BYE Week

[belli1976]

My BYE week hopes.

TT pulls his head out and gets in shape.

Bernard gets 100%. I miss his catches out of the backfield.

Diabete gets 100%.

[Kyler Marvin]

Solomon heals up the rest the way if his injury is still there at all, he is a really good team player.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

Enis doesn’t appear to get enough credit for that key block in the endzone, allowing Rising to convert that 2-pt play, with only 48-sec remaining in the game.

[NarfUte]

Noticed that too. Really heads up play when he realized Cam was going to run, he basically backed up and boxed out two guys by himself.

[pedro]

Wow, my top two…

Dalton and Cam get healed up.  DK was visably limping after the game (quite noticeably) and Cam was as well, but he was able to hide his pretty well. 

[RustyShackleford]

Got to figure out what’s up with Tavion. Why did he take his pads off early and why did he run straight to the locker room after the game ended. Is he injured? Was he protesting his playing time? The team needs a definitive answer during the bye week. Are they moving on without him or is he all in. This teams a whole new beast when he is firing on all cylinders!

[chinngiskhaan]

I’d be shocked if the coaches didn’t know exactly what was going on with Tavion (to the extent that knowing is possible anyway). I never got the sense that they didn’t know what his deal was, he just isn’t doing what he needs to do to earn his spot back.

[rUckUs]

Someone said Tavion took this pads off, but Whitt and multiple players have said he didn’t. I’m going to trust the team on this one

[D T]

TT Speaks

[SkinyUte]

This is field-level video – posted by the U’s official account, not some random Twitter dude – of the end of the game.  Like, literally as the final play happens and the crowd rushes the field.

 

At the :17 mark, you see Tavion run by…very obviously without pads.

 

I worry that there’s something to all this smoke.

https://twitter.com/UUtah/status/1581499765312790528 

[NarfUte]

TT has his pads on in that video @skinyute You can see them bouncing

[chinngiskhaan]

My bye week hopes:

Get as healthy as possible (mostly thinking about Kincaid and Rising).

Offense: Get the running game sorted out as much as possible. If Thomas isn’t going to get things figured out, then they need to move on from him (not kicking him off the team or anything, but they need to quit hoping that he’ll finally show up until they actually see it in practice). Figure out who is going to give you the best chance at success in the ground game, and give them the rock.

Defensively: Pass rush or run defense. Pick whichever one of those is the most fixable. WSU has given up 26 sacks this year, and they seem to be a pass first kind of team (based on their statistical production anyway, haven’t watched them play)… so maybe focusing on the pass rush would be the best thing this week.

Special Teams: Find a dude that can kick the ball out of the back of the endzone every time his foot touches a football. If we can’t do that, then find someone who is capable of a mean squib kick. If we can’t do that, find someone that can reliably kick the ball out of bounds. No more kick returns please. PLEASE!

[tarheelute]

Run blocking, RB Strategy, Defensive line strategy.

Field position: Nothing to be done about the kicking game, it seems.

[Trailgoat]

Crazy fun game. Many great things, especially the carry over cry baby behavior about the refs from all of USC. The refs were at least consistent for both teams.

Thinking there’s some strategy behind all the Utah run coach speak. Ludwig is every bit okay throwing the ball all day if that’s what teams give him. Awesome to see Vele, Parks, Dixon, Cope, and of course my favorite player Ennis get reps. Kid is going places after football is done. Oline and Receiver blocking-solid and of course the usual stars.

I would NIL a kicker right now or go all open tryout for ANYBODY who can kick a football out of the endzone at 4K feet altitude. Clearly at this point, academics and eligibilty are irrelevant with the NCAA and Commish K a sleep at the wheel. Maybe the kid who won the $K shoud audition? 100% coaching not to have this straightened out from last season. This will eventually bite Utah in the ass like it did against tOSU. Utes need to hire a dedicated STs coach with priority one, finding a player to kick the damn ball. Let Shah focus on the DBs if he’s still the STs guy. Onside kick or just kick it on the ground or out of bounds. 

LB play is still not very good and not really improving enough. I tend to watch the LBs on defense a lot during games. At this point, not much can be done other than maybe some improvement or scheme around the weakness. Clearly the youth of Barton and the lack of talent and depth at this position is a big problem and will be next season if Utah does not ramp up recruiting. With Richey returning and Isabel developiing, maybe Bishop moves to LB, he has the frame to put on weight and it’s his path to the NFL. In fariness, Ute D is still very young.

Coaching, overall, solid coaching job by the Ute crew. Riley can bitch all he wants about the refs, he got outcoached…period. KW is coaching loose and with his heart. He knows what his team is capable of and it’s weaknesses.

Pass rush is better, not great, granted the Dline was getting held on pass rush most of the game so that was a factor. Expect continued improvement.

Not sure if it’s good or bad getting kind of a double bye week playing on Thursday then a few extra days off before UofA comes to town. No gimme games before Oregon if the Utes stay focused. Beating USC is a huge lift going into the back half of the season.  

The TT situation seems odd. Of course way more to it than we know. Hope only the best for the kid either way. Utah may be all in or in the way, they also take of their players. It’s obvious, the coaches really care about the kids beyond football.

My daugheter, a student at the U was at the game. She said her ears were ringing all day on Sunday. The MUSS stands were shaking and she said, you could feel the vibration of the noise. Said, the places was insane! 

 

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