The Miami Ute

Last I heard he was in jail. Any updates in his situation? Sad to see a talented guy like him go on such a self-destructive path.

JJ was a project.

So, JJ went from a team that emphasized the run and, without injuries, would have challenged for a conference title to a team playing in the toughest football conference in the nation and which went 1-7 in the conference last year. I’d say it’s a better than even bet that he doesn’t come close to producing what he did at Utah.

You’re absolutely right. Fans have all of the power but none of the will. If fans were unionized, they could call the tune like nobody’s business. Because let’s be real…no athlete gets paid because of how fast they are or how well they shoot a basketball…they get paid because large numbers of people watch them compete.

I think he will. He had other offers, granted not P5, to stay in Florida but decided to come out west. There’s a video from a couple of months ago on YouTube where you can see a change in his physical development from his junior year. I also watched some of his highlights and my biggest takeaway is how low he runs to the ground compared to a…[Read more]

Two words, Title IX…absolutely guaranteed that most bigtime universities would get rid of all non-revenue producing (read football and, except for a handful of universities, MBB) sports but for the fact that Title IX legally compels them to provide athletic opportunities for female athletes.

Jim, you ever hear of the “Golden Rule”? When I was growing up in Miami that was interpreted as “thems that’s got the gold make the rules.” No doubt that there’s a lot of money associated with college football and basketball. The problem is that all of that money is concentrated, relatively speaking, in a few handfuls of programs.

Look at it…[Read more]

At the end of the day, it’s all about money. If there’s so much money available that, after paying off athletes, the universities have a nice profit, then I think that college athletics are likely to go on full speed ahead.

But that’s not the likeliest scenario. In my mind, the likeliest scenario is that, after crunching numbers, most…[Read more]

If anyone here wants to get to know more about Biddle, here’s an interview he made in December 2022 with a Jacksonville, FL TV station:

All-Star Athlete: Laython Biddle

After doing some research on Biddle I can see why he wasn’t heavily recruited. He’s originally from Kansas and I guess that he moved to Florida for his last two high school years. You can’t discount the production but how many short, white, middling 40 times RBs do you see highly recruited? I would venture that not too many. Here’s a blurb…[Read more]

Are you certain that we’d be in the ACC? I’m not so sure. The reason why is because I’m not certain that the administration would ve willing to join a moribund conference AND forgot any media payouts like Stanford, Cal, and SMU are doing. Those three universities are essentially getting nothing out of being in the ACC other than membership and…[Read more]

The school he went to was rated at 4S (S stands for Suburban). The only higher rating in Florida high school football is 4M (M stands for Metro). To be rated as 4S, a high school has to have between 1,896-3,226 full-time students. How many high schools in Utah have that many students? I’d wager that not too many. So, no, I don’t think that we…[Read more]

I guess that you’re counting the concussion he suffered in the January 2022 Rose Bowl as a season ending injury?

I’m going to say that there’s a good chance that both players go through the whole season unscathed. Or at least unscathed as related to their previous injuries. Michael Penix suffered four consecutive season ending injuries at Indiana (two x ACLs and two x shoulder) but then didn’t miss a snap in two seasons at Washington. There are success…[Read more]

Wasn’t that because Simpson was letting the ball roll on the floor until Davis came up to guard him? I thought that Utah let Colorado save a lot of precious seconds at the end of the game by not being just a little more aggressive on defense.

That Florida team that beat us at the Swamp, also lost to Vanderbilt. I don’t think that Oklahoma State loses to Vanderbilt in a 100 years, but that’s just me. Lastly, using how a team supposedly recruits as a barometer of success doesn’t work for me. Yeah, the Gators recruit well, so does Miami, so does A&M, so did Florida State every year…[Read more]

PFF has Vaki ranked as the 4th best safety in the draft and the 71st best player available. Bishop is ranked by PFF as the 11st best safety in the draft and the 154th best player available. Obviously, it’s not body of work that has Vaki rated so high but his projected potential and athletic ability.

According to this story, the issue is his femur, not his kneecap:

After breaking state records, Isaac Wilson is ready for his next role: Utah quarterback

The one thing that worries me is that the kid hasn’t played one college game and is already having physical issues. Hopefully it doesn’t become a trend.

As long as Rose is healthy, I’ll feel better about Utah’s QB situation. I’m not sure what the deal is with Wilson’s injury situation but, for a guy that’s supposed to have surgery, he sure gets around. I mean, he was supposed to have surgery but then he goes to play in the Polynesian Bowl in late January?