Re-watched 2021 Utah football games

[ProudUte]

I did not see them all and most of them were the “Football in 60” on the PAC12 network.

A few observations that I came away with:

We will obviously really miss Covey and Lloyd.  The next player we will miss IMO is TJ Pledger.  He had some excellent runs.  We will really miss Bam.  He was blowing people away at the end of the season.

Returning players who will continue to make a big difference:

Obviously Rising, Kuithe, and Kincaid fit into this category.  Cole Bishop and Phillips should be amazing this year.  Of course, we know Tavion is a very good running back.  But, after rewatching the games it became even more obvious.  He was in the dog house early in the season and was allowed to come in during the second half of the USC game.  They could not stop him.  He also ran all over Colorado.  When he didn’t play against UofA – our offense struggled more.  He scored 21 TDs while not playing in the better part of 4-5 games.

Rising was at times inconsistent with his passing, especially the long throws.  However, his running was excellent.  He sees the field well and reads the defense as well as anyone I have seen at Utah since Alex Smith.

Our defense was not very good early in the season and especially against Oregon State.  However, they started to improve and became a solid defense (not as good as 2019).  If a couple of guys step up to take Lloyd and Sewell’s places – we could have a very good defense in 2022.

We played sloppy against overmatched Arizona and Colorado teams in the last three weeks of the season which leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  However, we were excellent on both sides of the ball in both Oregon games.  Did we play down to our opponents?  Probably.

 

 

[ALUF]

Great observations, I agree that we played down for CU and AZ. You can’t tell me that after or before Oregon that anyone would be up for those games

[Redblood]

Or did Oregon quit on a coach they knew had quit on them. It’s a possibility which is why we have to be careful with expectations. Hope the team plays like an underdog cause we might actually be in a game like Florida.

[ProudUte]

You make a good point.  I watched all of these games recently and I would say that we played crisper and more focused against Oregon with fewer mistakes.  Rising’s throws were much better even though he threw two interceptions in the Oregon game.

All of that being said, I agree that I need to temper my expectations.  The 2021 team had some issues that will need to be addressed if we want to have a great season in 2022.

 

[Hellhound152]

At what point in the preceding 12 years has a “crisp” Colorado/Utah game occured?  Seriously?  There has never been one that hasn’t been sloppy, closer than expected, a poor half of football, or otherwise a “dissapointing win” [not withstanding 2022 which doesn’t count]  Utah always has a next week or a bowl game, CU is usually playing its last game for the seniors, Utah sloggs out a win and we bitch about it and get ready for the next one.

Also, the quit on the coach narrative is so tired. Maybe mid game when they were getting blasted at halftime again but c’mon, shot at the rose bowl, a championship? This ain’t intramurals brother…

Point is wait until we get to the roller coaster before you start s**tting your pants.

[Tednab]

On the other side, We’ve never had a QB as good Rising either

[dystopiamembrane]

We have had comparable QBs.

[Tlsute]

IMO the only comparable QB’s to CR are Alex Smith and Brian Johnson, they happen to be 2 of the best to ever do it at Utah.

It sounds like your opinion of him isn’t quite that high, who are his comps at Utah in your mind?

[Author]

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