. Work with me.

[LA Ute]

Just trying to give you a chance for a humorous response. Work with me.

Sadly, I am not following you. But I want SeattleUte to know about this website:

http://www.cilice.co.uk/hairshirts.html

My birthday is coming up, SU. Just so you know.

[SeattleUte]

Sadly, I am not following you. But I want SeattleUte to know about this website:

http://www.cilice.co.uk/hairshirts.html

My birthday is coming up, SU. Just so you know.

Thomas More wore a hair shirt. He also burned people at the stake, including his "friends". LA, I fear you would do the same to me in a different epoch. I'm sure your conscience would be clear.

[Solon]

Sadly, I am not following you. But I want SeattleUte to know about this website:

http://www.cilice.co.uk/hairshirts.html

My birthday is coming up, SU. Just so you know.

That website is both amazing and appalling. Great find, LA.

[LA Ute]

Thomas More wore a hair shirt. He also burned people at the stake, including his "friends". LA, I fear you would do the same to me in a different epoch. I'm sure your conscience would be clear.

You're just jealous because he was such a man for all seasons, and you live in a city where there is only one.


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[concerned]

Thomas More wore a hair shirt. He also burned people at the stake, including his "friends". LA, I fear you would do the same to me in a different epoch. I'm sure your conscience would be clear.

Careful. He might do it this epoch.

[LA Ute]

That website is both amazing and appalling. Great find, LA.

Well, with my birthday coming, and Seattle desperately searching for the right gift for me, I felt compelled to help out. After all, he cannot always be there to be my hair shirt, so he might as will give me one, or maybe one of those other wonderful devices.


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[NorthwestUteFan]

LA's 'self-abuse' fetish is getting out of hand.

[LA Ute]

LA's 'self-abuse' fetish is getting out of hand.

It's a matter of mortification and penitence. SU's role here is to make sure that I engage in both because of my incorrect thinking and my often unworthy posts. Of course, as a godless communist you would not understand.


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[Diehard Ute]

Anyone have anything football related to share?


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[LA Ute]

Anyone have anything football related to share?

Party pooper.

[Diehard Ute]

Party pooper.

Law and Order Counselor. Law and Order.


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[LA Ute]

I guess BYU beating Michigan State improves the worth of our win over them. It will also pave the way for their inevitable claims that if we played them at the end of the season the outcome would be different.


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[concerned]

I guess BYU beating Michigan State improves the worth of our win over them. It will also pave the way for their inevitable claims that if we played them at the end of the season the outcome would be different.


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They are already claiming they would win if we played today

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

That 28 at Colorado just seems crazy to me.


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[SeattleUte]

ESPN projects Utah for the Rose Bowl.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/

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[NorthwestUteFan]

With UCLA potentially losing Rosen that seems doable. Prob need UW to win out, and no more stumbles for the Utes.

[concerned]

Anybody know if the third-quarter drums are gone for good?

[LA Ute]

Anybody know if the third-quarter drums are gone for good?

I personally think they are an annoying distraction so I hope so.


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[LA Ute]

Does anyone have a handle on, our information about, our RB situation? In short, who is most likely to step out on the field at that position against Oregon State?


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[Diehard Ute]

Does anyone have a handle on, our information about, our RB situation? In short, who is most likely to step out on the field at that position against Oregon State?


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Moss indicated he would play next week, but who knows.

I'm all but certain Shyne is done for the year given Kyle's post game statements. McCormick doesn't seem likely.

The rumbling from Goon is Manalo has regressed since spring ball and has lost the trust of the coaches, thus why Howard played.

It's a tenuous position to be in right now, at best.

In other injury news.

I watched Tim Patrick warm up, then come up limping on a long go route during warmups. He tried to walk it off for a few seconds then went straight to the locker room and didn't come back.

Handley went to the locker room late in the game, couldn't tell why.

Lo Falemalka was not dressed.




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[SeattleUte]

This morning on KJR Seattle they said Utah is the only thing standing in the way of the Huskies rolling the entire Pac 12 and into the Final Four.

Personally, I think they're a little deluded. Stanford and Oregon are not good teams, but the Huskies have been anticipating those games so much and some measure of vindication vis-à-vis Oregon feels so good they're more than a bit intoxicated. But the Huskies have a very favorable schedule except at Utah.

[concerned]

This morning on KJR Seattle they said Utah is the only thing standing in the way of the Huskies rolling the entire Pac 12 and into the Final Four.

Personally, I think they're a little deluded. Stanford and Oregon are not good teams, but the Huskies have been anticipating those games so much and some measure of vindication vis-à-vis Oregon feels so good they're more than a bit intoxicated. But the Huskies have a very favorable schedule except at Utah.

I expect USC to give them a good game in Seattle. Darnold has improved them.

[U-Ute]

Utes back up to #21 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/football/polls/coaches-poll/

1956

[LA Ute]

Coaches with 100 wins at their current school:

Bill Snyder - 196 wins at Kansas State
Bob Stoops - 181 wins at Oklahoma
Gary Patterson - 147 wins at TCU
Kirk Ferentz - 131 wins at Iowa
Nick Saban - 110 wins at Alabama
Kyle Whittingham - 100 wins at Utah

Not bad company to be in.



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[mUUser]

Does anyone know the opening kickoff song?.....the one that really thumps. Would be great walk-up music too.

[Diehard Ute]

Does anyone know the opening kickoff song?.....the one that really thumps. Would be great walk-up music too.

http://youtu.be/8lkPfgzR6Hw

Joker And The Thief - Wolfmother

Used for basketball tip music last year as well



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[mUUser]

http://youtu.be/8lkPfgzR6Hw

Joker And The Thief - Wolfmother

Used for basketball tip music last year as well




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2005? -- wonder how I missed this one. Thanks.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Wolfmother, huh? Not a bad pick for the program. I was thinking the other day that Prophets of Rage would be some pretty kick ass hype soundtrack.


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[SeattleUte]

Guys, we're a win at wounded UCLA from meeting Washington in a titanic game in SLC. Let's have fun.

[LA Ute]

Guys, we're a win at wounded UCLA from meeting Washington in a titanic game in SLC. Let's have fun.

Analysis: True.


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[UBlender]

Guys, we're a win at wounded UCLA from meeting Washington in a titanic game in SLC. Let's have fun.

No. Let's be mad and miserable and not enjoy the season at all and then when it's over in six weeks we can spend the next eight months pining for football's return so we can start hating it all over again.

[Ma'ake]

Guys, we're a win at wounded UCLA from meeting Washington in a titanic game in SLC. Let's have fun.

Yep. At this point, I'm hoping to play deflated teams. We need every extra angle we can find.

UCLA is 1-3, lost at Pullman. We need to get our shit together, and the Rose Bowl is a great venue to accomplish that.

Washington is... playing well. We've taken down top teams at RES before. We're capable of rising to the occasion.

Then we get 10 days between games, and play at ASU on a Thursday. They got stung by the Buffs. Time to get the first road victory at Tempe in memory.

