An interesting development...

Ever since the bowl announcements were made, all of the “experts” have been saying that Utah wouldn’t stand much chance against Alabama. One of their main arguments was that Utah’s offensive and defensive lines are much smaller than Alabama’s. Alabama has two first-team All Americans on their offensive line, which provides plenty of time for quarterback John Parker Wilson to make his reads and deliver the ball. They also open up big holes for runningback Glen Coffee to run through. The offensive line plays a huge part in the success of Alabama’s offense.

Well, things just got a little less lop-sided.

All-American left tackle Andre Smith was sent home from New Orleans yesterday and suspended from playing in the Sugar Bowl because of a violation of team rules. He would have gone up against Paul Kruger, the sophomore defensive end who lit up offenses all season. Instead, he’ll be watching the game on Fox Sports like the rest of us.

I have mixed feelings about this. Obviously I’ll gladly take anything that gives the Utes the slightest advantage in this game. Kruger has been preparing for nearly a month to take on Andre Smith. I have to think that all his preparation will be enough to completely overwhelm whoever fills in for Smith. But I can already hear it. Imagine Kruger gets 5 sacks and a handful of tackles for loss. We won’t hear anything about what a great player he is. All we will hear is that Alabama suffered because their star left tackle was out of the game. If Utah wins, the same excuses will be made. So this suspension really cheapens a Utah victory.

Now, that said, a win here would still be a HUGE milestone for the Utah football program. And just because Andre Smith is out, that doesn’t make this an easy victory by any means. It will require a near-flawless performance for Utah to win the game.