Utah-UNLV

[Jarid in Cedar]

So on to week 2.

This game is difficult to break down simply because UNLV was so overmatched against Wisconsin that it was difficult to assess any area fully, but here it goes.

Utah Defense vs UNLV Offense

Utah's D-Line vs UNLV O-line

Utah was able to contain a potent ground attack against Pitt and rotate through 11 players on the D-Line. UNLV was stonewalled on Offense by Wisconsin's Front 7 until a garbage time TD that was set up by the run. Look for more of the same in this game.

Advantage Utah

Utah's LB's vs UNLV's RB

UNLV have 2 experienced back in Channing Trotter and C.J. Cox. They had little room to run Saturday going 8 carries, 25 yds(including one 18 yd carry in junk time). Utah's LB's performed adequately against Pitt, but will be playing against more of a spread offense so their athleticism will be tested more this week.

Advantage Utah

Utah's Secondary vs UNLV's QB/WR

UNLV may have a QB controversy on their hands as Mike Clausen beat out incumbent Omar Clayton in Fall camp. Clausen was completely ineffective and indecisive. Clayton fared a little better and seemed to have a better grasp of the offense. Phillip Payne had a decent game getting into the endzone with 4 catches for 84 yds. Michael Johnson is their top returning receiver. Utah's secondary will be spread out and tested more this week. They will not see the size mismatches that were evident against Pitt, but the safties are going to be forced to cover much more this week.

Advantage Utah

Utah Offense vs UNLV Defense

Utah's O-line vs UNLV's D-line

UNLV was overmatched by Wisconsin in the trenches, but they continued to play hard and didn't look defeated. Isaako Aaitui anchors the middle and is a true force. He was dinged in the game and his status is day to day for Saturday. Utah's O-line performed well against Pitt and should have their way again on Saturday, but it won't be pretty.

Advantage Utah, but not by as wide of a margin as others will think.

Utah's RB's vs UNLV's LB's

UNLV's LB's made alot of tackles, albeit 4-8 yards downfield against te Badgers. Wide and Asiata both had excellent games. Both should have success again, and will carry a heavier load if Wynn is not starting come 9/11.

Advantage Utah

Utah's QB/WR vs UNLV's Secondary

Will Chandler's play at CB was one of the lone bright spots for the Rebels against Wisconsin accounting for 1 TD on a pick 6 and setting up another with a long fumble return. DVC will look to build on his successes of game 1 and Brooks should be his steady self. The Utes will be looking for a 3rd player to step up and demand to be accounted for. The QB situation is unsettled as Wynn is listed as day to day.

I will hold off an assessment until the QB situation is determined.

Intangible

I don't care about UNLV's contributions to this section. Until Utah's special teams show that they have recovered from last weeks debacle, this area is decidedly

Big advantage UNLV

Final Analysis

UNLV is in transition between a spread offense to more of a power I. They are in the awkward position of not having the personnel needed to run their scheme, so they are running an offense that their coaches are not comfortable with simply to match their players. Utah should handily win this game regardless of the QB situation. If Wynn plays look for the score to be

Utah 37 UNLV 13

[Surfah]

Jarid you need to start a blog. Nice write up. Though I'd probably give the intangibles to Utah also. UNLV sucks.

[Coastal Ute]

Jarid you need to start a blog. Nice write up. Though I'd probably give the intangibles to Utah also. UNLV sucks.

I agree. Very well done.

I think that Jordan or no Jordan, this should be a great opportunity for the offense to showcase itself- see what kind of weapons we have. Cain should fill in nicely for this one (if that is in fact the case).

[BoylenOver]

FTR: the average score of a Utah-UNLV game in Salt Lake is 41-21 in favor of Utah. Utah is a perfect 7-0, scoring 40+ points 4 times.

[DrumNFeather]

Will either team be providing a parting gift?

[U-Ute]

Will either team be providing a parting gift?

Yes. An ass whooping.

[wally]

FTR: the average score of a Utah-UNLV game in Salt Lake is 41-21 in favor of Utah. Utah is a perfect 7-0, scoring 40+ points 4 times.

Hmmm.. I need to go revise a prediction....

[wally]

Hmmm.. I need to go revise a prediction....

HAH! I am smarter than I give myself credit for, I already had Utah at 41 pts.