Then a couple of extra days, and send Mark Helfrich to whatever his next coaching gig will be.

Then then the showdown in Boulder. I hope we're healed, because they looks enormously improved.

[Applejack]

I'll be at the UW game AND the ASU game, so mark those in pen with big Ws.

P.S. Things have changed up at the U since my time. There aren't $5 tickets for the UW that I can find. IF anyone has a beat on good tix to the UW game, drop me a line.

[SeattleUte]

I'll be at the UW game AND the ASU game, so mark those in pen with big Ws.

P.S. Things have changed up at the U since my time. There aren't $5 tickets for the UW that I can find. IF anyone has a beat on good tix to the UW game, drop me a line.

You may have to suck it up and buy from Viator.

[LA Ute]

I'll be at UCLA with a contingent. Also hitting the Oregon game. Maybe Washington.


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[NorthwestUteFan]

I should be at Oregon.

[Applejack]

You may have to suck it up and buy from Viator.
I don't know what this means.

[Brian]

I'll be in town for the Oregon game. Much excitement.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

You may have to suck it up and buy from Viator.

I had to read this carefully. But let's be honest, AJ could probably use one of those too.


Do we have perfect coverage for the rest of the season?

UCLA - I assume LA and scratch will be there?
UW - home game
ASU - AJ will be there
Oregon - home game
CU - I'll be there (and DnF?)

Most importantly, I won't be at any of them.


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[LA Ute]

This is a very good, balanced analysis of where the Utes are right now:

Utah football: After scraping by Oregon State, are No. 19 Utes for real?

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/4473909-155/utah-football-after-scraping-by-oregon

I think the analytics predicting a so-so conclusion to the season are reasonable and probably accurate. But, being an optimist, I think we may surprise some people yet. A lot will depend on how we deal with the injuries we have, and whether some of those who are hurt can return to the field in time to make a difference.




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[Utah]

Down this weekend. Win and we could have a very special season.

[LA Ute]

I think many of the things dragging us down in the computers' eyes are correctable things or things related to bad luck, like fumbled snaps in the red zone or 9 false starts in a half. I think we correct some of those things and we get some guys back from injury, and we might just deserve our top 25 ranking.

I think we will beat UCLA.


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[Rocker Ute]

This year's team seems to play to the level of their competition, it really is as simple as that. One thing they also do every year is win a game they shouldn't and lose a game they shouldn't. I'm thinking back each year and that is almost invariably true.

So I can see us walloping Washington and then losing badly to Oregon.

[Utah]

Isn't our bad loss Cal? There is no excuse for losing to Cal. Especially how that game ended. What, 7 plays/tries to win?

[LA Ute]

This year's team seems to play to the level of their competition, it really is as simple as that. One thing they also do every year is win a game they shouldn't and lose a game they shouldn't. I'm thinking back each year and that is almost invariably true.

So I can see us walloping Washington and then losing badly to Oregon.

I think Cal was that loss. Oregon State almost was.

[Rocker Ute]

I think Cal was that loss. Oregon State almost was.

It would be nice, but I think we've got one more of that kind of loss and we still haven't seen our 'lucky to win it' game either.


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[Applejack]

it would be nice, but i think we've got one more of that kind of loss and we still haven't seen our 'lucky to win it' game either.


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usc?

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

It would be nice, but I think we've got one more of that kind of loss and we still haven't seen our 'lucky to win it' game either.



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BYU. Every year.

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[LA Ute]

It would be nice, but I think we've got one more of that kind of loss and we still haven't seen our 'lucky to win it' game either.


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I should have said I hope Cal is that loss.


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[Utah]

Why is everyone so down on Utah right now? Is it lack of information? Is it because Utah isn't winning sexy (have they ever)? Look at our schedule coming up:

@UCLA - UCLA is a BAD team right now. They will be lucky to go bowling.
Washington - Washington is legit.
bye week
@ASU - ASU is not very good either.
Oregon - we have extra days to get ready for this, and Oregon is most likely not a bowl team either.
@Colorado - how do we feel about this game when they show up having lost to Stanford, WSU and possibly UCLA? It will be a tough game, it is always a tough game, but we should win.

We won't finish worse than 9-3.

[mUUser]

Why is everyone so down on Utah right now? Is it lack of information? Is it because Utah isn't winning sexy (have they ever)? Look at our schedule coming up:

@UCLA - UCLA is a BAD team right now. They will be lucky to go bowling.
Washington - Washington is legit.
bye week
@ASU - ASU is not very good either.
Oregon - we have extra days to get ready for this, and Oregon is most likely not a bowl team either.
@Colorado - how do we feel about this game when they show up having lost to Stanford, WSU and possibly UCLA? It will be a tough game, it is always a tough game, but we should win.

We won't finish worse than 9-3.

I think if you talked to your average non-homer football fan west of the Mississippi, you'd see that they'd say we aren't very good 6-1 team "Overated" is a term I think you'd hear a lot. Honestly, we don't have an impressive victory under our belt. There's no "statement win" there. We are just squeaking by against fairly average competition. We are hitting a tough string of games with a depleted team.....9-3 would be a heckuva coaching job and a reason to feel positive about the depth we've recruited.....9-3 is not a worst case scenario. I love your positivity, but........

[Utah]

I think if you talked to your average non-homer football fan west of the Mississippi, you'd see that they'd say we aren't very good 6-1 team "Overated" is a term I think you'd hear a lot. Honestly, we don't have an impressive victory under our belt. There's no "statement win" there. We are just squeaking by against fairly average competition. We are hitting a tough string of games with a depleted team.....9-3 would be a heckuva coaching job and a reason to feel positive about the depth we've recruited.....9-3 is not a worst case scenario. I love your positivity, but........

I disagree. ESPN has Utah as the #2 PAC-12 team. We are one of two PAC-12 teams ranked. ASU wasn't ranked when they were 5-1. Lincoln Kennedy said this morning that we should win all our remaining games outside of Washington. Is it CBS that has us projected to the Rose Bowl as well as ESPN? There is at least two major networks that have us in the Rose Bowl right now. Ted Miller has us winning the south this year and has had us there all summer long.


I don't think our problem is national perspective. It's local. We still have a MWC mentality, where if you beat New Mexico 19-14 in October, you drop in the polls. In a P5 conference, when you beat OSU 19-14 in October in a hurricane, you move up and get big respect.


In P5 conferences, you don't get huge credit for beating big time teams. Any team can get up for those games. You get credit for beating bad teams when you aren't playing well. That is the sign of a good team.


Just my two cents. I think in 10 years, if we are 6-1 with a win vs a bad PAC-12 team in a major storm, with a depleted UCLA on the schedule then a game that might have Game Day implications...


We won't be bagging on our OC, we will be dreaming of going 2-0 and playoffs.

