My two cents

[ProudUte]

First of all – I need to remind myself that is just a football game and I should not let this loss affect my life.

We are not the team that many of us hoped we would be.  It is not just what we saw yesterday, it is the season as a whole.  

Our defense is not good.  Obviously, losing Lloyd, Sewell and Tafuna cost us more than some including me thought.  Lloyd was a once-in-a-generation LB for the Utes and it is evident by his performance in the NFL.  Replacing him with a true freshman was not going to get the same results.  The good news is that Barton is getting experience and developing strength.  I believe he will be a good if not a great LB.

Our Dline seems to be the weakest we have seen in at least five years.  In 2019 we had three first-team all-PAC12 players on the line.

I think our offense is good.  It would be nice to have Kuithe, and losing Covey was a big hit.  Our offense made some mistakes yesterday.  But, unlike the defense – I think those mistakes are mostly fixable during this season.  I still really like Cam Rising and am glad that he is our QB.  We had more catches by WRs yesterday than we have seen in a long time.  (Good sign)

I think Tavion ran out of gas yesterday.  When we had third and goal early in the second quarter, Tavion was gassed, yet we gave him the ball for a two-yard loss.  I would have either called a timeout to give him a breather or called a different play.  You could see that he was spent.

Also, I must say that UCLA has an excellent offense IMO.  They have the talent to mix things up and an offensive scheme that is creative and kept our defense off-guard.  I am still a big Scalley fan, but I believe he was out-coached yesterday.

I remain a loyal Ute.  We are not a championship-caliber team this year IMO and that’s okay.  We could win the rest of our games.  However, I do not expect that to happen.

 

[Tony (admin)]

Out coached and/or out executed. For all we know our play calls were perfect but if they’re not executed it doesn’t matter. UCLA has a 5th year senior QB who just beat us for the first time if I’m not mistaken. They also have a killer RB. Ain’t NIL great? (making assumptions there).  The whole league improved this past season it seems, except for the Utes. Going to be a tough go for a few weeks. If anything, we will gain experience for our young players which will pay dividends in the years to come. GO UTES!

[prestitute]

I think it was execution. The fact is, this team isn’t as good as the one we had at the end of last season. Cam is a stud, but it seems like he is still adjusting to the shoulder being back. He has a ton of zip, but 1 in 5 balls seems to either droop or get away from him. He is also being forced to do so much in games like yesterday. If our D doesn’t stop the opponent at least some of the time when it matters, and we have receivers dropping balls that should be caught (more our new TEs this time) it puts everything on Cam.

Not having Kuithe showed up on the Scoreboard. That first drop on the 15 and several of the balls Cam more heaved were cases that Kuithe would have largely caught/saved us. 

I was happy with Tavion feom the LOS, but we never got him fully going either. 

UCLA killed us with their chunk plays! We were not ready. Their OL and DL were both much better this year. We miss Lloyd a ton. I think our D will be good again next year, but when Sewell followed Lloyd out, that loss magnified. I think this year, we are probably a lower top 25 team by the end of the season. We just need to be ready for ups and downs. Still think we win 9+, but this isn’t the special year we envisioned.

[The Miami Ute]

Tony, I was about to comment on that issue and you stole my thunder. As I look up and down the league, I see teams like Oregon, USC, UCLA, Wazzu, UW, and even ASU that have improved exponentially via the exclusive use of the Transfer Portal. Is it just me or does it seem like Utah (with the exception of Mohamoud Diabate) has failed to take advantage of this tool since its inception? I know Brewster and Bentley came through the portal but both of those guys didn’t add much of anything to the team. Is it possible that KW is too set in his ways to adjust to using the Transfer Portal in a regular manner?

[prestitute]

Um, Tavion Thomas, Gabe Reid, Pledger, JJ, Rising. We have done well, too. It goes both ways. I don’t think you can depend on it for everything. In fact, last year, a lot of our early season issues were due to bringing a lot of new pieces in. You still need your base to be recruiting and internal development with the Portal there for some specific needs. That is my take.

[AlaskaSteveUteAlum]

This team just hasn’t “jelled”, like it did last year. It’s why there are too many mistakes, and different mistakes, each game. The defense has made more mistakes than the offense, because they are young and new. The offense has looked good, and unstoppable at times, but thwarted when they have a miscue, turnover, or just a bad play called. The kickoff coverage has been atypical for a KW coached team. It may take another loss or two for the team to work out the “bugs”, and for the team to establish an identity this year.

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