Utah vs TDS: talent discrepancy

[Dallas]

In what year was there was a bigger discrepancy between our talent level vs byu?
That’s a serious question. We’re projected to be the best team in the conference and they’re projected as the worst. But as I recall the TrDS didn’t look terrible against OKS or even OU. What do the professionals know that I don’t?

[ProudUte]

We are projected to be ONE of the best teams. BYU is projected to be 13th or 14th. I think BYU will do better than projected. They got killed in a few games last year, but ended the season losing two close games to two of the best teams in the conference. They probably should have won both.

This is what I see with talent comparisons:

QB – Utah by a lot
RB – Utah by a little
WR – BYU by a little. (We have some good receivers, but I think BYU has more depth.)
TE – Utah
Oline – (I don’t know what to expect here, but neither line looked great last year.)
Dline – Utah by a lot
LB – Utah by a lot if Barton plays (I think BYU has a couple of good LBs.)
CB – Utah by a little
Safety – Tossup until Utah’s new safeties can prove themselves.

Certainly, Utah has a better and more deep team on paper. I hope that this is the case when we play them in November. Much of BYU’s season will depend on the first three games. If they win all three and remain healthy, they could have some confidence going into conference play. However, they could lose two of those games and that could lead to a very long season.

[Ute Dub]

This feels like zoob talk. I remember Greg Wrubell making similarly type statements years back. Only to get upended by my Utes. I stay away from this s**t talk. Honestly, I think BYu’s football culture has an issue of lack of discipline and nastiness. Jay hill might bring that back. If so, they can turn things around pretty quick.

[BD]

To get a real look at the talent gap between BYU and Utah, take a look at the 247 full roster talent composite rankings.

Utah is at #33 in the nation with an 87.02 average. BYU is a laughable #74 in the nation with a 83.05 average.

247 roster rankings

[Utah]

BYU’s record last year is a bit of…exaggeration. Their schedule was so easy.

Look at their non-conference schedule, 2023 vs 2024:

Sam Houston Bearcats vs Southern Illinois Salukis. As bad as Southern Ill is, Sam Houston is worse.
Southern Utah vs Wyoming. Again FCS vs G5. Wyoming is better.
Arkansas vs SMU…You could argue that Arkansas is better, but honestly…the teams are probably pretty close to even.

So, their OOC schedule was way easier last year. They went 3-0 in 2023. In 2024, they have @SMU, which they could lose and their next game is @Wyoming. Most teams lose the second game of two road games. They could go 1-2 this year vs worst case last year was 2-1.

Look at their conference wins last year:
Cincinnati – a G5 team.
Texas Tech – a 6-6 team.

That’s it. Two conference wins.

Look at who they play in conference this fall: #20 Kansas St, @Baylor, #11 Arizona, #17 OSU, @UCF, @#10 Utah, #22 Kansas, @ASU, Houston.

Who do they beat in that schedule? Baylor? Houston? ASU?

If they go 1-2 in their OOC, they could easily lose out.

[Utah]

And BYU looking OK vs Oklahoma and Oklahoma State was a lot more of BYU, one win away from a bowl game, fighting for their lives vs two Oklahoma teams who already had their postseason fates determined and were 100% looking past BYU.

As well as BYU played…they still lost vs two teams who weren’t putting for their best effort to beat BYU.

[krindor]

And BYU looking OK vs Oklahoma and Oklahoma State was a lot more of BYU, one win away from a bowl game, fighting for their lives vs two Oklahoma teams who already had their postseason fates determined and were 100% looking past BYU.

That’s just not true. Oklahoma was 5-2 in conference when they played BYU, well in the mix for the conference championship game. And Oklahoma St was literally playing to get into the conference championship. Win and they were in, lose and they’d be out. That game had major implications for them

[Utah]

And yet, they didn’t show up until the second half. BYU was up 24-6 at halftime and lost.

Utah fans defending BYU is the weirdest thing to me. Oklahoma St came out at halftime and went on a 21-3 second half to force overtime and then win. BYU shouldn’t be proud of that and that is proof how bad BYU was last year, not how good they were.

Win and BYU goes bowling and ruins OSU’s season. BYU came out motivated, but talent won out and BYU fell apart in the second half.

[D T]

Krindor—What’s your prediction for the zoobs this year?

[Utah]

Now look at Utah, 2023 vs 2024:

OOC:

Florida vs Baylor. Baylor is way easier.
@Baylor vs @Utah State. No disrespect to USU…ok, disrespect to USU, but Baylor is a P5 team and as bad as they are, that road game is tougher.
Weber St vs Southern Utah – Wash. Both easy.

Conference Games:
@ #2 UW vs 11 Arizona
#8 Oregon vs #17 Oklahoma State
@ #14 Arizona vs TCU
@ #19 Oregon State vs UCF
@USC vs Iowa State
UCLA vs BYU
Cal vs Houston
ASU vs ASU
Colorado vs Colorado

2024 is so much easier. No top 10 teams. Our toughest preseason game is vs Arizona…and they have a new HC and have lost a lot to the portal. Oklahoma State is probably our toughest game. And they are ranked #17, equivalent to Oregon State, our fourth toughest game last year (maybe fifth, depending on where you put USC).

No USC, No Oregon, No UW. No blue bloods. Who is our third toughest game? TCU? Who could win 9 games or 6? UCF, who has talent but is thin and could have a thin roster by the end of the year?

We drop 3 P5 games and add 3 G5 level teams in BYU, Houston and UCF. Colorado is still thin as a piece of toilet paper and only won on conference game last year. ASU is better, but they aren’t good.

There is a reason why we are ranked so highly. We bring back an offense that won the PAC-12 two years in a row with better WR’s and a better defense.

You hate to be too c**ky, but on paper, we should roll through the Big 12.

[EagleMountainUte]

Defensively Utah can make every single game on this schedule winnable.

It will come down to Rising and his ability to extend plays with that leg.
I am not certain the Oline improved vastly yet.
RB room is the second most interesting group to watch develop.

There has always been a talent disparity the gap has widen each year. Problem with that game many times is Whitt plays to not lose instead of stepping on the throat. 54-10 wasn’t really about talent it was just hilarious bad performance by TSPP.

With Scalley as the next head coach you will see TSPP games become brutal massacres.

[Author]

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