[DrumNFeather]

I disagree. ESPN has Utah as the #2 PAC-12 team. We are one of two PAC-12 teams ranked. ASU wasn't ranked when they were 5-1. Lincoln Kennedy said this morning that we should win all our remaining games outside of Washington. Is it CBS that has us projected to the Rose Bowl as well as ESPN? There is at least two major networks that have us in the Rose Bowl right now. Ted Miller has us winning the south this year and has had us there all summer long.


I don't think our problem is national perspective. It's local. We still have a MWC mentality, where if you beat New Mexico 19-14 in October, you drop in the polls. In a P5 conference, when you beat OSU 19-14 in October in a hurricane, you move up and get big respect.


In P5 conferences, you don't get huge credit for beating big time teams. Any team can get up for those games. You get credit for beating bad teams when you aren't playing well. That is the sign of a good team.


Just my two cents. I think in 10 years, if we are 6-1 with a win vs a bad PAC-12 team in a major storm, with a depleted UCLA on the schedule then a game that might have Game Day implications...


We won't be bagging on our OC, we will be dreaming of going 2-0 and playoffs.

Kyle did say in his weekly presser that we should've been more diverse in our play calling in the second half. Vindication! :highfive:

[Utah]

Kyle did say in his weekly presser that we should've been more diverse in our play calling in the second half. Vindication! :highfive:

lol. Nice!

[LA Ute]

Kyle did say in his weekly presser that we should've been more diverse in our play calling in the second half. Vindication! :highfive:

He must not be a real Utah fan. What a whiner.


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[LA Ute]

Scott Mitchell made an interesting comment today on Riley's show. He said he thinks Utah is better than all the teams they have played, and that the Utes play just well enough to beat all those teams. He was not being critical; in fact, he lauded KW as one of the best coaches in the PAC-12, if not the best. I just thought that was insightful, coming from perceptive and experienced eyes.


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[Brian]

Scott Mitchell made an interesting comment today on Riley's show. He said he thinks Utah is better than all the teams they have played, and that the Utes play just well enough to beat all those teams. He was not being critical; in fact, he lauded KW as one of the best coaches in the PAC-12, if not the best. I just thought that was insightful, coming from perceptive and experienced eyes.


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Scott is a good guest. I enjoy hearing what his seasoned eyes see.

[justaute]

Thanks for sharing. Good to know.


Scott Mitchell made an interesting comment today on Riley's show. He said he thinks Utah is better than all the teams they have played, and that the Utes play just well enough to beat all those teams. He was not being critical; in fact, he lauded KW as one of the best coaches in the PAC-12, if not the best. I just thought that was insightful, coming from perceptive and experienced eyes.


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[LA Ute]

Thanks for sharing. Good to know.

He did say he wished they'd just blow people out more often -- it seemed like he thought so because it would help team morale.


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[UBlender]

I do feel like there are a lot of Ute fans with very short memories right now. We are all forgetting that Utah has had a solid offense for most of the season and was leading the PAC 12 in chunk plays prior to last week.

Maybe it's PTSD or just recency bias but I get the sense that a lot of Ute fans look at the OSU game and think "same old Ute offense is back" rather than realizing that game is a very distinct outlier to the season as a whole.

(Before you start, I'm not arguing that Utah's offense is amazing, but it's been a lot better than other PAC 12 years, with the exception of the last game).

[Utah]

I agree with UBlender. Our offense has gotten better every year under ARod.

Yeah, we aren't WSU or Cal offensively...but we are better than we were last year and a lot better than we were 4 years ago and we win a lot more games as well.

[LA Ute]

I do feel like there are a lot of Ute fans with very short memories right now. We are all forgetting that Utah has had a solid offense for most of the season and was leading the PAC 12 in chunk plays prior to last week.

Maybe it's PTSD or just recency bias but I get the sense that a lot of Ute fans look at the OSU game and think "same old Ute offense is back" rather than realizing that game is a very distinct outlier to the season as a whole.

(Before you start, I'm not arguing that Utah's offense is amazing, but it's been a lot better than other PAC 12 years, with the exception of the last game).

I agree. OSU was the exception this season. (We're still last in the conference in the red zone -- both on offense and defense. I don't think that's the coordinators' doing, however.)

[Solon]

I do feel like there are a lot of Ute fans with very short memories right now. We are all forgetting that Utah has had a solid offense for most of the season and was leading the PAC 12 in chunk plays prior to last week..

I don't think people are down on the offense in its entirety; they're down on the red-zone, 4th-and-short stuff. At least, that's what I am down on. Not necessarily that there are struggles; just that the same struggles are still unsolved.

[Applejack]

I don't think people are down on the offense in its entirety; they're down on the red-zone, 4th-and-short stuff. At least, that's what I am down on. Not necessarily that there are struggles; just that the same struggles are still unsolved.
The fourth down failures shouldn't surprise anyone that watched Utah last year. Joe Williams showed that he was an adequate backup to devontae except for two things: 1. His tendency to fumble twice a game and 2. His short yardage production. Moss is better, but a true freshman. With no threat of a qb keep, we struggle on 3rd and 4th and short.

[Solon]

The fourth down failures shouldn't surprise anyone that watched Utah last year. Joe Williams showed that he was an adequate backup to devontae except for two things: 1. His tendency to fumble twice a game and 2. His short yardage production. Moss is better, but a true freshman. With no threat of a qb keep, we struggle on 3rd and 4th and short.
Of course we aren't surprised, but this why there are highly paid coaches. There are plenty of ways to capitalize on the team's advantages. Misdirection (out of a 2-back set?), counter-plays (including the shuffle pass), and a bunch of other stuff should be on the table. I am not going to second-guess the coaches, who obviously know more than I, but I am going to notice that the same problems seem to have recurred this season with consequences. On the other hand, I also ascribe to the philosophy that it shouldn't matter if the other team knows the play, when only inches are needed.

I don't know the answer, but I would like to see improvement. Not perfection, just improvement - like a Troy selling out for the end zone last week.

[LA Ute]

Of course we aren't surprised, but this why there are highly paid coaches. There are plenty of ways to capitalize on the team's advantages. Misdirection (out of a 2-back set?), counter-plays (including the shuffle pass), and a bunch of other stuff should be on the table. I am not going to second-guess the coaches, who obviously know more than I, but I am going to notice that the same problems seem to have recurred this season with consequences. On the other hand, I also ascribe to the philosophy that it shouldn't matter if the other team knows the play, when only inches are needed.

I don't know the answer, but I would like to see improvement. Not perfection, just improvement - like a Troy selling out for the end zone last week.

I have a theory about red zone production. On a statistical level, at least, we have performed poorly in the red zone all season long, on both offense and defense (and not just against Oregon State -- we ranked last in the PAC-12 in both categories going into the OSU game). And yet we are doing well and winning games. It's remarkable that we are dead last in both categories and that we are winning anyway.

