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I agree Beach. It’s hard to cheer when you have nothing to cheer about. The return of Rising and a favorable schedule. Plus a possible final year for Whitt. It set up a possible CFP run. Most fans (me) drank the koolaide and just the opposite happened. Back to back years of boring no offense football that was not fun to watch. The Arizona game w…[Read more]

I think that’s an excuse. It’s simple: Utah was not fun to watch last year. Fans disengage when the team is bad – and boring in the process. It was very frustrating watching the Utes last season. Take the Arizona game. That crowd was jacked at the start but the energy evaporated pretty quickly when Utah had drive after drive stall with no points.…[Read more]

Honestly, it’s the whole big12 thing. Not just the conference, though it is harder to get excited about Baylor when we were used to SC.

But it was the way it all went down as well…. The botched TV deals, SC and UCLA leaving, weeks of uncertainty, then ending up where we did.

Top that off with injuries, injury updates, or lack thereof, it…[Read more]

I don’t view this as a negative. Worked well for Vaki. Snowden is a great player, put him on the field as much as he can handle without getting injured or burned out.

So what does that say about the players we already have on offense? Not good enough that we have to move good players on defense to offense to make up for the lack of athleticism and talent on offense? That’s what the moves would indicate to me.

Not only that, the portal transfers they brought in during the offseason are not living up to what…[Read more]

On your final point, you forget how complex Ludwig’s offense was to learn for newcomers. No one but Rising was going to be successful for us in 2022.

I agree with everything else you said.

During Big XII media days, I heard Whit mention Lander Barton may see time on Offense, too. If it’s strategic, and limited, I’m all for it. The thing is, they will have to play enough offensive snaps where the ball doesn’t always go to them so that they can become actual weapons. Otherwise, the defense knows who to key in on.

Personally I’m not a huge fan of having our best corner, and arguably our best player on defense, play more snaps than he needs to. I guess I understand the argument that if he can score points on offense then he should play, but it also increases fatigue and chances of injury.

follow up: imagine you are a transfer QB in Jan/Feb of 2022 and looking at Utah as a possible destination.

That returning offensive roster may have been as loaded as any in Utah history. QB1 spot open for the taking on an offense that just put up 36.1 per (#14) the previous season? I think you’d be able to get all the top transfers in the…[Read more]

It’s true that you would expect about a 7-5 2022 if Rising had moved on and Utah had stuck with their existing QB room instead of bringing in a starter – for a really attractive spot considering most of the team was coming back from a Rose Bowl squad. The difference is that you would also expect the 2023 & 2024 iterations to have an experienced,…[Read more]

Can you imagine weighing 300+ lbs and being told you need to put on more weight? No wonder every lineman’s knees and hips are messed up. Not to mention the diabetes worry.

The issue has always been the lack of competent backups behind Rising which is why his injuries have been so devastating to the program.

Rose & Johnson, as true freshmen in the 2022 class, would not have been the top candidates to replace Rising that year. It would have been between Jackson, a guy who was never allowed to throw a pass at any of…[Read more]

The B12 has been known for offense. I think OP’s defensive power perception is only due to the fact we were complete ass on offense last year with everything considered.

Yes, but the fact that we kept him on the roster and repeatedly insisted that he was the guy had a massive impact on our ability to recruit quality players at the QB position, ESPECIALLY experienced transfers. If Rising had simply left, we would have been a lock to pick up an experienced transfer QB wanting to come in and win right away. He…[Read more]

If they had left, and both stayed healthy, I would assume they would at least be on practice squads right now. But, if they had left, there’s no way we win the Pac-12 in 2022.

You DO realize that injuries aren’t unique to players, don’t you? If Rising were gone, it would still be possible that his replacement would have gotten injured as well. In fact Brandon Rose got injured last year as well, and he was one of the top candidates to replace Rising.

Wow! How does she manage such busy schedule?

I believe in the old adage that “defense travels” and with just a modicum of a competent offense the Utes would have been fine in their 1st B12 year, perhaps even challenged for the championship. I also think that Rick has it right, the passion for the sport is much deeper in the B12, where I live in the Metroplex there are always multiple homes…[Read more]