[Top Ute]

FTR: the average score of a Utah-UNLV game in Salt Lake is 41-21 in favor of Utah. Utah is a perfect 7-0, scoring 40+ points 4 times.

Sigh. I keep waiting for UNLV to justify the expectations I have for their talent, but it's not going to be this year. You simply cannot win big in this league with offensive attacks heavy on old-school, power football. TCU has come closest to such a mindset, but it had the athletes to do it, and is now a spread-option team anyway.

That Bobby Hauck went all of one half with Mike Clausen as the starter and looked so bad before being removed for Omar Clayton is Exhibit A that this switch in offensive philosophy is not going well right now. You build that offense around Clayton and the wideouts, and gradually make the shift in your philosophy.

Utah should have no problem stuffing UNLV's offense and creating turnovers. Whether its Wynn or Cain at QB, it doesn't matter. Utes in a rout, easily covering the 23 points.

[Coastal Ute]

FTR: the average score of a Utah-UNLV game in Salt Lake is 41-21 in favor of Utah. Utah is a perfect 7-0, scoring 40+ points 4 times.

Irrefutable facts have NO place on this board. Shame on you.

[BoylenOver]

Sounds like it will be Cain for Saturday, with possibly some Robles. Wynn's kept that hand in a splint all week.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Utah Defense vs UNLV Offense

Utah's D-Line vs UNLV O-line

Utah was able to contain a potent ground attack against Pitt and rotate through 11 players on the D-Line. UNLV was stonewalled on Offense by Wisconsin's Front 7 until a garbage time TD that was set up by the run. Look for more of the same in this game.

Advantage Utah

The mantra of the first 2 weeks is the front 4 are stout against the run and can push the pocket, but lack a real pass rushing threat. We only put solid pressure on with the blitz and we showed some weakness against a mobile QB who was able to break out of the pocket and get positive yards when he was on the verge of giving up the sack.

Utah's LB's vs UNLV's RB

UNLV have 2 experienced back in Channing Trotter and C.J. Cox. They had little room to run Saturday going 8 carries, 25 yds(including one 18 yd carry in junk time). Utah's LB's performed adequately against Pitt, but will be playing against more of a spread offense so their athleticism will be tested more this week.

Advantage Utah

The run was well contained. We gave up 102 yards, but 30 of them were Clayton on scrambles. The LB's were again solid but unspectacular.

Utah's Secondary vs UNLV's QB/WR

UNLV may have a QB controversy on their hands as Mike Clausen beat out incumbent Omar Clayton in Fall camp. Clausen was completely ineffective and indecisive. Clayton fared a little better and seemed to have a better grasp of the offense. Phillip Payne had a decent game getting into the endzone with 4 catches for 84 yds. Michael Johnson is their top returning receiver. Utah's secondary will be spread out and tested more this week. They will not see the size mismatches that were evident against Pitt, but the safties are going to be forced to cover much more this week.

Advantage Utah

Clayton had a decent game statistically, but couldn't get his team in the endzone. He did show out weakness against a moblie QB though. Chapman was picked on again. I think we will start to see Conroy Black on the outside and Chapman more at the nickel as the year winds on. Johnson had another good game against us as he found himself matched against a safety or LB on many of his catches. Blechen is going to be a stud. 2 monster hits. Still gets lost at times, but I think I found my favorite player for the next few years.

Utah Offense vs UNLV Defense

Utah's O-line vs UNLV's D-line

UNLV was overmatched by Wisconsin in the trenches, but they continued to play hard and didn't look defeated. Isaako Aaitui anchors the middle and is a true force. He was dinged in the game and his status is day to day for Saturday. Utah's O-line performed well against Pitt and should have their way again on Saturday, but it won't be pretty.

Advantage Utah, but not by as wide of a margin as others will think.

O-Line had a very good day. No holds, no sacks, and over 10 yards rushing again. This is a bad day if Zane Taylor's injury is significant. Whit said that he expected him to play this week. I will feel more better if I hear the same from the MRI.

Utah's RB's vs UNLV's LB's

UNLV's LB's made alot of tackles, albeit 4-8 yards downfield against te Badgers. Wide and Asiata both had excellent games. Both should have success again, and will carry a heavier load if Wynn is not starting come 9/11.

Advantage Utah

The 2 headed monster had another solid game. The only flaw was the fumble by Wide at the end of a long run. UNLV converted the TO into their FG as well.