Perhaps our low statistical red zone ranking is because of Utah's quintessentially conservative approach to the game. We don't try fancy stuff in the red zone on either offense or defense because the stakes are higher there -- mistakes can be disastrous. So we are not generating great red zone numbers because we don't care about flash as much as we do about grinding out a win. This is not a criticism, just an effort to describe Kyle's style and its impact on red zone production.

[LA Ute]

If you take away the turnovers and the bad snaps, how much does our red zone percentage change? It must be significant. Not sure if that means anything. I guess execution is as big a deal as play calling down there.

A person with too much time on his hands could go through each red zone opportunity this season and break down how it ended. Might be very interesting. Bottom line is we are having a hard time finishing on offense, and stopping other teams from finishing when we are on defense.


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[Utah]

We are 26/35 in redzone opportunities.

We have 18 TD's, 13 rush, 5 pass.

We are 8/9 on FG's.

We've thrown two INT's, three TO's on downs, three lost possessions on "other" and zero fumbles (according to the PAC-12 website). That adds up to 8 TO's plus the missed FG.

I think our biggest issue is missed FG's slash not attempting FG's. We've lost the ball three times on downs. Normally, we'd kick the FG in that situation. If we had, and Phillips hit all three, we would be 29/35 or 83% or 8th in the PAC-12. Better, but we still have issues.

I can remember two fumbles in the redzone and Moeai/Troy missing a TD against Cal. If we had been better on those, we'd be 32/35 or 91% or 3rd in the PAC-12.

Also, Troy threw those two INT's earlier in the year. So, in some respects we have gotten better. I think we need to start taking the FG's and quit going for it on fourth down as well.

So, we make WAY too many mistakes, go for fourth down too much, BUT we don't suck, per say. I don't think teams are straight up stopping us (well, on the three fourth downs they are).

Anyways, there are the stats you wanted.

[Utah]

Also, our top three tacklers are Chase Hansen, Tauteoli, and Marcus Williams.

Those injuries are huge for us. Dang.

[mpfunk]

I heard an interview with Whittingham the other day. He was talking about them hiring an analytics firm for 4th down decisions. I'm thrilled that they are doing this and it explains why we are going for it on 4th so much more.

As long as Utah is sticking to the analytics each and every time for 4th down decisions, I'm thrilled with this approach and won't question any of the calls to go for it on 4th. This stuff works, as long as you stick to it and don't deviate.

[Sullyute]

I heard and interview with Whittingham the other day. He was talking about them hiring an analytics firm for 4th down decisions. I'm thrilled that they are doing this and it explains why we are going for it on 4th so much more.

As long as Utah is sticking to the analytics each and every time for 4th down decisions, I'm thrilled with this approach and won't question any of the calls to go for it on 4th. This stuff works, as long as you stick to it and don't deviate.

I cannot tell if you are being sarcastic or not. Do we really want to pay a coach 3+ million a year to turn his decision making over to a computer? I like using analytics for the information, but I still want the coach to use his 'gut' to make the call.

[mpfunk]

I cannot tell if you are being sarcastic or not. Do we really want to pay a coach 3+ million a year to turn his decision making over to a computer? I like using analytics for the information, but I still want the coach to use his 'gut' to make the call.

Not being sarcastic at all. Yes, on these type of things we should turn the decision making over to a computer. I'm not saying that everything can be decided by analytics, but things like going for it on 4th down are absolutely something that you rely on the numbers and use them in every circumstance.

I'm not a big fan in any sport of "guts" making these calls.

[chrisrenrut]

Not being sarcastic at all. Yes, on these type of things we should turn the decision making over to a computer. I'm not saying that everything can be decided by analytics, but things like going for it on 4th down are absolutely something that you rely on the numbers and use them in every circumstance.

I'm not a big fan in any sport of "guts" making these calls.

Analytics should be a guide, the head coaches judgment still needs to be used. Circumstances change. Say we are on the other team's 35 yard line. it is late in the game, and we have two offensive linemen injured, with freshmen replacements. Or our defense is absolutely stifling the other team, and they need a touchdown to win with 2 minutes left. Is the punter a witch and can lad the ball on the 5 yard line 9 out of 10 times? Has the offense struggled in short yardage situations? Have we noticed some tendencies of the defense that we could take advantage of a play action fake?

[Utah]

Analytics should be a guide, the head coaches judgment still needs to be used. Circumstances change. Say we are on the other team's 35 yard line. it is late in the game, and we have two offensive linemen injured, with freshmen replacements. Or our defense is absolutely stifling the other team, and they need a touchdown to win with 2 minutes left. Is the punter a witch and can lad the ball on the 5 yard line 9 out of 10 times? Has the offense struggled in short yardage situations? Have we noticed some tendencies of the defense that we could take advantage of a play action fake?

So, another typical week as a Utah football coach/player/fan?

[DrumNFeather]

I wonder what the analytics say about going for it on 4th and 19 from your own 2. OW! :rimshot:

I sure hope the WiFi is good in the stadium so that when we check with coach computer we don't see a thinking hour glass symbol. Boom! :rimshot:

Thank you folks, don't for get to tip your waiter.

[mpfunk]

Analytics should be a guide, the head coaches judgment still needs to be used. Circumstances change. Say we are on the other team's 35 yard line. it is late in the game, and we have two offensive linemen injured, with freshmen replacements. Or our defense is absolutely stifling the other team, and they need a touchdown to win with 2 minutes left. Is the punter a witch and can lad the ball on the 5 yard line 9 out of 10 times? Has the offense struggled in short yardage situations? Have we noticed some tendencies of the defense that we could take advantage of a play action fake?

I trust that our coach is using analytics that are advanced enough that it isn't so simple as just "if it is 4th and X on the X yard line, got for it." I'm trusting that he is using something advanced enough to account for score/time left in the game. Obviously, those analytics cannot account for things such as injuries, tendencies, and how the team is playing.

I still trust numbers more than guts, and if you believe you are getting good enough data, you should use it. The Blackhawks have 3 Stanley Cups by abandoning the gut feeling in favor of the analytics.

[SeattleUte]

I trust that our coach is using analytics that are advanced enough that it isn't so simple as just "if it is 4th and X on the X yard line, got for it." I'm trusting that he is using something advanced enough to account for score/time left in the game. Obviously, those analytics cannot account for things such as injuries, tendencies, and how the team is playing.

I still trust numbers more than guts, and if you believe you are getting good enough data, you should use it. The Blackhawks have 3 Stanley Cups by abandoning the gut feeling in favor of the analytics.

Why can't our coaches do cool stuff like go for it on fourth and 19 from our own five in the second quarter and down by 4? Haha.

[Diehard Ute]

It's official. College Gameday returns next week.


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[LA Ute]

I'm not sure where my son got this, but I like it.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161023/e1b4a42f1e921aa323328ddeb5f73b86.jpg


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[DrumNFeather]

I'm not sure where my son got this, but I like it.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161023/e1b4a42f1e921aa323328ddeb5f73b86.jpg


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The best part about this is we've done it twice in three years.

