Game Keys

[Jarid in Cedar]

I will be watching the presnap position of the safeties, especially the SS.

When Utah is on defense, if Dale(or Taplin-Ross) is close to, or in the box, I am afraid that means the game is going poorly for my Utes.

When BYU is on defense, if Rich is laying back in the post, I am going to be smiling.

For those who care, what keys are you going to be watching on Saturday?

[PaloAltoCougar]

Not so much a key, but I'll be interested to see how Wynn looks in the early going. He's shown good poise for a freshman thus far, but this game brings a level of intensity I don't think he's faced yet. I'm guessing BYU will be blitzing a bit more in the early going to see if they can rattle the kid.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Not so much a key, but I'll be interested to see how Wynn looks in the early going. He's shown good poise for a freshman thus far, but this game brings a level of intensity I don't think he's faced yet. I'm guessing BYU will be blitzing a bit more in the early going to see if they can rattle the kid.

I think that this is part of why I view Rich's positioning as a key. I think BYu is going to come out and try to be aggressive with the blitz and pressure. But I think if Utah beats them over the top once or twice early(especially on a blitz), BYu will revert back into the passive zone fairly quickly, and Rich will be 15 yards off the LOS.

[BoylenOver]

Jarid, your point is indirectly about this, but I want to see how BYU uses Unga and Tonga, especially early. Our backers have been disappointing this year, and I think using George and the backs would really stretch out the defense and open up some holes. But if they keep trying to target the receivers and Pitta, where I think Utah matches up relatively well, and showing little willingness to run the ball, Utah has a great chance.

On offense, I'm curious to see what Utah does to establish the run. BYU has been good on the ground, and if they force us to be one-dimensional, we'll
struggle. But if we can keep them off-balance with Wide, Shaky, and maybe even Cain and Matthews, it will open up the intermediate passing game.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Jarid, your point is indirectly about this, but I want to see how BYU uses Unga and Tonga, especially early. Our backers have been disappointing this year, and I think using George and the backs would really stretch out the defense and open up some holes. But if they keep trying to target the receivers and Pitta, where I think Utah matches up relatively well, and showing little willingness to run the ball, Utah has a great chance.

On offense, I'm curious to see what Utah does to establish the run. BYU has been good on the ground, and if they force us to be one-dimensional, we'll
struggle. But if we can keep them off-balance with Wide, Shaky, and maybe even Cain and Matthews, it will open up the intermediate passing game.

I think that we need to pass to run. If we can get over the top a few times. Hill will pull the safeties out of the box and give us some room to run the ball. If the safties can apply force because they are not respecting the pass, there is going to be precious space to develop a running game.

I could see Utah trying to go deep down the field in the first 2 possessions, even if it is incomplete, just to keep the safeties a secondary factor in the run game.

[cougjunkie]

I think that we need to pass to run. If we can get over the top a few times. Hill will pull the safeties out of the box and give us some room to run the ball. If the safties can apply force because they are not respecting the pass, there is going to be precious space to develop a running game.

I could see Utah trying to go deep down the field in the first 2 possessions, even if it is incomplete, just to keep the safeties a secondary factor in the run game.

Having watched Jaime Hills defense for the past 3 years just know that he will not make a single adjustment in the game. If the game plan is for Rich to help in run support it will stay that way the whole game. If it is for Rich to help in coverage same thing.

[jay santos]

I will be watching the presnap position of the safeties, especially the SS.

When Utah is on defense, if Dale(or Taplin-Ross) is close to, or in the box, I am afraid that means the game is going poorly for my Utes.

When BYU is on defense, if Rich is laying back in the post, I am going to be smiling.

For those who care, what keys are you going to be watching on Saturday?

I get your point on the U, as the U's weakness is in the run game, and if they can afford to bring the safeties out of the box it means BYU is not running the ball. Something that is likely imperative for BYU to win.

I don't get your point on BYU's defense. I don't see Utah winning without throwing the ball. I don't see our D giving up long drives just with the run. So I think it's almost certain you're going to see our safeties back focusing on the pass.

[Blueintheface]

Body language. It's easy to tell very early on if BYU is going to compete and play well. I don't really have the pulse of the Utes as they seem to be pretty consistently high-energy win or lose but BYU seems to hang their heads if things get started on a sour note. I'm hoping for the same angry/hyped-up Max and company that we saw last week. A quick penalty on offense and the Eyore-syndrome could start very early for the Cougs.

[smokymountainrain]

We could try to get complicated here, but ultimately the QBs are the key.

Hall is one of my favorite BYU QBs of all time, but he has shown that he tends not to get rattled by good defenses, but he rattles himself. Almost as if he psychs himself out and allows himself to be intimidated when he doesn't have to be. Against TCU, I thought he was protected fairly well, but he looked scared regardless. He shredded AFA's very good pass defense because while very good, they were just AFA and he didn't give them the respect of a top 10 pass defense. He didn't allow himself to be scared.

How does he come out against the uofu's defense? Is he calm and confident? If so, Utah's defense is in for a long day.

On the other side, does Wynn allow the size of the stage to overwhelm him and cause him to make mistakes he wouldn't otherwise make?

