Bye Week Blues

This happens to me every year. I hate bye weeks. I seriously go through Utah Football withdrawals. In order to keep my mind off the fact that we don’t play again until Nov. 1, I have been trying to focus on the teams that are playing this week. In a perfect world, here’s how it would play out:

*****DISCLAIMER*****
The following does not reflect my actual opinion of who WILL win each game, but simply my opinion of who I would LIKE to see win each game.

#12 Boise St. @ San Jose St.

If SJ State can pull off an upset in this game, that would ease my mind a little. I actually really like BSU, but if they are our toughest competitor as far as crashing the BCS goes. They play in a very weak WAC conference, so there aren’t many teams with even a slight chance of beating them. SJ State is one of them.

#8 Texas Tech @ #23 Kansas

The obvious pick here is Kansas. A loss to Kansas would probably allow us to jump Texas Tech. Kansas would definitely go up in the polls, but it’s unlikely that they would rise high enough to jump us.

#4 Oklahoma @ Kansas State

Rule Number One: Any time a high-ranked team is playing an un-ranked opponent, an upset is the best case scenario. Good luck Wildcats.

# 10 Florida vs. Kentucky

See rule number one. Go… Wildcats.

#21 BYU vs. UNLV

Eh... I don't really care. A win for BYU won't push them up in the polls unless some teams ahead of them lose, which would also move Utah up. I mean, I love seeing the Cougars lose, but it would help Utah a little if BYU was still at least ranked when we play them in November. So, Rebels, Cougars, fight it out amongst yourselves.

#1 Texas vs # 6 Oklahoma State

This is going to be a good game. I am rooting for Texas in this one, and I hope it’s a blow-out. Why? Because an OK State loss might be enough for Utah to jump them. Admittedly not an extremely likely scenario, but it could happen.

#7 Georgia @ # 13 LSU

I’m going with the Georgia Bulldogs on this one. An LSU win would propel them past Utah in the rankings. (Although, it would probably also drop Georgia below Utah at the same time, thus leaving us exactly where we are now.) Scratch that. I don’t care who wins this game.

# 16 South Florida @ Louisville

As per rule number one, I’ll be rooting for Louisville.

# 14 TCU vs. Wyoming

This is an important game for Utah’s strength of schedule. A loss to Wyoming would be devastating to TCU’s credibility. I actually don’t even mind if TCU jumps Utah in the polls between now and November 6th. It will only help us as long as we beat them. Go Frogs.

# 15 Missouri vs. Colorado

Rule number one gives Colorado my support in this one.

# 2 Alabama @ Tennessee

See rule number one. Go Volunteers! (as a side note, I beat the Tennessee Volunteers 67-7 in the Sugar Bowl last night. Gotta love NCAA football for PS2.)

# 3 Penn State @ # 9 Ohio State

Here again, I’m hoping for a blowout win. I’m going with Penn State in this game. If they blow out the Buckeyes, we could potentially jump OSU.

# 6 USC @ Arizona

As per rule number one, Arizona gets the nod. Although, this game also has implications towards Utah. If USC loses, Oregon State’s win over them looks less impressive, and so does our win over Oregon State. HOWEVER, it would also give Oregon State the opportunity to win the PAC-10, so that would make Utah’s win over them seem pretty good.

So there you have it. If I could decide the outcome of this week’s games, that’s how it would all play out. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Utes Stuff

Oh man, I’ve got so much to say right now. I shall do so briefly:

1. Thank you TCU. That was definitely the most enjoyable game I have watched this season, that didn’t feature the Utes. See, a lot of people said they wanted the U and the Y to be undefeated come 11/22, but my heart was never in it. Now, the Utes still have a quality ranked opponent on the schedule (TCU), and I don’t have to listen to any more ridiculous notions of BYU going to the BCS National Championship game (although, there are still incredibly naive cougar fans who think that BYU is going to a BCS bowl game. See here – no wonder they call themselves “Cougar Crazies”). Anyway, thanks again Horned Frogs. We shall beat you on Nov. 6th, and I will be there on row 9 in the Red Zone to watch it happen.
   
   
2. I found this really cool Utes blog. Check it out here.
   
   
3. The first official BCS rankings were released on Sunday, and the Utes are ranked at # 11 right now. You know what that means? It means a guaranteed BCS game as long as we win out. That’s pretty freakin’ awesome. The first school to bust the BCS will likely be the first school to do it twice!
   