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[Utah]

I hope everyone keeps over-rating Colorado and under-rating Utah. That will make for a great win to end the year.

[Utah]

Goon says Manalo has left the team:

790664141199462401

That's too bad. He was hyped up early but he faded fast. Really fast. It's too bad.

[justaute]

Interesting. Wasn't Manalo just a red-shirt freshman?

[Utah]

Interesting. Wasn't Manalo just a red-shirt freshman?

Yes. But he was buried. Moss, DHC, Shyne, Howard. He'd be fifth string next year at best.

Wish him well. Hopefully he goes to SDSU and gets 2,000 yards and a MWC title and BCS Bowl.

[LA Ute]

I wonder why there are so many penalty problems this season?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865665432/Utes-and-their-penalty-problems-Smash-7em-in-the-mouth.html


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[SoCalPat]

IUpdated ESPN FPI rankings:

Up 4 spots to #37. There are 3 teams under .500 ranked higher than us. We are the lowest ranked, 1-loss, P5 team. Basically, the computers think we've been lucky.

I don't know about lucky, but when you tend to string together wins in multiple games decided by a TD or less, the computers figure it's only a matter of time before you drop one or get completely outclassed.

2014: Utah is 5-2 in games decided by a TD or less, but gets mauled by Oregon and Arizona at home -- the two reps in the league title game that year.

2015: Utah is 4-2 in games decided by 8 points or fewer, but gets mauled by USC on the road, and were 2-2 after starting 8-1. And every game after that start was decided by 8 points or less.

2016: Already 4-1 in games decided by 7 points or fewer, with 5-6 more games to play.

We walk a tightrope when it comes to "power rankings." We're good, but we're rarely dominant. We play way too many close games. As a result, we leave too much to chance on 1 or 2 plays late in a game.

[concerned]

I don't know about lucky, but when you tend to string together wins in multiple games decided by a TD or less, the computers figure it's only a matter of time before you drop one or get completely outclassed.

2014: Utah is 5-2 in games decided by a TD or less, but gets mauled by Oregon and Arizona at home -- the two reps in the league title game that year.

2015: Utah is 4-2 in games decided by 8 points or fewer, but gets mauled by USC on the road, and were 2-2 after starting 8-1. And every game after that start was decided by 8 points or less.

We walk a tightrope when it comes to "power rankings." We're good, but we're rarely dominant. As a result, we leave too much to chance on 1 or 2 plays late in a game.

Recently I read somewhere that, since 2014 Utah has the best record in the country in games decided by a TD or less. FWIW

[SeattleUte]

I don't know about lucky, but when you tend to string together wins in multiple games decided by a TD or less, the computers figure it's only a matter of time before you drop one or get completely outclassed.

2014: Utah is 5-2 in games decided by a TD or less, but gets mauled by Oregon and Arizona at home -- the two reps in the league title game that year.

2015: Utah is 4-2 in games decided by 8 points or fewer, but gets mauled by USC on the road, and were 2-2 after starting 8-1. And every game after that start was decided by 8 points or less.

2016: Already 4-1 in games decided by 7 points or fewer, with 5-6 more games to play.

We walk a tightrope when it comes to "power rankings." We're good, but we're rarely dominant. We play way too many close games. As a result, we leave too much to chance on 1 or 2 plays late in a game.

Haha. What universe do you come from? What kind of a word to you think we live in? This isn't a choice that the Utes make--except that they try to stay competitive and have a chance to win every week by the best means available. Every year we get materially out recruited by all the coastal schools (including Oregon) and both Arizona schools. With respect to the Los Angeles schools, the gap is UGE! A rational person would not expect us to out recruit those schools. The Utes have developed the way they play and how they approach teams out of necessity, and it's worked. If you want them to become USC or even Washington you're crazy.

[pangloss]

Not being sarcastic at all. Yes, on these type of things we should turn the decision making over to a computer. I'm not saying that everything can be decided by analytics, but things like going for it on 4th down are absolutely something that you rely on the numbers and use them in every circumstance.

I'm not a big fan in any sport of "guts" making these calls.


I believe I heard Coach Whit say the analytical info was an input but not determinative. He also takes into account the ebb & flow of the game and his gut (I don't remember how he phrased it). He is not a slave to the computer. Thankfully, in my opinion.

[Utah]

Seattle - I agree 95% with your post. I did see somewhere that the state of Utah puts more high school players into division 1 schools with scholarships than Washington.

Out west, Cali was #1, Arizona #2, Utah #3.

So, we have potential to recruit like Washington. Keeping the Gustin's and Shultz's, etc home would put us in top 25 range.

A Rose Bowl win over Ohio St or a PAC-12 title or even a playoff appearance would jump start that big time.

[SeattleUte]

Seattle - I agree 95% with your post. I did see somewhere that the state of Utah puts more high school players into division 1 schools with scholarships than Washington.

Out west, Cali was #1, Arizona #2, Utah #3.

So, we have potential to recruit like Washington. Keeping the Gustin's and Shultz's, etc home would put us in top 25 range.

A Rose Bowl win over Ohio St or a PAC-12 title or even a playoff appearance would jump start that big time.

You don't post a link, and given that Washington has 6.8 million residents and Utah has 2.9 million, I just don't believe that Utah produces more DI players. However, it would help if the U. Utah got every in-state recruit it wanted, but that doesn't happen anywhere except maybe at Ohio State. Utah kids want to go out of state for a lot of understandable reasons. Washington and the California schools also have countless other advantages, tangible and intangible, recruiting out of state as well as in-state. I can't think of one that Utah has over them except maybe the poly pipeline and Mormons (a physically oriented culture that values sports). But those other places have strong ethnic and cultural advantages over Utah overall.

Deluding itself about its structural limitations won't help Utah get better.

[UBlender]

Recently I read somewhere that, since 2014 Utah has the best record in the country in games decided by a TD or less. FWIW

This is why I wasn't as torn up about the Cal game as many were. Utah has stolen enough games over the last three years, we were bound to give one or two back at some point. It's painful when it happens but it's life in sports.

[SeattleUte]

This is why I wasn't as torn up about the Cal game as many were. Utah has stolen enough games over the last three years, we were bound to give one or two back at some point. It's painful when it happens but it's life in sports.

Yes.

[SoCalPat]

Haha. What universe do you come from? What kind of a word to you think we live in? This isn't a choice that the Utes make--except that they try to stay competitive and have a chance to win every week by the best means available. Every year we get materially out recruited by all the coastal schools (including Oregon) and both Arizona schools. With respect to the Los Angeles schools, the gap is UGE! A rational person would not expect us to out recruit those schools. The Utes have developed the way they play and how they approach teams out of necessity, and it's worked. If you want them to become USC or even Washington you're crazy.

I don't think I said anything that could be remotely construed as expecting to be USC or Washington. But if you want to win the South or get to the Rose Bowl, I doubt the resume of such teams in the last five years is littered with as many one-score games as Utah's is. We're good, but we're rarely dominant is absolutely the way they play. Is it good enough to put together a magical season? The odds strongly suggest it's not.

