Over the hump keys to winning the South

[Trailgoat]

A lot covered already with waaaay more informed fans on this site than I. Utah has been so close to winning the South. Easy to point out the WTF Colorado loss at UC with poor red zone play. OU at home etc- and all the others. There were also a number of good wins that made it close to start with that Utah stepped up. The key is closing on the games that make the difference.

Coaches and receivers are sure talking big right now…time to show up. Will someone step up and be the next Freddie Brown and Paris Warren. Other than a couple standouts this group as been generally soft. I know the OC and QB development issues have not helped. Time for this group to step up!

OC-this coaching position needs stability. Hopefully Taylor is mentoring someone to fill his position and he sticks around for the next couple years. I think KW has finally learned he needs to let these guys do their job, at least when they can be trusted to do so. Understand hard to do considering the turnover…that’s all on the boss though.

Coach like a great coach. No need to go further than what Chris Peterson has done to Utah as an example. Utah has been close the last couple games. The difference IMHO has been coaching in critical situations. Peterson just knows how to make game winning decisions in those 2-3 plays that make the difference in close games. He is a good recruiter because he’s a great coach that develops players, his team, and wins games. 

Win the big games and eliminate the WTF losses. Utah does not do well in the hunted position. Not sure if it’s coaching or a culture that struggles to assume the role of a winning team with moxie when ranked or getting media attention. TCU game when ESPN was in town sums it up. You can pick your other games from the list.

Getting Gary Anderson back is bigger than we can ever state. He brings in a wealth of experience from his travels and bleeds Crimson so his heart is with the program. He sowed his oats trying the head coach tour. Utah is his home. He has the respect and football smarts to make KW feel comfortable to focus on the HC game management. I’m sure Gary will be there to give KW support on those critical game time decisions. Gary of all coaches on the team will have KWs ear and won’t be afraid to give him input without fear.

The depth is finally in place and the QB postiion has three guys in the same place and time Utah has never had over the past 10 years. Hats off to Travis Wilson a true blue collar Utah guy making the best of a very crappy, poorly managed offensive system during his tenure. 

Land the in state 4-5 star recurits. I know some kids are going to leave the nest. There are plenty examples of these kids thinking the grass is greener only to return to Utah or things not working out. This happens in a lot of sports.

Football is finally here…Go Utes!

 

 

 

[Utah]

I don’t know if it’s the koolaid flowing, but I’m starting to believe our schedule won’t be as tough as we originally thought.

Weber St – tough, but we should win by 3+ TD’s, but we won’t because we never do.

NIU – on the road, tough opponent, but we are so much more talented. Moss and the secondary should win us this game. It wouldn’t shock me if we caused 5+ TO’s.

Washington – Not a popular opinion, but I think Browning is wildly overrated. I think he loses 2-3 games for them. BUT, still our toughest game.

WSU – I think they will be terrible. Just awful.

Stanford – good team. Not great. I think they lose 3-5 games this year.

Arizona – no defense, if Tate gets hurt they will be terrible.

USC – new QB. Other than that, loaded. Second toughest game.

UCLA – no run game, Kelly is a running coach. His whole philosophy is going fast (not an advantage anymore) and running the ball. UCLA hasn’t run the ball well in a loooiing time.

ASU – might be an absolute dumpster fire. Might not be. Solid at best.

Oregon – tons of talent. An injury prone QB. New HC that was awful the last time they were a HC.

Colorado – I think they will be better than most think. A 6-8 win team.

BYU – if all the rumors are true…they might be a 3-5 win team. Even if they figure their crap out, we are just A LOT better than they are.

I could see us with 10 wins. I really could.

[Ma’ake Kava]

I think UW looms as a very big game, because our 2 most likely competitors in the South have an easier schedule with the North teams. We need Huntley, the OL and WRs to rise to the occasion.

Arizona’s D is a little small inside, but they started 9 freshmen last year, some of them All-PAC caliber talents, like Fields the rocket LB who hurt Huntley last year. I’m glad we have them at RES.

Likewise with USC, best to have them @ altitude. If we beat USC and take the South, that’s the end of Clay Helton, IMO.

Wazzu should be a winnable game, but the Pirate is a great motivator and strategist (like the time we were up on them in SLC 21-0 and he called two consecutive timeouts to read the riot act to the team, and they beat us).

Stanford – hard to know. We usually have the size to duke it out with them, but can our skills players beat theirs, in Palo Alto?