Or does he stay collected and understand that he's playing against one of the most piss poor pass defenses he'll ever see? If he can do this, even if Hall comes into the game with the right mindset BYU could lose the game, although unlikely.

[Blueintheface]

On the other side, does Wynn allow the size of the stage to overwhelm him and cause him to make mistakes he wouldn't otherwise make?

Or does he stay collected and understand that he's playing against one of the most piss poor pass defenses he'll ever see? If he can do this, even if Hall comes into the game with the right mindset BYU could lose the game, although unlikely.

I think Shaky and Cain will take around 40% of the snaps in this game to keep the pressure off the kid and exploit Whitt's favorite thing that BYU "lacks": speed. If he does this BYU will be kept off balance and it gives them the best shot to win IMO.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I get your point on the U, as the U's weakness is in the run game, and if they can afford to bring the safeties out of the box it means BYU is not running the ball. Something that is likely imperative for BYU to win.

I don't get your point on BYU's defense. I don't see Utah winning without throwing the ball. I don't see our D giving up long drives just with the run. So I think it's almost certain you're going to see our safeties back focusing on the pass.

As for BYU's D, I think if the safeties are in the box, it means we are not effectively passing, and Wide is not the type of back that will effectively run with 7 or 8 guys in the box. This is where we miss Asiata the most.

We need to be able to run the ball some, to control some clock, to keep the pass rush honest. If BYu's safeties are tight on the line, IMO we will struggle to run the ball.

[smokymountainrain]

I think Shaky and Cain should take around 40% of the snaps in this game to keep the pressure off the kid and exploit Whitt's favorite thing that BYU "lacks": speed. If he does this BYU will be kept off balance and it gives them the best shot to win IMO.

That would be a great idea, but 60% of the time would be even better. Because of the troubles BYU has proven to have with mobile QBs, Cain 100% of the time would make sense.

I edited your post, because while it would be a sound idea, Whittingham won't do it.

[Goatnapper'96]

We could try to get complicated here, but ultimately the QBs are the key.

Hall is one of my favorite BYU QBs of all time, but he has shown that he tends not to get rattled by good defenses, but he rattles himself. Almost as if he psychs himself out and allows himself to be intimidated when he doesn't have to be. Against TCU, I thought he was protected fairly well, but he looked scared regardless. He shredded AFA's very good pass defense because while very good, they were just AFA and he didn't give them the respect of a top 10 pass defense. He didn't allow himself to be scared.

How does he come out against the uofu's defense? Is he calm and confident? If so, Utah's defense is in for a long day.

On the other side, does Wynn allow the size of the stage to overwhelm him and cause him to make mistakes he wouldn't otherwise make?

Or does he stay collected and understand that he's playing against one of the most piss poor pass defenses he'll ever see? If he can do this, even if Hall comes into the game with the right mindset BYU could lose the game, although unlikely.

I think he picked apart AF because the Zoomies, while fast and very good at execution, are a step slower than TCU. My guess is the Ute defense is faster than AF but not as fast as TCU. I think that Max's performance will be somewhere between the two as well. It really baffles me how much speed can disrupt BYU. BYU can execute so flawlessly against teams whose speed they can handle but there seems to be a point where speed doesn't just neutralize BYU, it obliterates them. I honestly cannot figure it out. I don't know if it is poor gameplanning by the coaching staff, in that they are unable to properly identify that speed and or devise an attack that can more effectively attack it, or if it is a mental thing in Max Hall's head. While I didn't expect BYU to move the ball at will on TCU, I was baffled how inept they made BYU. The hot/cold aspect works in basketball but not so much in football, IMO.

I really don't know just how fast Utah is. If they are as fast as TCU, it is not real likely to be a fun afternoon for you and I. If they are slower, which I think they are, it is difficult for me to gauge just how much slower and whether or not the speed neutralizes BYU or obliterates. I thought last year the Ute speed only neutralized BYU. The Cougars could still move the ball, Hall just had that meltdown. TCU obliterated BYU, there was no meltdown.

I don't expect the stage to have much of an impact on Wynn. His inexperience with the position and the fact that I think BYU's defense is better than SDSU and UNM might though. I think Wynn is a great true freshman and I think the kid is going to be a stud. But I don't think he will have a bad game due to pressure, or at least mental pressure. He might if BYU can get physical pressure on him just because he is not yet far enough in his development to deal with that effectively frequently enough.

[SeattleUte]

As for BYU's D, I think if the safeties are in the box, it means we are not effectively passing, and Wide is not the type of back that will effectively run with 7 or 8 guys in the box. This is where we miss Asiata the most.

We need to be able to run the ball some, to control some clock, to keep the pass rush honest. If BYu's safeties are tight on the line, IMO we will struggle to run the ball.

I hope they live in the box because if so Reed will have a monster game.

[jay santos]

As for BYU's D, I think if the safeties are in the box, it means we are not effectively passing, and Wide is not the type of back that will effectively run with 7 or 8 guys in the box. This is where we miss Asiata the most.

We need to be able to run the ball some, to control some clock, to keep the pass rush honest. If BYu's safeties are tight on the line, IMO we will struggle to run the ball.

I don't see BYU's safeties tight on the line no matter what. You won't win the game with the run and the safeties aren't going to start cheating up if they break up a couple passes.