[SeattleUte]

I don't think I said anything that could be remotely construed as expecting to be USC or Washington. But if you want to win the South or get to the Rose Bowl, I doubt the resume of such teams in the last five years is littered with as many one-score games as Utah's is. We're good, but we're rarely dominant is absolutely the way they play. Is it good enough to put together a magical season? The odds strongly suggest it's not.

I know your agenda.

[Utah]

You don't post a link, and given that Washington has 6.8 million residents and Utah has 2.9 million, I just don't believe that Utah produces more DI players. However, it would help if the U. Utah got every in-state recruit it wanted, but that doesn't happen anywhere except maybe at Ohio State. Utah kids want to go out of state for a lot of understandable reasons. Washington and the California schools also have countless other advantages, tangible and intangible, recruiting out of state as well as in-state. I can't think of one that Utah has over them except maybe the poly pipeline and Mormons (a physically oriented culture that values sports). But those other places have strong ethnic and cultural advantages over Utah overall.

Deluding itself about its structural limitations won't help Utah get better.

Here is actually a more recent article that says that Utah had 98 3/4/5 star kids. Washington had 94.

So, believe what you like, but reality is, we should be able to recruit as well as Washington.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/college-football-recruiting/2015/4/15/8143431/states-most-players-recruits?client=safari

[Utah]

Here is the article I remember reading, which shows Utah with more Division 1 football players than Washington.

http://www.footballstudyhall.com/2013/9/11/4718442/college-football-state-texas-california-florida

This link says that in 2016, Washington had two more division 1 football players than Utah. What's crazy is that Utah had the same number as Oklahoma. Now, we won't every recruit like them...not until we get some more history, and I'm not sure we can build history like Oklahoma. Still, interesting.

http://usatodayhss.com/2016/which-states-produced-the-most-class-of-2016-fbs-college-football-players

[Utah]

Deluding itself about its structural limitations won't help Utah get better.

Come on now. Don't be a jerk. When Utah has just as many 3, 4 and 5 star kids as Washington, I'm delusional for thinking we could get to the point where we recruit as well as them?

At least get some info to back your stance up first.

[Utah]

I don't think I said anything that could be remotely construed as expecting to be USC or Washington. But if you want to win the South or get to the Rose Bowl, I doubt the resume of such teams in the last five years is littered with as many one-score games as Utah's is. We're good, but we're rarely dominant is absolutely the way they play. Is it good enough to put together a magical season? The odds strongly suggest it's not.

I looked this up once, and if I remember correctly (and I probably do), Washington has averaged 1 Rose Bowl every 6 years.

I think that is a goal that Utah should strive for. We are still so young, but our state loves football, and our state puts out a shockingly high number of very good football players.

We aren't there yet, and it will take work and time, but it's not crazy to think that Utah could get to Washington's level some day.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Here is actually a more recent article that says that Utah had 98 3/4/5 star kids. Washington had 94.

So, believe what you like, but reality is, we should be able to recruit as well as Washington.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/college-football-recruiting/2015/4/15/8143431/states-most-players-recruits?client=safari

Strangely enough, I just counted each team's rosters and the Huskies have 42 players on their roster from Washington and the Utes have 42 players from Utah.


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[Utah]

I get where Seattle is coming from. There are so many more people in Washington, but when you look at the numbers, Utah has so much potential. We have the potential to be the fourth best recruiting team in the PAC-12 (USC, UCLA, Phoenix, SLC, Seattle). We love our football here. We are a southern state locked out west.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

I get where Seattle is coming from. There are so many more people in Washington, but when you look at the numbers, Utah has so much potential. We have the potential to be the fourth best recruiting team in the PAC-12 (USC, UCLA, Phoenix, SLC, Seattle). We love our football here. We are a southern state locked out west.

The most amazing thing about that map is Missouri.


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[Utah]

The most amazing thing about that map is Missouri.


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Very true. And only one in state school as well. I'm jealous. Even Washington only has two in state schools. Utah has three. That stinks.

[jrj84105]

The most amazing thing about that map is Missouri.
Which is why if the PAC were to expand, it's UT, OU, KU, and Mizzou or bust.

[LA Ute]

I thought this was pretty good.

Utah football is thriving in a power conference by staying true to itself

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/10/28/13440362/utah-utes-pac-12-conference-realignment


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[U-Ute]

It would appear that if Utah gets to the championship game and plays UW, we end up in the Rose Bowl either way.

If Utah wins they go to the Rose Bowl as the P12 representative.

If UW wins: they are selected to go to the playoff and the runner up (Utah) goes to the Rose Bowl as the representative.

[Ma'ake]

Utah finishes 9-3 and plays in ____________________


This is what I'm shooting for - Holiday Bowl.

Don't get me wrong, I would gladly take a Greyhound bus to Pasadena and be delirious the entire trip, but if you told me in August we would get to the Holiday Bowl, I would buy my entire family a half dozen of whatever remaining Shamu t-shirts are out there, for Christmas.

I'm pretty sure this team can win 2 out of the last 3, especially with a BYE to recharge.

If we beat ASU in Tempe and the Ducks at RES, I'm going to have a hard time not hopping in my Toyota to laugh out loud with the windows down, as I drive through Laramie.

[SeattleUte]

Okay, let's talk south division.

We are at 2 losses with USC. CU has 1 loss. ASU, UCLA, and Zona are out of it.

We play two on the road @ASU and @CU and one at home vs an Oregon that has found its offense.

CU has three at home (UCLA, Wazzu, and Utah) and one on the road @Zona

USC has Oregon and ND at home and UCLA and UW on the road.

UC and Utah both control their own division destiny.

All three schools are playing well.

One of the great things about being in the Pac 12 is you can lose two games and still be in a position to have one of your greatest seasons ever. Having lost to two Northern Division teams they are still in a position that if they win their last four games... But some Ute fans still are still nostalgic for the MWC and undefeated seasons.

[pangloss]

I read some dopey post-loss post or FB with the author bitching that Coach Whit was still coaching as-if he were still in MWC. I don't know what that means, but I took a look at some numbers.

Looking at the cumulative W-L record of 2014, 2015 and 2016 through yesterday (10/29/16):

Utah 26 - 9
Stan 25 - 10
Oreg 25 - 10
Wash 23 - 12
USC 22 - 13
ASU 21 - 14
UCLA 21 - 13
ARIZ 19 - 16
WSU 18 - 13
Cal 17 - 15
Colo 12 - 21
OrSt 9 - 23

So, tell me again about Utah's mind set.

[pangloss]

This is what I'm shooting for - Holiday Bowl.

If we beat ASU in Tempe and the Ducks at RES, I'm going to have a hard time not hopping in my Toyota to laugh out loud with the windows down, as I drive through Laramie.

I like Wyoming, always have.