I agree CU is going to be tougher than most think. McIntyre is a really good coach. UCLA we *should* be able to get down there because of the mismatch of personnel and scheme, but who knows what Kelly has dreamt up since he’s been out of the game. ASU *should* also be manageable, but they have some good talent that caved on Todd Graham because he’s such as asshole, like RichRod, but not quite as bad.

BYU – if we’re in a position to win the South, we’ll want to pound them to justify our position. If we’re out of it, we’ll want to pound on them for redemption. Talent differential should make this a solid double digit win.

Keys to the season:

– the backups QB(s). No reason not to play Tuttle, and I think Shelley could be a solid game manager, with an underrated arm and the mobility to keep defenses from sagging into a zone.

– WRs – they need to step up and help make the air game more diverse than we had with Carrington as the bailout option.

– Defense – the anonymous comments from PAC-12 coaches lined up exactly with Scalley’s recent vow to steer away from such a high percentage of blitzing. We’ve taken a lot of chances, which have burned us in crucial situations. Need to play teams like UW in crucial situations and beat them, straight up.

The double-edged sword of having the depth we do is grumbling and transfers, but the redshirt rule will keep the youngsters engaged and hopefully we can play a lot of guys without breakdowns. If we do, the depth turns into a serious weapon, especially as the season wears on.

[ironman1315]

What are the rumors on BYU? I’ve heard nothing but sunshine farts and rainbow sharts diwnthere.

[Utah]

Basically everyone hates everyone and the coaches have no control over anything. 

There is no middle ground. Either people say the place is in total chaos or it’s a place of peace, harmony and love. We will see pretty quick vs Arizona. 

[ironman1315]

Where’d you see these rumors?

[Utah]

247

[UteThunder]

I would love for those rumors to be true, but I’ll bet there’s little to no truth behind them. If things were really that bad down there, those rumors would have surfaced in more places. Twitter, cougarboard, the local media, etc. 

[Utah]

I’m torn on all of it. One the one hand, there was no reason for them to win 4 games last year. Bronco would have won 9-10 games. Their schedule was cake.

The chaos is the only explanation that makes sense.

Yeah, there are new coaches, but you don’t fix chaos like that with a couple new coaches. Especially if Lamb is the problem like Merril Hoge says and others confirmed.

Thirdly, no group of people is better at spin/lying to make things look good than the Mormons. They will spew any nonsense if it takes them from looking bad to looking good.

Lastly, they’ve shut everything down, down there. No watch periods, no media, no nothing. I’m not surprised there isn’t a lot of info. The only people allowed to watch are the loyal ones and for them, see #3. They honestly believe that Jesus somehow cares about BYU football and by putting forth a good face, they are doing the Lord’s work.

NOW, I’m obviously biased, so take it for what it’s worth. But, we will see really quickly. It could get ugly fast for them. Their fans believe they will lose to Arizona. No big deal. But they are vastly underrating Cal. I think Cal is an 8 win team this year. If they lose to Cal, then Wisconsin…McNeese State is not a pushover. And McNeese St will be playing their super bowl for the year.

It could easily be another 3-4 win season if they haven’t done a 100% culture change, and how do you do that when the coaches are the same and the father of a player is saying what others have been hearing.

[UteThunder]

Can’t really disagree with any of that, especially the 4 wins when they should have had many more given how weak their schedule was. They like to point to the difficulty of their schedule to help explain the 4 wins, but their SOS was ranked in the 70s or 80s and they lost to UMass. 

I still think the rumors would have leaked out a bit more despite their spin cycle if through no other means than players telling their friends and then those friends blabbing on the interwebs. Then again, maybe the 247 stuff you referenced is this stuff finally leaking out and it’s all true. 

Whether the rumors are true or not, I think their season could easily get away from them if they don’t pick up at least one win against Arizona or Cal. The supposed improved culture from the new coaches will lose its shine if they only have losses to show for it. If they start out 1-4, I can see their players quickly tuning out the new coaches and reverting right back to the chaotic apathy of last year. Fingers crossed 🙂 

[bopahull]

Why do you feel it necessary to take a dig at the LDS faith every chance you get? I agree with most of your analysis. I’m a Mormon and I don’t try and spin anything. Most LDS are just people, maybe you need to start treating us that way. You don’t need to believe what I do, but respecting someone elses beliefs wouldn’t hurt.

[ironman1315]

I’m not even hoping for respect of belief, just respect for Mormons as persons. The throw everyone under the bus schtick is tiresome.

[UteThunder]

I read his comments as being directed more at BYU and BYU fan mormons than the LDS church and mormons in general. I realize he didn’t really make that distinction and I could be way off, but that is how I read it. 

[Utah]

I think a lot of you are looking to be disrespected. I’m sorry you feel that way. 

