[Charlie]

Would not take any off the list, several others could be added.

[Charlie]

Myself, I think the offense had more potential than we saw last year. I think we were trying to resolve the unknown issue to us that led to Ludwig’s departure. Beck is a fresh start. The OL has the potential of our great OLs, which is a good starting point. We do have a QB and OC going into their second year together. We don’t know IW’s eventual potential but another year will likely make him better even as a backup. I noticed Nate is a QB on the roster, I am curious to see if he develops differently with an OC that is high on duel QBs. I expect he gets a look at WR as well. RB potential is mostly Parker until someone steps up. Beck does need to develop a couple of high volume receivers among the TEs and WRs.

The defense does have holes to fill. The DT group usually has 2 or 3 dominate players at the level we are looking for the first. However, no one develops DT better than Utah. LBers are so solid I expect our sets to have more LBer than past years. Safety is good but CB needs a couple of players to step up.

Utah will contend for the Big-12 if the QB position simply becomes reliable enough to consume only typical cycles in the weekly practice routine. Answers at DT, CB, and WR will get us back but we will not be a favorite until those spots develop. Our situation is promising but no reason to believe we are solid yet. Evans looked good at the end of the year, just need to pull a few more rabbits out of the hat.

[Charlie]

Beck is new to me but he appears to have 2 welcomed aspects. His history seems to be tuned into making a plan around what his players can do as opposed to getting them to fit his plan. Second, he appears to be open to methods beyond the common and typical. If my impressions are right, and I don’t have much at all to go on, Beck may create an environment that Johnson and Hunter can show impact. The key, that Lud could have done better, is to use them as decoys as much as weapons so as to not be so predictable, including post snap.

[Charlie]

Actually, we need to give Whitt more credit. The last few years have been awful, no doubt. But I stop and ask: how many coaches have better overcome the numbers of injuries at the QB position? Very few of the top teams have quality QBs in the 2 and 3 spot. Very few keep running along starting the #4 or #5. We could do better at backup QBs but we have to consider we are short on resources compared to all the other ranked football teams. If Rising had simply maintained typical QB1 health, just maybe more people would respect the job Whitt has done. That is more bad luck than in the way.

[Charlie]

You do both, to fail to do one or the other has problems.

[Charlie]

Quite odd timing. I would think his next best step would be to go thru a spring practice somewhere. Did he measure the room with one day of practice? I think there are a couple of spots open in the CB room, I wonder if he saw several in front of him. I am looking forward to seeing what Cotton and Saunders will do. Does anyone know if the spring game will be televised somewhere where it can be recorded?

[Charlie]

Agree and disagree. The win against the Y is our biggest. They are playing well right now. However, I have always insisted the Y draws fewer sports fans, football and basketball, than Utah to their home games. I have attended dozens of both football and basketball Utah games in Provo. There are many souls at each game but few that understand the rules or are sports fans. Mostly fans of winning, some knitting or tending kids, many asking what just happened and, most have never seen a game that did not include the Y.

Utah basketball is a sleeping giant. An average conference coach has almost always finish higher in the conference race. Break the string of subpar coaches and just like that we will be back. Jensen can do that…

[Charlie]

I just got back into the country and restarted a news feed. I can’t believe we have a chance to upgrade our Men’s BB program to Alex Jensen. That and even the possibility that Andre Miller would help out would be almost like having Rick come back. I hope Utah has financial resources to make this all happen.

[Charlie]

I agree. To answer the question what does it take to make the tournament, Utah would have to go on a streak wining out with exception of Az and do something in the conference tournament. All those games are possible but we could also lose any of them. I would say we need to consistently play at our best level, something we have not been able to do for more than 2 games. On the other side, the teams outside the top 4 also have been inconsistent and can disappoint down the stretch as well. A couple will finish strong, Utah has a chance but needs to beat the odds to do so.

[Charlie]

Remind me, didn’t the 12 send 8 teams last year? It’s very possible Utah is swirling around the cutoff currently. Win at UCF before a loss to UofA, and the rest of the games are winnable. We do need to play decent in the conference tournament to make something happen.

[Author]

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