I'm with you. I might leave a day early to spend the night in Laramie and buy a drink for some Cowboy fans. They beat #13 Boise yesterday after scoring a TD & 2 point conversion to tie with 6 min to go and then a safety with 1:20 to go for the win. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a game won with consecutive 2 point plays.

Their coach is Craig Bohl. He was the long-time coach at North Dakota State, winning the NCAA D1 championship in 2011, 2012 and 2013. This is his third year at Wyo. Wyoming was 0 - 10 against Boise going into the game.

[SeattleUte]

I read some dopey post-loss post or FB with the author bitching that Coach Whit was still coaching as-if he were still in MWC. I don't know what that means, but I took a look at some numbers.

Looking at the cumulative W-L record of 2014, 2015 and 2016 through yesterday (10/29/16):

Utah 26 - 9
Stan 25 - 10
Oreg 25 - 10
Wash 23 - 12
USC 22 - 13
ASU 21 - 14
UCLA 21 - 13
ARIZ 19 - 16
WSU 18 - 13
Cal 17 - 15
Colo 12 - 21
OrSt 9 - 23

So, tell me again about Utah's mind set.

Nice! This is what has transpired since Hill tried to fire Whit.

[SeattleUte]

Utes move up in the ESPN power rankings.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/


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[LA Ute]

Nice! This is what has transpired since Hill tried to fire Whit.

What's even more impressive is that Whitt was able to compress all three seasons into the last two.

Seriously, the biggest mistake Chris never made was to force Kyle out. I love Kyle.


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[U-Ute]

Utes move up in the ESPN power rankings.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/


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Moved from 17 to 16 in the AP and stayed at 17 in the USA Today poll. That shows a lot of respect for both these teams.

[chrisrenrut]

Nice! This is what has transpired since Hill tried to fire Whit.

Ergo, Dr. Hill is a master motivator.

[Ma'ake]

2001

This guy is my new hero. He's the announcer from the Ute Tribe when they come out and perform their traditional dances - this year in the shape of a "U". Actually, the whole program of outreach and partnership between the U and the Ute tribes has improved, impressively.

I have no idea what this guy's name is, but he could be making a LOT of money as the new Michael Buffer, boxing's "Let's Get Ready to Rumblllllllllleeeee" master MC. The Ute MC has a voice that's off the charts.

For that matter, just have him replace Mike Runge, since Armand Shyne got hurt several weeks ago, but that doesn't stop Runge from erroneously announcing that Shyne returns kicks, even though its been Julian Blackmon back there, pretty much all year.

[LA Ute]

CBS Sports bowl projections have us in the Rose with Michigan.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

I'd really like to hang on to this kid for another year.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161101/daf92176d5ade64d6fd553b2d415e85f.jpg


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[chrisrenrut]

I'd really like to hang on to this kid for another year.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161101/daf92176d5ade64d6fd553b2d415e85f.jpg


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Wow, I didn't realize how truly massive he is. Those pancakes look tiny next to him.

[U-Ute]

793929167079346176

[LA Ute]

Yogi Roth confirmed something that a few of us have been talking about. In 2014 and 2015, when Utah was doing well, the team was hoping to succeed, hoping to keep winning. This time they know they are good, they know they can win. That is an advantage we probably will have over Colorado. They are still new at winning.

EDIT: Utah still hasn't shown themselves that they can "close it out" in the game that determines a championship. The Colorado game back in 2011 was the first time we showed our inability to do that, so it's very karmic that we can have a chance to do that for the first time against Colorado this season.

[chrisrenrut]

Utes move up to #12 in the coaches poll.

[U-Ute]

Neighborhood.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161106/607ac1066de3244cc18a45a646999073.jpg

[Utah]

My first reaction is that 12 seems right. We should have been top 10 going into the Washington game, 15 after and 12-ish now.

But seeing WV, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and A&M ahead of us...we'd beat all of them next week.

[LA Ute]

Utes move up to #12 in the coaches poll.

We deserve it after the way we defeated BYE so convincingly. We always do well against BYE.


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[chrisrenrut]

My first reaction is that 12 seems right. We should have been top 10 going into the Washington game, 15 after and 12-ish now.

But seeing WV, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and A&M ahead of us...we'd beat all of them next week.

I wish I had your optimism.

[chrisrenrut]

Saw a tweet that pointed out that we were ranked 17th three weeks ago. Since then, we've had a loss and a bye, and moved up to 12th.

Then we could see a drop in the polls this week with a win that is unconvincing and/or ugly.

[Utah]

793929167079346176

That one punt stands out on top...all by itself...sigh.

[Brian]

793929167079346176

Has he never had a touchback?
or are those filtered out.

[Ma'ake]

The Buff's next two opponents were as lopsided as possible, in Pullman.

Has RichRod lost the Cats? Do they have enough fight in them to knock off the Buffs in Tuscon? Looks unlikely.

Wazzu at Boulder looks like it could be a real serious fight. We need it to be one for the ages. The Pirate has the Apple Cup looking like it might be the biggest game of the PAC-12 season.

USC beat the snot out of Oregon.

First, if we can't beat Graham and his cheaters in Tempe on Thursday, it's all for naught.

[DrumNFeather]

Stewart Mandel in with his Bowl projections this week: http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/gallery/college-football-bowl-projections-schedule-dates-postseason-after-week-10-110816

He basically says that if Washington goes to the playoff, it's then one of three 7-2 teams...Utah, CU, and Wazzu which we know. However, he projects that with USC surging, one of the three teams will fall to the Foster Farms bowl...and I'll give you three guesses as to who he's got there...

Utah vs. Northwestern.

[LA Ute]

Stewart Mandel in with his Bowl projections this week: http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/gallery/college-football-bowl-projections-schedule-dates-postseason-after-week-10-110816

He basically says that if Washington goes to the playoff, it's then one of three 7-2 teams...Utah, CU, and Wazzu which we know. However, he projects that with USC surging, one of the three teams will fall to the Foster Farms bowl...and I'll give you three guesses as to who he's got there...

Utah vs. Northwestern.

This is why both Utah and Washington must win out.


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[U-Ute]

Hans Olson breaking down the awesome play of Asiata against UW.

UI5KBNZv_pE

[LA Ute]

Washington and Utah are setting the stage for the new Pac-12 (http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/washington_and_utah_are_setting_the_stage_for_the_ new_pac_12/s1_13156_22299736) (http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/washington_and_utah_are_setting_the_stage_for_the_ new_pac_12/s1_13156_22299736)http://www.yardbarker.com/college_football/articles/washington_and_utah_are_setting_the_stage_for_the_ new_pac_12/s1_13156_22299736

[U-Ute]

Here's to the final weekend of the year being essentially a semi-final in both divisions (UW vs WSU and Utah vs CU) for the right to play in the P12 championship.

That would be pretty awesome.

[LA Ute]

Here's to the final weekend of the year being essentially a semi-final in both divisions (UW vs WSU and Utah vs CU) for the right to play in the P12 championship.