[ironman1315]

Yeah, saying

Thirdly, no group of people is better at spin/lying to make things look good than the Mormons.

Is clearly inoffensive. I mean attacking people’s honesty is just good manners, after all.

[KoolWhitt]

I have quite a few diehard BYU fan friends, and despite that obvious character flaw and the fact that it represents a lack of good judgment or taste, I remain friends with them because they are good dudes.  They range from die-hard blue-goggle wearers to the reasonable and cautiously optimistic, so their opinions obviously vary considerably, but there seems to be a consensus amongst them regarding the following:

-The QB battle continues, but there is a growing rumor that Zach Wilson may have beaten out Mangum, and therefore might start receiving first team reps this weak.  Hard to say if this is actually true, and even if it is, hard to say if that is either a knock on Mangum or an indication of Wilson’s superior talent level.  My guess is that the situation is similar to what we had with Troy and Tyler last year: the incumbent is a known commodity with a relatively low ceiling and only one year left of eligibility, and the staff is willing to take some knocks now tio develop a more talented but less seasoned QB for the future.  Better to break in the new guy during a known and accepted rebuilding year, than to have a ‘meh’ year this year and then bring on a redshirt freshman QB next year when Mangum is gone.

-The O has been playing pretty well, though more cautious fans are hesitant to get excited because they have, to this point, only been tested against BYU’s D, which all fans seem to agree is not going to be very good this year.  Same problem that plagues many fans during camp: if one side of the ball dominates, does that mean that side is really strong or that the other side is really weak?

-It appears that there is a lot of position switching, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.  Hard to say what that means; it could mean nothing, it could mean that there’s no talent or depth at certain positions and that the coaches are filling holes by shifting players from positions of better talent/depth, or it could mean that the coaches are simply trying to get the best players on the field as much as possible.  In any event, depth appears to be a legit concern and it appears they will struggle to recover if injuries occur at certain spots.

-O-Line appears to be a position of strength, as does linebacker.  Tight End appeared to be another strength, but rumor has it that Bushman didn’t put in the work this summer (got married) and may not have therefore taken the leap that fans/coaches were hoping for, or may have even regressed a bit.  There are additional rumors of other key players reporting to camp out of shape.  Impossible to say whether or not this is indicative of the coaches losing the locker room to any degree, but whatever the reason, it’s not good news.

-Most (except the google-wearers) seem to think they’ll win 6 games this year, with one win against a stronger opponent and one WTF loss.  Most seem to think they’ll win one of their big six games (5 P5 games and Boise), with AZ and Cal being considered their best chance to win a big game.  None think they’ll beat Utah. 

[Redblood]

And Dennis Erickson. I don’t think hey had a prior relationship.

[Hellhound152]

Can we please get rid of this tired narrative.  Your premise is bad and leads to a false conclusion.  Dennis Erickson and Dave Christensen built and directed highly successful and potent offenses at P-5 schools before arriving at Utah.   He whiffed on the Johnson hire, likely because he was blinded by loyalty, and Roderick’s offenses (and how we love to crap on A. Rod) showed flashes before being derailed by injuries to key personnel with insufficient depth behind them to maintain.

If anything the “buddy hires” have been on the defensive side of the ball.  Remember when our db’s were getting smoked in 2013 and everyone was like “he hired a damn lawyer to coach the db’s no wonder they suck”?  Now Shah is suddenly this savant in 2018?  News flash, the talent increased across the board at the position with guys brought up on the program.  The same thing is happening in the quarterback and recievers group now.  Utah didn’t go to the Pac 12 and suddenly Jack Tuttle and Solomon Enis showed up year one.   It was a diamond hunt for low grade P-5 talent that were 3 star guys with difficiencies the coaches hoped they could work with or Junior College guys with character and/or academic issues.  This is the first season in the Pac 12 era where our offensive skill group isn’t held together with duct tape and bailing wire.  All of the projected skill players on the 1 deep came to Utah out of high school.  We will finally reap the reward for our longsuffering over the next two seasons.

[EagleMountainUte]

True but not true?  He hired outside his friends before and it blew up in his face with Christensen. I believe he got unlucky with Chow finally getting a head gig and then he was just throw darts after that. Troy Taylor has been a solid hire though. 

[McBride of Frankenstein]

Maybe, but until now.  I see with Witt someone that is learning from past hires.  Overall, a good hire scores high on a combo of ute loyalty and skill.  Taylor was note a ute guy, but is highly desirable.  Hiring him after AROD is a sign of a growing head coach that is simply seeking a winning recipe.

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