Utah/Alabama Sugar Bowl

The 2008 Sugar Bowl was on the Pac12 Network last night. I have heard a lot of people rank that team in the top 1 or 2 teams of all time in Ute history. And during this preseason hype, I keep hearing that this team may be as good as that one was so I thought I would share some thoughts and observations as I watched the game.

Just a little background, I don’t remember that season well. When Utah was in the Mtw it was only carried on cable and we had Direct TV at the time so I didn’t see hardly any of the games and quite honestly I don’t remember the season all that well.

So questions/thoughts: 

Offense

QB Brian Johnson-I didn’t see anything fancy from him. Just nice consistent passing. Very low turnover rate. What happened to him after playing for the U? Btw I never felt like he put himself in a position to get hurt, (unlike Huntley, I cringe every time that dude leaves the pocket.)

WR- Didn’t recognize any of the names. Interesting that they all were built like TEs. I didn’t see any of the body types like today’s WRs. Did any of them go on to the pros?

RB-The game didn’t seem to have many running plays it was all about the pass. Asiata ran the ball to burn clock but it didn’t seem to be a large part of the play calling(I believe he did score a touchdown). What was weird was he would line up under the center and take the snap then run the ball. I have never seen that since. Anyone know why KW had Asiata take the snap? Where did Asiata end up?

OL-These guys were good. They allowed Johnson time in the pocket to make plays. Where do they rank in OLines in Utah’s history? They’ve got to be in the top 3 of all time.

Defense,

DL-Same as OL, very good. Bama, couldn’t get any consistent run game going because they kept hitting a brick wall. Where would they rank?

LB-Who was the guy that kept sacking the Bama QB? He was lights out and was a good reason why Bama choked.

Safties-Just like the rest of the d, they were always where they needed to be to stop a key play. 

Who from this team ended up in the NFL?

Overall the game had minimal penalties, guys knew their assignments and were at the right place at the right time. It wasn’t a flashy game(like the Oregon beatdown). It was just good solid technical football. It seems football has changed a lot since that game. Do you think that team would be able to be competitive in today’s style of play?

So how does that translate to what they are trying to do this year? We beat a powerhouse with 2 and 3 star guys. Now we have 3 and 4 star guys two and three deep. Can this team do what was done in 08? I think Huntley is a better longball passer than Johnson but Johnson was so consistent and didn’t turn the ball over. 

Sorry for the rambling thoughts.