Concerns for tomorrow

[ALUF]

I’m curious how others are feeling about the game we have upcoming. I have a few things:
1) offensively can we put up points that can get us into the 30s? I’m not sure just because we have to run the ball to really do anything offensively since I don’t think Barnes can throw enough to score like that. JJ is playing hurt and Vaki needs to play D and shouldn’t play a whole ton on O this game. I don’t trust glover at all unfortunately so I’m nervous and anxious to see how we can score against granted a bad usc D. Might need to score on defense to win?
2) usc pass game, I hope we can get to CW before he gets rid of the ball because miles battle and Vaughn have let some pretty big passes get behind them and thankfully a lot of them were drops. Not having bishop for a half doesn’t help at all.
3) left tackle seems in flux with togiai and Fano switching and that adds to my first concern
4) wounded animal at home, usc needs this one for the cfp and are coming off a loss. Not to mention we have a 3 game win streak on them and I would think most guys on their team had us circled first and foremost.
5) I bring this up every time we’re in games like this and no one except a few seem to believe this is real or something but we are dreadful on the road against bowl teams let alone the ap top 25. Last win against a team in the top 25 on the road minus Covid year was 2018 against Stanford. This got downplayed against Oregon state this year and I’m pretty worried about it.
Anyway hoping for a win. This usc D still sucks but the offense is crazy good imo despite the ND game. I’m thinking we lose unless I hear thoughts that change my mind. Not expecting rising or kuithe to play either fwiw
Go Utes!

[bopahull]

Our secondary worries me, if Williams is given any kind of time or is allowed to run around behind the lines he is totally capable of picking the weakest part of our D apart. Our defensive backfield has left countless receivers wide open this year.
If we get a couple of TDs behind like we did both times we played them last year, I don’t think we have the horses to catch up.
I hope that made you feel better about our chances, LOL.

[ALUF]

It does, I’m gonna make a list of five things that are keeping positive for the game but I’m also at work lol..so who knows if I can make a post or not

I’ve been really interested this week in hearing how our fans are feeling about this game because it’s been surprisingly positive! I would think the opposite considering preseason most of us circled this as a loss

[ALUF]

Positives:

1) jackson heals up enough and the line bulldozes over usc to give us a good amount of chunk yard plays on the ground, loading the box and all.

2) their defense. That’s it that’s the bullet point

3) our rush defense and pass rush is so next level we can cause some turnovers giving us short field opportunities

4) Kyle whittingham is the king of underdog mentality

5) we are more backed up a wall than they are considering our 1 conference loss

[PlainsUte]

Same concerns, Utes defense has held back USC’s offense recently, but aside from the Notre Dame game the Trojans have been putting up 40 or more points per game, 56 vs Stanford. With the clankiness of the offense not sure Utah can get a run game going to keep them off the field and match their scoring potential — can we use Vaki on ohfense and still have him be effective in the secondary on defense? Bishop is not back there until the second half. Finally Utah on the road is a concern. Didn’t do well in Corvallis, barely got the W in Waco scoring 20 pts.

[ALUF]

2-8 in the last ten games on the road vs bowl teams minus Covid..yikes

[D T]

USC averaged all those points outside ND against who exactly?

[2008 National Champ]

Shame on you. Nevada may be the best 0-6 team in the country 🙂

[D T]

You’re correct — Nobody!

IF we can bully their OL, we win this game going away.

[alUmnUs]

The 130th, 129th, 124th, 92nd ranked defenses in CFB.

[UteBacker]

I have this one chalked up as a loss, HOWEVER, I will say that it’s a lot more of a 50/50 game to me than it was a couple of week ago. Teams like USC hate teams like Utah because we don’t go away. What’s the saying? “you might beat Utah, but you’re going to walk away with a limp”. I think USC likes team to lay down.

On his podcast, Josh Pate was saying that if USC thinks they’re going to come back home and regroup against Utah then they’re mistaken. You don’t regroup against Utah.

I hope we go down and give ’em hell. Like everyone else on here, I wish we were going down with a fully loaded offense.

[SalUteopia]

Agreed, @Backer. Chances are better than I thought at the beginning of the season. I feel this will be the easiest of our remaining away games, relatively speaking. Alas, I still don’t think we pull it off given our offensive woes and away game record.

[The Miami Ute]

I think Utah is going to do OK tomorrow. The Utes might lose, but I doubt USC runs away with the game. It’s an old saying that defense and a run game travels and the Utes have at least one of those in spades.

I’ve watched almost the entirety of USC’s schedule and they just don’t impress me, at all. Yes, Williams is a great QB but, if he was out of the equation like Rising, USC would be up s**t creek without a paddle. Why don’t they impress me? Let me count the ways:

1. USC’s defense is straight up trash. For a school that brings in so many high-end recruits to be #93 in the FBS on defense is a downright embarrassment. There isn’t a single school in their schedule that hasn’t been able to move the ball on them and that’s including the blowouts versus Nevada and Stanford. Hell, Stanford ran for over 200 yards against USC. I see no reason why this changes against Utah.

2. USC’s OL sucks. Yes, USC’s OL sucks. They’re nowhere near the level at which they played last year and it’s showing. For example, during the last four games, Williams has been, by far, the QB that’s been pressured the most in the FBS. That’s led to this: per PFF, Williams has gone from being the top-ranked passer under pressure in FBS in 2022 to the 175th-ranked passer under pressure—or the 5th worst—in 2023. This year, he’s already thrown as many picks as all of last year.

3. No more turnovers. Let’s face it, a huge part of USC’s success last year was due to their huge amount of turnover margin. In 2022, the Trojans created 28 turnovers and only committed seven for a turnover margin of 21, easily the highest in the FBS. This year, things haven’t worked out the same way and, as a consequence, the team hasn’t had it as easy. So far this season, USC’s turnover margin is at -1…quite a big difference.

I’m looking forward to this game and may the Utes win.

[AlohaUte]

I think our offense can put up 30 against he SC Defense. I think 31 wins the game. Who ever can hit that number will win.

[ProudUte]

I think that most of your points are valid. I think the stat about road wins against bowl teams is almost meaningless because they were all played in different years and a variety of different circumstances. Would we feel better about a home game? Of course, we would.

Actually, I do not know what to feel exactly because this 2023 team is different than any other team in my memory. Our offense has been pathetic outside last week and our defense has been amazing, but we have not played an excellent passing team yet.

This is what I think I know: 1) Utah needs to be able to establish the run and that will only be done if we can pass somewhat successfully. Otherwise, they will stack the box. 2) We need to pressure Williams and get 4-5 sacks. And lastly, we need to win or at least not lose the turnover battle.

[MDUte]

If our front 4 dominates their OL like I believe we can, it’s going to be a LONG night for CW. And I like our chances in that scenario.

CW is going to get to know Jonah and Connor very well tomorrow.

[Charlie]

Most all of the things to worry about Utah has a good record of being able to address, except we have often struggled with elusive QBs running running on the edge when pass plays break down. If we can limit that I think Utah can find a way thru most concerns.

[EagleMountainUte]

Feels like any win is gravy at this point with the current status of the team. Time to just enjoy the ride.

GO UTES!

[Jim Vanderhoof]

I think they will test Ritchie early. Make him tackle in space. Also test the corners deep. They have some good playmakers that can score quick.

Last year in the CCG we did a good job of containing Williams from getting outside. Keep him in the pocket. We can get a good push inside and pressure him from the middle and throw in some middle blitzes

[Author]

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