Utah's QB/WR vs UNLV's Secondary

Will Chandler's play at CB was one of the lone bright spots for the Rebels against Wisconsin accounting for 1 TD on a pick 6 and setting up another with a long fumble return. DVC will look to build on his successes of game 1 and Brooks should be his steady self. The Utes will be looking for a 3rd player to step up and demand to be accounted for. The QB situation is unsettled as Wynn is listed as day to day.

I will hold off an assessment until the QB situation is determined.

Cain had a good game. He was out of sync on a few passes and doesn't have the same arm as Wynn, but he made good decisive decisions today. His feet were much more quiet as well. He stood in and took a good hit on the TD to Brooks. Wynn was backpedaling and throwing off his back foot on that play last week.

Intangible

I don't care about UNLV's contributions to this section. Until Utah's special teams show that they have recovered from last weeks debacle, this area is decidedly

Big advantage UNLV

Mixed bag here. I am happy that Smithson had a big game. Wide forced and recovered the fumbled punt to set up a TD. Punt protection is a mess right now, and I am holding my breath every time now. Penalties reared their head at inopportune times again. UNLV had a 19 play drive in the 4th that was extended when they converted three 3rd downs because of penalties(then we stuffed them for no points on 1st and goal from the 2)

Final Analysis

UNLV is in transition between a spread offense to more of a power I. They are in the awkward position of not having the personnel needed to run their scheme, so they are running an offense that their coaches are not comfortable with simply to match their players. Utah should handily win this game regardless of the QB situation. If Wynn plays look for the score to be

Utah 37 UNLV 13

Not bad. I wish I had gone with this score in the Pick'em thread

[cougjunkie]

Utah should just run nothing but crossing routes underneath until they face the good teams on their schedule (ok I think they only have 1 or 2 of those). Not many teams will be able to stop it. BYU will do alright because they play zone, TCU because they have the athletes. Nobody else will be able to contain those.

[Senioritis]

The mantra of the first 2 weeks is the front 4 are stout against the run and can push the pocket, but lack a real pass rushing threat. We only put solid pressure on with the blitz and we showed some weakness against a mobile QB who was able to break out of the pocket and get positive yards when he was on the verge of giving up the sack.



The run was well contained. We gave up 102 yards, but 30 of them were Clayton on scrambles. The LB's were again solid but unspectacular.



Clayton had a decent game statistically, but couldn't get his team in the endzone. He did show out weakness against a moblie QB though. Chapman was picked on again. I think we will start to see Conroy Black on the outside and Chapman more at the nickel as the year winds on. Johnson had another good game against us as he found himself matched against a safety or LB on many of his catches. Blechen is going to be a stud. 2 monster hits. Still gets lost at times, but I think I found my favorite player for the next few years.



O-Line had a very good day. No holds, no sacks, and over 10 yards rushing again. This is a bad day if Zane Taylor's injury is significant. Whit said that he expected him to play this week. I will feel more better if I hear the same from the MRI.



The 2 headed monster had another solid game. The only flaw was the fumble by Wide at the end of a long run. UNLV converted the TO into their FG as well.



Cain had a good game. He was out of sync on a few passes and doesn't have the same arm as Wynn, but he made good decisive decisions today. His feet were much more quiet as well. He stood in and took a good hit on the TD to Brooks. Wynn was backpedaling and throwing off his back foot on that play last week.



Mixed bag here. I am happy that Smithson had a big game. Wide forced and recovered the fumbled punt to set up a TD. Punt protection is a mess right now, and I am holding my breath every time now. Penalties reared their head at inopportune times again. UNLV had a 19 play drive in the 4th that was extended when they converted three 3rd downs because of penalties(then we stuffed them for no points on 1st and goal from the 2)



Not bad. I wish I had gone with this score in the Pick'em thread

Nostradamus! I love the Fighting Irish!

The only thing I'd say to you is that Conroy Black didn't fair much better than Lamar Chapman today. That off-side corner is what every OC will want to attack, based on the first two.

Also, I alway's think of George Jetson's son Elroy when I hear the name Conroy. And Lamar Chapman sounds a little too much like Lavar Burton.

Only other thought is Zane Taylor needs to be healthy. NEEDS TO BE. He's a freaking gorilla, and I really can't think of another guy on the team more irreplaceable.