[Rick]

Those are some gorgeous helmets! I think we are going to win. Gut feeling. I have seen ISU play a few times this season and they will be one of the few teams we play that will not be faster than us at most positions (BYU being the other). I like our chances with a pumped up crowd and a healthy Isaac Wilson.

[Rick]

The OL grade support what I have seen. Our two OTs are studs. Calhoun and Teo are studs. We need to make sure these four get taken care of in the off season. I do think that Kump and Togia are serviceable and we can build on them. If you watched the game Saturday, our pass protection was really good. NO ONE was getting open. Zero separation. Even the bomb to Singer had no separation and took a perfect throw to complete it. This team is pretty slow. I have been saying it all year and if you can’t see it on the field, you are simply not looking. I think on defense it has a lot to do with historic injuries taking their toll. Barton and Reid were both WAY quicker/faster two years ago compared to now. Same with O’Toole and Fillinger. On offense, we just lack speed overall, especially at WR. I think Singer has great hands but he is rarely wide open. It could be scheme but I doubt it. Other than him, without Money, we got nothing. We need a complete speed makeover on offense in the off-season.

[Rick]

I think our linebacker play this season has been very poor. Bad reads, poor tackling, guessing instead of reading, etc. I think the injuries have also taken their toll on the athleticism of this position group. They just look slow and it is not just Barton. However, almost 100% of the fault on this teams is on the offensive side of the ball and I think the offensive line is the only group that gets a bit of a pass. All other positions groups on the offensive side have all underperformed tremendously. As for the OL, you can at least say that Fano and Lomu have been very good. The rest have been mixed. I think Micah Bernard has given us his all and that is all you can ask for but I am not sold on anyone else.

[Rick]

Exactly. No one cares at all about bowl game performances anymore. If you are not in the playoffs, no one cares nor most will not even watch. With the players opting out for the NFL, entering the portal before the bowl game, etc. non-playoff bowl games are a complete joke and lend zero credence to recruiting.

[Rick]

Well the copyright is for 2015 so probably not.

[Rick]

I don’t think UteHub existed in 2012 so of course there were no calls to fire Whitt. I remember on a certain other Utah fan site that there were numerous calls for his head after both 2012 and 2013 seasons. That Whitt was not a PAC 12 level coach, etc.

If Whitt wants to stay and fix this, I think the University owes him that much. If he has another season like this one, I think he will retire himself.

[Rick]

The jump pass was not done during McBride’s time. It was an Urban Meyer/Dan Mullen play with Ben Moa.

[Rick]

They need to bring Larry K back in with his sweet grass and smoke out the football facilities!

[Rick]

I am 100% in agreement with AZUTE. Our tackles are elite. The interior OL has had some issues but it is largely because teams have stacked the box and dared us to throw. We have no WRs that can get any kind of separation and our “elite” TE play has been suspect all season. Blaming this on the OL is pretty typical of people who never consider what the defense is throwing at them. 7-8-9 nine in the box with almost zero blocking help from your TE group is a disaster for any offensive line. 5 on 7, 5 on 8, 5 on 9 are impossible blocking scenarios. Until you get both a passing and running threat from the QB position, it will always be impossible. In the first half vs. BYU, we kept them somewhat honest due to Rose’s running threat which then also opened up some passing. When that got shut down in the 2nd half and we were essentially playing not to lose, that dynamic dried up.

Blame Harding if you must but you are placing the blame on the one and only area of our offense that has shown ANY promise this season. Micah will be a 1,000 yard rusher this season and you don’t get that without an effective offensive line. I am not saying they are perfect but look elsewhere for a scapegoat.

[Rick]

I watched the BYU vs. SMU game. SMU was auditioning two different QBs during that game and had zero offensive cohesion at that point. It almost seemed like a throw away game for SMU. I think SMU would beat BYU by at least 7 or more points now.

[Author]

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