Charlie

I do boo refs but have often thought I need to quit. Years ago my wife was the referee coordinator for Sandy Youth Soccer. She would hire what seemed to be a hundred middle school and HS kids each year after they took a test for rules. $5 per game. However, every week 8 or 10 quit and the reason was always the same, could not take bitching from…[Read more]

To me the Utes are like family. I have had sons play football and in no world could I find myself booing their teams. Even in very disappointing losses. As for visiting teams or teams that I have no connection, booing seems natural and easy. In no way would I consider players entitled brats simply because they are not currently successful.

The reality is simple, even very good football programs at all levels will have down years where they drop out of competition for the championship by midseason. Even the best. At the Power level we should recognize that Utah is not at that top elite level, not in the Pac and too early to say related to the Big 12. If you want to follow college…[Read more]

I honestly have not looked closely enough to assess the OL. I do know that an OL can break down for many reasons beyond the control of the OL and OL coach. Forcing a defensive front to defend multiple possibilities is an OL key and is deeply seeded in play calling. When a defensive front gets on a roll, again, play calling is important to break up…[Read more]

I don’t know he was fired. I expect he did not respond well to something he was asked to do. More likely he did not accept a change Whitt wanted to do related to play calling and responsibilities. I think he would still be here if he would have said ‘how can I help the changes you want to make’ to Whitt. I expect Whitt will have the best person…[Read more]

I have meant to look at this more closely but Utah does not do well in gaining WR separation. I know almost every player, line or secondary, offense or defense, looks to confuse or mislead the opponent for a second in the first seconds after a snap. I know receivers make moves in previous plays to set up other moves later. I know receiver coaches…[Read more]

No worries.

Actually, I have had time off and Ute Nation seemed to go somewhere. Recently I had my prostrate removed by the roots to hopefully resolve prostrate cancer. If needed, I can make health recommendations for our adult men health topic. For now just get an annual PSA. I also weaved in some back surgery since they were feeding off each other. A friend…[Read more]

The OL is a big issue, I am just wondering if bad OL play is the cause or the result of other issues or both. However the current state is bad enough to lose our best recruit for next year. First, Defense 101 will tell you to attack a young freshman QB relentlessly until they give you a clear reason to rebalance the defense. Last years experience…[Read more]

I agree. I have watched a lot of kids in HS and Little League football move thru a season with ups and downs. It was tough for them to lose games, get pushed around, get hurt, and hear smack. Undefeated season were simply rare. It was always awesome to see kids come back from adversity and win again. It seems all the best seasons even state…[Read more]

Adjustments are quite limited with a true freshman QB and a short play book. I think the game plan was too much like what would be expected with Rising. With a freshman QB we need to expect the defense to come after him until we punish a defense out of position. We needed more screens, quick 2 second routes, and roll outs to access the spots think…[Read more]

I agree. We have seen so many great QBs that did not see time as a freshman. I think they lack a wide enough range of plays that make them too predictable. It takes time to know the number of plays that allow each week’s plan to be different enough. There is a limit to the number of plays that can be mastered per week so we see too many plays…[Read more]

Goodness. Would we really want to stack guess on top of guess, week after week rather than trust the coaches? I trust the coaches to ride with the situation open if there is a good chance for change. I trust the coaches to manage practice well while they prepare for Saturday. I feel the coaches can measure the value of rest vs the value of a…[Read more]

I agree. An old Rick Majerus trick that worked so well in BB, take away the main player and make others beat you. McMillan can be contained with bumps at the line and hand off, deep and short double, and safety coming late all mixed in with base defense looks to give Fifita something to think about. Scalley will mix in some thing to contain or…[Read more]

I would guess it is not al all that simple. Each week changes as Singer gets deeper into the offense. Opponents, defense game plan, score, time on clock, there are so many factors that feed into the next few play calls for me to isolate the factor of the two QBs. Above all I think in the short term the coaches take most what the defense gives.

I would guess it is because it is much more now a business with real impacts back to coaches that need to win. Being open with insights does not get rewarded, wining gets rewarded. Understanding how they played situations last week give insight about how they will likely play them coming up. Sometimes bump or cushion has many factors like score,…[Read more]

Isn’t there a broadcasting / journalism department at the U? If I had the money to donate, I would love to see a station and website run by students in this field that conduct interviews and write articles about Utah sports only. I am with you, it is easy to find info about TDS or any of our opponents. I wish it was equally easy to turn it off…[Read more]

I am thinking about how NIL works. Is it mostly 3rd parties not the school that make promises? I am thinking the school helps a bit bring parties together but at the end of the day each player is marketing themselves and bearing the risk of follow thru. I don’t know if UNLV can make a third party come thru. I suppose each NIL deal is different in…[Read more]

Yes. Beat Kansas but the other two should be easy wins.

I will call it out when Whitt acts up, it just doesn’t happen often at all. He disagrees, he questions, but I think he is a good example for the lower level coaches as to how to question but let the refs do their job. But this is just me, I dislike coaches and younger players repeating hissy fits they see on TV.

However, to your point, I do think…[Read more]