Last Thoughts on Weber State Game

[UteThunder]

41-0 & 414 – That is the score and total yardage we put up against Northern Colorado in 2012. 

70-7 & 628 – That is the score and total yardage we put up against Weber State in 2013. 

We finished 5-7 both of those seasons.

Now, I’m not saying we are going to finish 5-7, I actually think we will go 9-3 or 10-2. But the point is this: There is absolutely nothing that can be taken from the Weber State game other than we have vastly superior athletes compared to them and we have some things that need to be improved on (turnovers, 3rd & 4th down conversions, WR drops, etc.)

NIU will be a better test, but only marginally so after their poor showing against Iowa. 

 

 

[EagleMountainUte]

Ok so you want to remove the positives. Fine. The negatives from that game are being overblown imo. I remember both of those games looking “clean”. 

[UteThunder]

I don’t want to remove the positives. I just have a hard time viewing them as anything more than us having superior athletes. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a great thing to have. But we will always have superior athletes to FCS schools. 

I want to see evidence of the positives against better competition. I’ll add, the negatives definitely seem worse considering the level of competition and are cause for concern. If we lose the turnover battle like that again, there isn’t a team on our schedule that won’t beat us aside from maybe NIU.

[EagleMountainUte]

You are pointing out two very obvious things. Losing turnover battle and superior talent across the board. 

In that particular game the turnovers didn’t matter. I think the positives I liked to see the most is the lack of procedural penalities. Also the amount of spreading around in the passing game. Two positives that can’t be overlooked. 

[UteThunder]

Those are two very encouraging positives. But they are somewhat dampened by the turnovers and WR drops. I would much rather have a few more penalties if it meant 2 or 3 fewer turnovers.

[EagleMountainUte]

Two turnovers mattered. Both are very correctable. Now I think about the Northern Colorado game Wynn had that s**tty pick throwing into the sun opening drive. 

Blocked Fg is probably the one I was most baffled about but again not concerning and inside THAT game it doesn’t matter. 

[Utah]

I don’t get why people are harping on the TO’s so much. Three were committed by players that won’t see the field. 

One was a TO due to poor blocking, had NOTHING to do with Huntley. Easily fixable. AND it came in the first quarter, what, the fourth LIVE play Huntley and the OL had seen since the bowl game? 

It’s not a big deal. At all. 

 

[UteThunder]

Watch it again. Even if Huntley hadn’t been hit by his own man, that pass is likely intercepted. Tyler never saw the LB who was dropping into that area. 

Guidry (muffed punt) most definitely sees the field.

Shyne is our 2nd string RB and most definitely will see the field.

It is very likely Shelley will see the field, and not just in garbage time either.

Moss and the OL all see the field and they failed to pick up 1 yard on a 4th and 1. 

Turnovers are ALWAYS a big deal. 

[EagleMountainUte]

It looked to be a bad read to me. This is the first live contact really since the red/white game. Even longer from Huntley. 

[Utah]

First live contact for most of the starters since the bowl game. It is really no big deal. 

You could tell the first four plays. We were just…slow. That changed quickly and we killed them after that. Hell, if you forgot about the first four plays, we probably don’t have 80% of the whining we have now. 

[EagleMountainUte]

Goals for this game for me: Blowout win and no injuries. Amazing success!! Plus some gravy of identifying some issues so you don’t get c**ky. 

[User Suspended]

[Utah]

Also, when you look at Huntley’s adjusted completion percentage (it’s some formula that is passes thrown minus drops, and a bunch of other math stuff) he was over 80%. 

He played a fantastic game. We will be just fine. The Weber State game was a rousing success and an amazing game. 

[UteThunder]

I don’t think we get to take credit for incomplete passes just because the WRs dropped them. 

[EagleMountainUte]

I wish you could differentiate them. Alex Smith suffered because of this for years in the NFL. If it is in your hands catch the ball. Same with the bowl game stupid drops turning into drive killers. If Grier started against Utah maybe it is closer because of those drops. 

[Utah]

When evaluating whether or not a QB did a good job, you absolutely can. If Huntley goes 20-30, why?  Did he make the wrong reads? Was he inaccurate? Did the defense make great plays? Did the ball hit the WR’s in the hands and dropped it? 

The answers to those questions are huge. If Huntley had 80% of his passes go to the right places and some were just dropped, then Huntley played a damn fine game and you go talk to the WR’s. 

And Huntley played a damn fine game. 

[UteThunder]

That’s great. Call me when the referees start giving forward progress for dropped passes.

[Utah]

There is a TON to take away:

Our DL is dominant. It had a historical day. That didn’t happen in 2012 or 2013 and Weber State is a top 10 FCS team, much better than the Weber St we beat or Northern Colorado. 

Our secondary was amazing. Granted, vs subpar athletes, but amazing secondaries do that to subpar athletes. 

Our LB’s were amazing as well. We didn’t give up 300 yards rushing like USC did, who supposidely has the best front seven in the PAC-12. 

Moss looks bigger and faster. That’s a great positive. Last year, in the first game, he was tenative and slow. 

Our WR’s, overall, looked really solid. Simpkins stuggled, but Mariner was really good, Covey was fantastic, Enis shows a TON of promise. 

TE’s: Wow. Who knew we had TE’s? Well, I did and I chirped about it all fall, but now you know as well. 

To say nothing can be taken from that game is wrong. That game served it’s purpose. It got us through fall camp healthy (no full contact live work all spring/fall), it allowed us to work on some things and it gave us a win. 

The same thing will happen this saturday. I’d rather have a healthy, light spring/fall, hit games healthy, have our first live work be vs subpar competition and be healthy for real games. 

[EagleMountainUte]

Watch the Moss runs again. It seemed like he wasn’t even trying. That 86 yard run he trotted the last 30 yards almost and no one was even close.

I really feel  they treated this game like a scrimmage. 

[Utah]

I’ll have to do that. He is so freaking good. 

[crazyute]

You are totally missing the point. But then again it wouldn’t fit your agenda, so just continue your whining

[EagleMountainUte]

The point is exactly what?  In an FCS game the bad always outweighs the GOOD?

[UteThunder]

Agenda? What agenda?

[Utahute72]

Really tough to take much out of this game, given the level of talent difference. But it was a nice game and a lot of positives there, plus some things the coaching staff can work on.

[UtMtBiker]

My take away is that Huntley is good but not great.  probably 3rd or 4th best QBs in the pac12 at this point and I think we are the 3rd or 4th best team in the pac12. 

 

[Puget Ute]

3rd or 4th best QB in the PAC is amazing, and would be better than we have ever had by far.  That is easily top 20 nationwide.

[Author]

Posts