Pick Six 2021 Season Preview is out. Utes #1 in P12 South and #14 overall

[Warrior Ute]

Brett Ciancia has always been high on the Utes.  He puts Oregon #10 and Washington #12 ahead of us from the PAC 12.  He has often talked us up but many of his predictions in 2018 and 2019 played out.  He has from the south Arizona State at 17 and USC at 21. 

Here is an early quote on how he views this years team:

As the roster cycles ebb and flow at developmental programs, the stars are aligning for 2021. Of course, 2019 was the senior-laden starting lineup that was packed with eventual NFL picks. That made for a younger roster in 2020, and a transition year damaged by the disrupted offseason. All of those ahead-of-schedule reps and that valuable game experience in 2020 will pay dividends this fall.

His final assessment ot this year:

When 2020’s expected “rebuild” year on defense was more of a “reload” and remained among the league’s top three units, I set my target on Utah as a Pac-12 South favorite in 2021. Utah is one of the best developmental programs in America, and they operate in cycles. 2021 is the part of the process where they are becoming veteran and loaded with all-conference players.

The staff loaded up on transfer portal wins to infuse talent into the offensive skill positions, and that combination makes Utah my pick to win the South.

I like his view and I hope we can surpass the hype.

[UteBacker]

Nice! These guys, along with Phil Steele, actually do their homework. They both like us this year…

[Warrior Ute]

I’m not sure if it is an addition but I don’t remeber this previously. He thanks Head Coaches and OC or DCs that he interviewed. He thanks Morgan Scalley for his time.

[CB]

11-1 Pac-12 champs

Book it

[Central Coast Ute]

Anything less will be a disappointing season.

[2008 National Champ]

why set yourself up for that? 10-2 would be a fantastic result given the legitimate questions about this team and you are saying it would be disappointing.

It is those kinds of comments that fuel the “fire Whitt” crowd who feel anything short of a national championship is a failure.

[Central Coast Ute]

Because this team is that good. If the “fire the Whitt” crowd gets worked up because this team doesn’t win as many games as I think they can, they have more problems in their lives than college football. Furthermore, I am 100% sure that whether or not I voice my opinion on how good this team is, they will still be there. What I have to say will not sway them one way or the other.

[2008 National Champ]

how do you know that “this team is that good”? I’m struggling to find the empirical evidence that would lead one to the conclusion that the same team which went 3-2 in 2020 is suddenly 11-1 or bust. I’m all for wanting the team you root for to be as good as possible but at some point, reality has to creep in.

What are you seeing that I’m not? I see an offensive line that has struggled since 2017 to keep the QB clean and consistently open holes against any defense with a pulse. I see huge injury concerns at QB in Brewer and Rising. I see a receiver room that consistently underperforms and lost two of it’s best players. I also see a secondary that is going to depend on kids with 5 games of college experience. Not to mention that the RB’s – at this moment – are a collection of “couldn’t get on the field’s”.

Even with the best possible result from my concerns, I still can’t get to 10-2 let alone 11-1. But I guess I’ll be a lot happier at the end of the year since I’m looking at 8 wins as the floor and you say 11.

[Central Coast Ute]

Although you know last seasons record, I guess you didn’t watch any of the games. The first two didn’t go the Utes way. They showed major improvement each week, even with sub-par QB play.

RB has never been an issue and won’t be again this year.
The O line hasn’t been as bad as you like to claim.
I’ll give you wide receivers but I can hope they will be good and it doesn’t hurt you if I do.
The front 7 is going to dominate.
The secondary will be excellent.
The kicker is good.
Punting is up in the air.
Coaches are top notch.
Looks like a great team to me. If the “fire Coach Whitt” crowd gets worked up about someone on UteHub that they’ve never met before, has no connection to the team, like, they have issues and it has nothing to do with me. Maybe the Utes will go 12-0 or maybe they’ll go 0-12. Either way I’ll watch and cheer for them. But I am expecting a big year from them and I’m predicting 11-1. Phil Steele and PFF are also expecting them to be good even if they aren’t picking them to go 11-1, and they’re usually pretty close. Not sure why you find that so offensive.

[2008 National Champ]

disagreeing with someone’s assessment isn’t offensive, at least not in my opinion.

by all means, proclaim the team as champion caliber. if we actually knew each other, i’d ask you to bet enough to make you nervous and take under 11 every time. I win either way which is why my original comment was about setting unrealistic expectations.

[Central Coast Ute]

That’s funny because based on your reaction, you seemed offended that I would be “fueling the fire the Whitt crowd”. Would I bet on 11-1? Nope. I’m still expecting it though. And like just said, literally in the post you’re replying to, they might even go 0-12. This is a fan board. Where fans can be fans. Time to lighten up.

[Tony (admin)]

I love the 11-1 optimism, but we don’t even know who the starting QB or RB is. We also don’t know how good or bad the O line really is. 

[Central Coast Ute]

I get it. But I’m sticking with it 🙂

[Author]

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