That would be pretty awesome.

:highfive:

[LA Ute]

I am hoping that the Huskies will do away with the Trojans tonight. We do not need a resurgent USC at the end of the season.


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[SeattleUte]

It's so relaxing watching the carnage on Saturday after a big Ute victory on Thursday.


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[LA Ute]

USC giving UW all it can handle. Trojan athleticism on full display. 17-6 right now at halftime. UW hasn't even scored a TD yet. The Huskies look a bit stunned.

[Irving Washington]

USC giving UW all it can handle. Trojan athleticism on full display. 17-6 right now at halftime. UW hasn't even scored a TD yet. The Huskies look a bit stunned.
If USC wins, our only chance to get in the Rose Bowl is to win the championship game. If we lose to the Buffs could we end up in the Veg Bowl?

[LA Ute]

If USC wins, our only chance to get in the Rose Bowl is to win the championship game. If we lose to the Buffs could we end up in the Veg Bowl?

Perhaps a bit better, I've heard Foster Farms.

[LA Ute]

So after the UW loss to USC, I guess we are not going to the Rose Bowl unless we win out, including the PAC-12 championship game.

Interesting how USC's brand helps them. To hear the Fox commentators talk USC is the only serious team in the conference now.

[UTEopia]

So after the UW loss to USC, I guess we are not going to the Rose Bowl unless we win out, including the PAC-12 championship game.

Interesting how USC's brand helps them. To hear the Fox commentators talk USC is the only serious team in the conference now.

I have to admit that USC looked pretty damn good.

[chrisrenrut]

I'm not sure Washington is totally out of the playoff picture. If they win out, they will have one loss, and two late wins against ranked teams, (Wazzu and probably Utah or Colorado). And after today's carnage, the ACC, B1G, and Big 12 champ will have at least one loss.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Crazy night. #2 Clemson down. #3 Michigan down. #4 Washington down. #8 A&M down. #9 Auburn down. #14 Virginia Tech down. Seems like it was a good week to not just win but to win with a respectable score as to not get passed by teams below us. Although, it wouldn't surprise me to see SC jump us, just because they're SC. But also because they've playing really well ever since they switched to Darnold.


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[sancho]

I'm not sure Washington is totally out of the playoff picture. If they win out, they will have one loss, and two late wins against ranked teams, (Wazzu and probably Utah or Colorado). And after today's carnage, the ACC, B1G, and Big 12 champ will have at least one loss.

Yes, and the committee is supposed to give some preference to conference champs.

[Utah]

My first reaction is that 12 seems right. We should have been top 10 going into the Washington game, 15 after and 12-ish now.

But seeing WV, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and A&M ahead of us...we'd beat all of them next week.

Damn, what a hot take. I don't remember if it was on this site or another, but I also said we'd take down Michigan again if we got them in the Rose Bowl.

We win the PAC-12 this year. Utah and the Big 12 will have a two loss champ.

Will the committee take Utah, with two late season top 10 wins and a win over USC with their only losses in games where they were decimated with injuries over Oklahoma?

Unfortunately, probably not. We get Michigan in the Rose Bowl and we beat them once again. Michigan is our bitch.

[NorthwestUteFan]

When was the last time WSU was undefeated in conference play going into week 12? In the last 20 years it looks like they have 2 years with 1 loss (2001, 2002), 2 with 2 (2003, 1997), and 1 with 3 (2015).

We really need them to beat CU, or at least soften them up us.

The Apple Cup will be a dogfight. Very likely it will be the #1 vs #2 team, based on conference record.

That stupid Cal loss hurts us immensely right now.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

When was the last time WSU was undefeated in conference play going into week 12? In the last 20 years it looks like they have 2 years with 1 loss (2001, 2002), 2 with 2 (2003, 1997), and 1 with 3 (2015).

We really need them to beat CU, or at least soften them up us.

The Apple Cup will be a dogfight. Very likely it will be the #1 vs #2 team, based on conference record.

That stupid Cal loss hurts us immensely right now.

Never. At least according to the play by play guy last night.


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[SeattleUte]

When was the last time WSU was undefeated in conference play going into week 12? In the last 20 years it looks like they have 2 years with 1 loss (2001, 2002), 2 with 2 (2003, 1997), and 1 with 3 (2015).

We really need them to beat CU, or at least soften them up us.

The Apple Cup will be a dogfight. Very likely it will be the #1 vs #2 team, based on conference record.

That stupid Cal loss hurts us immensely right now.

This makes absolutely no sense. If we lose to Colorado we are not going to be in the Rose Bowl regardless of what happens to them vs. WSU. Stop being such a wus. Whitt can beat Colorado.

[SeattleUte]

When was the last time WSU was undefeated in conference play going into week 12? In the last 20 years it looks like they have 2 years with 1 loss (2001, 2002), 2 with 2 (2003, 1997), and 1 with 3 (2015).

We really need them to beat CU, or at least soften them up us.

The Apple Cup will be a dogfight. Very likely it will be the #1 vs #2 team, based on conference record.

That stupid Cal loss hurts us immensely right now.

This makes no sense for the additional reason that the Cal loss only hurts us in terms of getting into the Final Four. The Utes can still win out and then if it were to win the Rose Bowl probably wind up a top 5 team, which we could live with, right? There is probably even a scenario in which two two loss teams have to be admitted to the Final Four and we'd have a shot at that.

Seriously, folks, if you can't just sit back and enjoy the position this team is in--controlling its own destiny for a season for the ages--with wins over both LA teams, there's something wrong.

[mpfunk]

This makes no sense for the additional reason that the Cal loss only hurts us in terms of getting into the Final Four. The Utes can still win out and then if it were to win the Rose Bowl probably wind up a top 5 team, which we could live with, right? There is probably even a scenario in which two two loss teams have to be admitted to the Final Four and we'd have a shot at that.

Seriously, folks, if you can't just sit back and enjoy the position this team is in--controlling its own destiny for a season for the ages--with wins over both LA teams, there's something wrong.
I agree if you cannot be happy with our current position something is wrong.

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[SeattleUte]

http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/coaches-poll-top-25-ohio-state-new-no-2-after-day-of-chaos-in-college-football/
Coaches Poll top 25: Ohio State new No. 2 after day of chaos in college football

The coaches have us ahead of Colorado. No. 11 remarkabl considering the injuries.

[Utah]

Stop with all this Colorado fear. They are basically the same team they were last year, with more experience.

They were 2-7 last year in games decided by one score or less.

Last year, they were a 6-6 team that lacked experience.

This year, they are a 7 win team that has lucked out in not facing Rosen, Stanford instead of Cal, and no Washington.

We will beat them and so will WSU. They are a solid team, but an inferior one to us that will try to out Utah, Utah. Ask Stanford how well that works.

[U-Ute]

I think it is more fear of our annual "WTF??" game.

[LA Ute]

I think it is more fear of our annual "WTF??" game.

I've decided Cal was that game. I'm serene.


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