[ProudUte]

Nate Johnson is an amazing athlete. I think you keep the opposition on their toes by putting Johnson in at different positions. More often than not, he could be a decoy.

Someone above wondered if he could be productive just playing the position and not just on trick plays. I believe the answer to that is YES. I think he could develop into a solid wide receiver or maybe a running back. We have converted a ton of players to new positions like Jackson, Vaki, Chase Hansen and many more.

I hope to see Nate Johnson play an important role for the utes the next two seasons (just not at QB).

[ProudUte]

Two of the four captains named Fano.

Go Utes!!!

[ProudUte]

Losing to green jello. That’s sad. But, I have to believe that 80% of the green jello vote is coming from the Cougar Board. 🙂

[ProudUte]

Many so-called BYU fans (not all) hate for Utah is much deeper than their love for BYU. They hope for bad things to happen to Utah, especially their athletic teams.

I have many good BYU friends and family, but I just dismiss the Utah haters for what they are…

[ProudUte]

I am surprised by how optimistic many of you are about our D. Our linebackers should be fine. But, we have holes in all of the other positions IMO.

I certainly hope our offense is MUCH better. It would be hard to be worse.

If I had to predict, I would say we will win 6-8 games. This is an improvement from last year, but it is not where any of us wanted to be when we entered the conference. If we win more than 8 games – I will eat crow and do so happily!!!

[ProudUte]

BYU’s basketball team has played great the last month. No one can deny that. However, they may be the highest-paid team in college basketball.

As far as basketball history goes:

Utah has been to four Final 4s – BYU has been to zero.
Utah has one national championship – BYU has zero.
As bad as Utah has been in basketball the last 15 years, Utah has three current NBA players – BYU has zero.
BYU has only once made it to the Elite-8, and that was 44 years ago.
Utah has two players picked number one in the NBA draft and a bunch of others in the top ten. BYU has zero top picks and maybe 3 top ten picks. (I remember two.)
Utah has a winning record in the NCAA tourney – BYU has a losing record. However, BYU does hold one important record. BYU has the highest number of NCAA invites without making it to the Final-4.

I cannot argue that BYU’s basketball program is in a much better place than ours. But, overall, we have a much richer basketball history. I hope Alex Jensen can get us back to those days.

[ProudUte]

I am sure that he is compensated nicely by Utah donors. He just didn’t go looking for a better offer after the 2024 season. I appreciate his loyalty.

[ProudUte]

I don’t care bout BYU unless it affects us. My point is that we compete with BYU off the court for many things, like:

Donors (this is huge; we need John Hunstman Jr. to step up like his dad did.)
Fans (When Utah was on top of the world in 1998, many fans who were on the fence, became Utah fans. We need butts in the seats.)
TV time (In football and basketball, BYU got a lot of media time locally and nationally. This affects the two items above.)
Games on TV – (We want our games to be on ESPN, Fox, ABC, etc. If we are not playing well we end up in ESPN+.)
Recruits (We still recruit many of the same kids, especially in football.)

I do not like it – but face it, we have to compete with BYU every day, especially now that we are in the same conference. Competing on the field is one thing, but we are two institutions 40 miles apart that are both in the same metro area and TV market. Most rivals are not in the same situation we are. Of course, there are some, like UCLA and USC, but there aren’t a lot.

I would prefer not to be concerned or thinking about BYU, but we have to, and I know Utah’s administration is concerned about the items listed above.

On a side note – I think the Eccles money we have received is beginning to fizzle because the next generation of Eccles are not as interested in pouring money into Utah athletics.

[ProudUte]

I agree, but we need to be MUCH better in 2025 if we want to compete. A lot of it is on the Oline IMO.

[ProudUte]

IMO, Boguts may be the most deserving player to have his number retired. He was the consensus national player of the year, he was first team AA, he was first picked in the NBA draft, etc. By the standards set up by the university, (he only played two years) he would not have qualified for the honor. However, no other player received the recognition he did, and he donated tons of money to the U. So yes, I am pleased he has his number retired.

As for Vranes, I don’t get your problem with him. He qualified because he was picked for the Olympic team and was a first team AA. He was 5th picked in the NBA draft. Since he was surrounded by other greats like Chambers, Bankowskis, Judkins, etc. – his stats may not have been as glossy as others. But again, Vranes deserved to have his number retired IMO. I was there the night he was honored.

Go Utes!!!

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