   
4. So, I know there’s still a lot of football to be played, and this is just estimation right now, but CBS Sports released their latest bowl predictions. If you followed the link, then you know why I am so excited by this. They are predicting Utah vs. Florida in the All-State Sugar Bowl. Why is this significant? Because Urban Myer, the coach of the 2004 Utes (which went undefeated and played in the Fiesta Bowl), jumped ship after that season and went to coach the Florida Gators. How big would that be if Utah could go into the Sugar Bowl and beat their former coach?! That would be SO awesome! I seriously hope this happens. I know there’s no way to really predict right now, but it really got me excited.
   
   
5. So, we’ve got a bye this week, and I hope we use it well. We need to prepare for New Mexico – the Lobos looked good against BYU, and they absolutely massacred San Diego State (70-7). I know the Utes are leagues above SDSU, but still, that game was just unreal.
   

Ok, that’s all for now. GO UTES!!

Utah vs. Oregon State -- 10/2/2008

There was a lot of hype surrounding this game. The Beavers had just knocked of USC, previously the # 1 team. Running back Jaquizz Rodgers rushed for 180+ yards in that game, and scored 2 TD's. This made them a much more legitimate opponent for the Utes and their strength of schedule.

RECAP: The Utes did not look anywhere near as sharp as I hoped they would at the beginning of the game, but still held a 20-15 lead going into half-time. They allowed a quick score by OSU to start the third, making the score 21-20. Neither team scored again in the third. In the fourth quarter Jaquizz Rodgers broke loose on a big run, going all the way to about the 3 yard line. They scored the touchdown momentarily, making the score 28-20. At this point there was only about 2 minutes left in the game. And that's when it happened. The Utes took less than a minute to complete an 80 yard scoring drive, making the score 28-26. They of course went for 2 points. Their first attempt failed as a result of a pass interference on the part of OSU. On the second try, Brian Johnson ran the ball in for 2 points. Tie game. OSU then displayed the most ridiculous use of clock I've seen. They used about 23 seconds on three passing plays (thus stopping the clock each time). Utah got the ball back with plenty of time to win the game. They moved the ball up the field, and when they were satisfied, they let the clock run down to 2 seconds and took a time out. Sakoda came in and knocked the 38 yard field goal straight down the middle of the uprights, and it was all over. Eleven points in about 2 minutes of football. So that's the story, in case you missed it.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Defense. Our defense spent WAY too much time on the field, particularly during our abismal 3rd quarter. Still, they kept OSU from running away with the game and did a great job out there.
• TD pass from Johnson to Freddie Brown. I'm not sure if there was anyone within 15 yards of Brown when he caught that pass. He was literally standing still in the back of the endzone and didn't even have to move to catch the ball. That's when you know they bought into the misdirection.
• Battling back from what seemed like an impossible situation at the end of the game.
• Sakoda. I don't need to say anthing more here. He is the man.

LOWLIGHTS:

• Andy Ludwig (utah's offensive coordinator). Can we say PREDICTABLE?? I swear at one point, Whittingham was glaring straight up at Ludwig in the booth. This guy needs to shape up if he wants to have a job next year.
• Brian Johnson. This guy just plain had a rough night. 1 int and 2 fumbles. He single-handedly spotted OSU 14 points. I have to admit, I was begging for Louks or Manis during that third quarter. Still, Johnson semi-redeemed himself during that amazing comeback.

So we remain undefeated on the season. We've got Wyoming @ Laramie this weekend, and I think it will be interesting to see what happens after last years 50-0 beatdown. I'm not terribly worried, seeing as how Wyoming is worse than the Murray Spartans, but still... any given Saturday...

GO UTES!

Utah vs. Weber State -- 9/27/2008

Let me just set the record straight...

I am tired of people making a big deal over the fact that Weber State scored 3 touchdowns against Utah on Saturday. Mostly it's people who weren't at the game. Since it wasn't televised, unless they listened to it on the radio (unlikely), they do not know how the game played out. I was there, so please allow me to tell you.

The score was 34-7 near the end of the 3rd quarter when Coach Whittingham decided to pull his starters. Utah played the rest of the game with our 2nd units on offense and defense. The offense moved the ball ok, and put up another 3 points. The defensive 2nd unit, however, was not as good. SO, it was in the 4th quarter, against our 2nd string, with the game well in hand, that Weber scored 2 of their 3 touchdowns. Another point that I'd like to make is that the officials basically gift-wrapped Weber's third touchdown on a pass-interference call that was completely ridiculous. If not for that call, Weber would have had to settle for a field goal.

