My thoughts:

[Utah]

ND gave up almost 300 yards through the air last year. 

Taylor’s offense vs FCS teams threw for over 400 yards last year. 

Carrington is a sure fire NFL pick. 

Huntley is a better QB than what Taylor had last year. 

I think our offense surprises tomorrow. Huntleygets over 300 total yards – 250 passing, >75 rushing. 

I think ND has an offensive game like SUU did last year. 

If we have a lot of TO’s, then I see a 24 to 28 point victory. 

If we limit TO’s to 1 or 2, I see a monster blowout. 

[Sweetness]

You’re a confident fellow Utah, and I respect you for that. 

I view North Dakota as the equivalent of a team that would win 7-9 games in the MWC. A rung below the MWC champ who is typically a top 25 team, but much better than Fresno/New Mexico/USU. If I were running a sports book I think I would have the line somewhere in the neighborhood of Utah -13.5. If you utah plays well they will win by 2-3 touchdowns. If they play just ok, they will win 1-2 scores, and if they are turnover prone, and execute poorly they will likely lose. I don’t foresee any scenario in which they win by 4+ touchdowns unless ND just lays an absolute egg. 

[Wilson’s Mustache]

It will probably come as a surprise to you that New Mexico won 9 games last year…

Also I’ll gladly take your money if you want to bet Utah won’t win by 4 touchdowns.

[Utah]

I don’t have any issue with what you say. 

What I keep coming back to is this:

ND is a FCS team. 

Troy Taylor is a FCS OC that has been wildly successful, except he’s now a FCS OC against a FCS defense with PAC-12 talent. 

It wouldn’t shock me if we struggled a lot vs BYU. 

But tomorrow? This is what Taylor does. It’s just business as usual, but with better tools to work with. 

I think too many Utah fans forget how great Taylor was vs FCS. 

[Utah]

So, if you follow my logic, Utah should score 35-45 points. 

ND offense is a run heavy team with a light passing game. 

How do they score on Utah? Utah is too big and fast. Even if their backs get past our DL, I don’t see big chunk yardage because our secondary is too fast. 

[Sweetness]

You guys make good points. I’m probably just being paranoid. My logic is this was a team that went undefeated in their conference last year and is returning a ton of key contributors and staff. Lots of continuity in players, staff etc. We are breaking in a new secondary, o-line, QB, and completely new offensive system. I just think we’ll be prone to mistakes, and I don’t view ND in the same way as many of our other opening FCS opponents. I think they are significantly better than the Montana, Weber state, and Idaho state teams we have played in the past.

[Utah]

Very true. I’m excited to see what happens tomorrow. On paper, we should win big. 

But ND is a veteran GOOD team. A GREAT FCS team. It wouldn’t shock me if they won it all with all their returning players. 

I don’t think they can beat us. I don’t think they can score enough to beat us. 

But, they can ugly the game up and turn it into a game where we end it with a win but little to no hope for the season. 

That would suck. 

[Duhwayne]

ND can beat SJSU I think.

[noneyadb]

27-13… Utah is not going to show a lot tomorrow. Now against tds- 54-12…

[geaux-sioux]

Our offense is not at all like SUU’s for the record. What scares me most is your switch in offensive philosophy. I have had too many bad experiences against teams that pass like crazy and have stud WRs. We’ve been completely torched in the past. Our secondary is as good as it’s been even with the injury to All American CB Harris but I still get nervous for pass happy teams.

[Author]

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