Should a team in Utah’s position go after style points?

[SalUteopia]

Clemson, tOSU, OK and many other teams regularly RUTS on weaker opponents. Nobody makes a big deal about it, and if anything, they seem to get rewarded for it.

With 3 relatively weak games coming up, should Utah chase after style points (assuming we’re winning of course)? I know Whitt doesn’t believe in it, but should this year be an exception, especially with the position we’re in.

If it comes down to choosing bewteen OK and Utah with similar records, would OK get the benefit of doubt for handily beating their opponents? I know there are multiple factors that go into this decision, but does the committee consider a 31-21 win the same as 52-21 against similar opponents? This is not about humiliating an opponent, but just making sure we leave no stone unturned.

[Tacoma Ute]

Yes.

[FormerUteSax]

Looking at the scores from yesterday I would say everyone else is

[jamarcus24]

In this situation I think back to the very first playoff in 2014.  Ohio State was sitting at number 5 heading into conference championship week and ahead of them was TCU at #3.  The discussion was who out of TCU and Baylor could get in since they were both 1-loss teams and both had very prolific offenses that year, but the problem was the Big 12 didn’t have a conference championship game that year and Ohio State rolled through Wisconsin in the B1G championship game 59-0.  When the final CFP ranking came out Ohio State jumped to #4 and TCU dropped to 5th (Florida State had been at #4 the previous week but a win in the ACC championship game bumped them up to #3).

A combination of things went into OSU getting the 4th spot: they won a conference championship game, they did it very convincingly against a quality opponent, and I think it got a little political for the playoff committee too.  OSU would have brought a larger footprint and more revenue to the CFP than either Baylor or TCU so the committee went with the Buckeyes (that’s just my opinion).

I heard Whit say this week style points aren’t really his thing but if he can control it then it might have to become a thing this year.  If it comes down a one-loss Oklahoma and a one-loss Utah for the last playoff spot then quite frankly I don’t like Utah’s chances.

There’s still way too much football left to be played but for Utah we just have to do one thing: sweep the leg.

[SalUteopia]

Great observation. This is the only way to stand out against a marquee team like OK. This is a super rare territory for Utah, and if Whitt does not reconsider his position, we could very well pay the price for it.

[Larry B]

Unfortunately I think putting up style points is our only way of getting into the CFP. Is anyone on the east coast going to care if they see we beat UCLA 27-10? Not a chance. But beat them 56-10 and that might open their eyes.

I think we need to put up points in our next 3 games, plus beat Oregon somewhat convincingly to even be considered.

[SalUteopia]

Yep, just winning out won’t get it done.

[PlainsUte]

I don’t know if RUTSing itself is what gets it done, but the national media are enamored with highlight reels.   Unfortunately the ball-control style of Utah doesn’t lend itself to a huge number of highlight plays and off-the-charts oh-fensive statistics.   Thankfully a  timely pick-6 or an 80 yard TD run by Moss provides some highlight fodder.    Anyway, my advice is just keep doing what got you this far and let the other stuff play out.   Don’t take a knee in the red zone against Pac-12 opponents.

[rbmw263]

Honestly, we should have been doing it well before now, beginning with a 2 yard TD against BYU. Which we can say for sure, now that we are in the spot that we are in…anyways…Its absurd to say that we need to keep starters in a little longer, keep the pedal down offensively rather than run clock in games that are already over, and win something like 45-13 v wazzu, 59-0 vOSU and 42-0 over Cal. Which, substantively, would be no different than the scores we did produce, but the system we are dealing with revolves around a group of humans, not playing football, whos opinions could be altered a little bit here anda little bit there by things like this. ESPECIALLY when it comes to looking at box scores of games they did not watch. Its stupid, because it isnt certain it helps you and theres obviously risk involved with keeping guys in games longer..but thats the world we live in

[Tabasco]

Absolutely. I’m generally opposed to it, but that’s what seems to impress the people in charge

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