In a public forum that I read, some Cougar fans commented saying, " How much more out of focus can you get than to let a D-2 school score 3 TD's on you?" Idiots. First of all, Weber is not a D-2 school. They are Division I-AA. Kind of like, oh, I don't know, Northern Iowa for example. Are the Cougars really that much better, having let NIU score 2 TD's and a field goal? And, I might mention that this occurred against BYU's starters -- not their 2nd unit.

Ok, so that's my soap-box -- like it or not.

Thank you Oregon State!

Well, Utah’s “Strength-of-Schedule” points just increased! Oregon State knocked off # 1, USC last night by the score of 27—21. Who do we play next Thursday? That’s correct – Oregon State. That makes them a much more legitimate opponent for Utah.

Last year we opened our season at Oregon State. Things were rolling, and the Utes were looking pretty good. Then, a couple of major players went down with injuries, and the game collapsed. I wish we had been deeper last year, because those injuries really changed how the rest of our season played out. We’ve got them at Rice-Eccles this year, and hopefully we can get a victory. Let’s just hope they don’t break Asiata’s leg again, or jack Brian Johnson’s shoulder...dam Beavers. (get it?)

My Inner Conflict...

Now, I am conflicted. I have ALWAYS rooted against BYU no matter who they are playing. This is largely due to the fact that I can’t stand smug BYU fans*. But I am torn because Utah only has 2 ranked teams on their schedule: TCU (currently # 24) and BYU (currently # 11). If TCU loses this week (likely-- see below), that only leaves the Cougs. If they lose a game, Utah won’t have ANY ranked opponents. This would greatly lessen Utah’s chances at busting the BCS (aka Bull-Crap-System). So, as much as it PAINS me to do so, I hope that BYU remains undefeated** until the November 22nd faceoff. I won’t object, however, to seeing the Cougs barely squeak out a couple of games in the mean time. That could at least shut some mouths.

A key game for the MWC and Utah’s strength-of-schedule will take place this Saturday when TCU takes on #2 Oklahoma University. IF by some miracle, TCU can go in and win that game, that would be huge. Of course it wouldn’t do the Utes any good if we don’t beat TCU later this season. Still, here’s hoping the Horned-Frogs can go in and get the upset-of-the-year!

* Please note that this does not include ALL BYU fans -- just smug ones. There are many Y fans that are great to talk sports with, and don't give off that arrogantness that really gets under my skin. Pat, for example, is the kind of BYU Fan that I have no problem with.

** UNLESS Utah loses a game, in which case, I will go back to my old ways of hoping BYU loses every game they play.

Catching Up

This blog has been dormant for quite some time… I’d be surprised if anyone still reads it. I have been so busy with school this semester that I haven’t had time to update it. Lucky for you (if there is a “you”), I have some down-time at work today, and I left my Business Law book at home. So, without any further ado, a recap of Utah’s season thus far:

August 30 – @ Michigan: Utah Wins 25-23

Highlights:

• Utah beat Michigan and broke into the Top 25
• Matt Asiata

Lowlights:

• Utah BARELY beat Michigan after letting a substantial lead dwindle in the second half
  Utah’s final possession, in the red-zone (for my full opinion on this, read here)

September 6 – vs. UNLV: Utah Wins 42-21

Highlights:

• Avenging our embarrassing loss from last season
• Matt Asiata THROWING a touchdown pass
• Brian Johnson’s 60+ yard rushing touchdown

Lowlights:

• UNLV’s first drive – it looked like Frank Summers might run all over us again
• The offense had a lousy first half

September 13 – @ Utah State: Utah Wins 58-10

Highlights:

• Blow-out victory
• Matt Asiata taking direct snaps (this almost guarantees the Utes a 6+ yard gain, often even more)

Lowlights:

• Punt returns! A botched punt return gave USU their only touchdown of the game. Subsequent punt returns weren’t any better

September 20 – @ Air Force: Utah Wins 30-23

Highlights:

• Beating our toughest opponent so far this season
• Getting a Safety – this is always a sign that the defense is doing a great job.
• Darrell Mack – 101 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns -- Mack is back!
• Holding Air Force to 53 rushing yards. Anytime you can shut-down the running game against Air Force, you will win. Period.

Lowlights:

• TURNOVERS! Brian Johnson had some struggles, but the O-Line is also responsible. They need to protect him better, and he needs to be smart enough to get rid of the ball when protection breaks down.
• Sakoda missing 2 field-goals. I don’t know if this has EVER happened in his career. I don’t blame him though. The offense put him in a terrible position for both of them, and he was kicking into a crazy wind. He’s still the man.

Utah is sitting at # 17 in the nation right now, and they remain undefeated so far. We’re off to our best start since the legendary 2004 season. I hope we can keep it up.