Official Utah inagural PAC-12 schedule thread

[EdmondDantes]

I would wonder how many of Utah's scores came on short fields due to big returns, bad punts, etc, but I played defense, I think like defensive coach, so I focus on the defense

Against BYU? All but one of their scoring "drives" were on short fields due to the special teams gaffe when the ball hit Peterson in the leg and the Bradley "fumble".

[Jarid in Cedar]

Against BYU? All but one of their scoring "drives" were on short fields due to the special teams gaffe when the ball hit Peterson in the leg and the Bradley "fumble".

slight correction, that drive resulted in the Wynn INT/Bradley fumble which resulted in a short field conversion TD

[EdmondDantes]

slight correction, that drive resulted in the Wynn INT/Bradley fumble which resulted in a short field conversion TD

For future reference when referring to the Bradley "fumble" please affix the appropriate quotation marks.

[BoylenOver]

I am not understanding how any of you thin Utah will be better next year.

No Wynn for the next 6 months so zero improvement out of him.

You lose Asiata and Wide. You lose Taylor and Schlauderaff. You lose Jereme Brooks and Shaky.

Defensively you may lose both corners you lose a starting safety and starting D-end.

Explain to me how Utah is better next year and games that they would have clearly lost this year (at BYU, at USC, pretty much any game against a team above .500 that was on the road) will be "toss up" games next year.

I just do not see it.

If we're losing 3 players from the secondary (which isn't happening; Burton will be back) that supposedly finished last in the MWC, wouldn't that be a reason Utah will be better? If Keith McGill stays committed, he'll give us a true free safety (which JTR is most certainly not), and that will improve the secondary.

Losing Cox won't be an issue, because the depth along the defensive line is superb. Losing Brooks and Smithison won't affect the receivers. We've had different o-linemen get reps this season because of injuries, so I'm not too concerned about that.

But road games against teams that finished above .500. You wouldn't be referring to Air Force and SDSU, would you?

[EdmondDantes]

Losing Cox won't be an issue, because the depth along the defensive line is superb

While I agree that the depth on their D-line is solid....why did they struggle to get pressure on the QB consistently this season?

[Hot Lunch]

All joking aside. If BYU loses by 1 point to Utah at RES in game where I think we can call agree that BYU dominated everything but the scoreboard (which in fairness is all that matters).

10 months from now they play at LES. BYU returns Heaps, potentially their whole offensive line, their top 3 running backs, every single receiver that is worth a damn, so pretty much the whole offense.

They return plenty of depth along the D-line. The linebacking corps will be much better they lose Hunter but Ogletree is better anyways and they get Pendleton back. The only question mark is the secondary which seems to have enough warm bodies to make due.

Utah on the other hand loses their top three backs if you count Shak, loses Brooks and Smithson, loses two first team all conference lineman in Taylor and Schlauderaff. Their QB is coming off a major injury and who knows if he will be ready.

Defensively they may lose Burton, but for sure lose Chapman, Taplin-Ross, and Christian Cox. So much like BYU the secondary will need to be rebuilt but the front 7 should remain intact.

With all that being said Utah loses a ton of offense while BYU returns everyone. The defenses are pretty much a wash granted utah has been better at reloading in the defensive backfield than BYU has at least historically. So why would a 1 point win at home not make you think that BYu should at the minimum be a favorite going in to LES come September?

BYU should be confident in there game against Utah next year.

Both teams lose good players from this year.

Starting with Utah, I don't think the loss of Cox and Taplin-Ross will be that big of a deal. Taplin-Ross isn't a FS and that is where he was playing. They have some really good talent that redshirted this year and IMO will be a better FS than Taplin-Ross. Utah's D-Line is deep enough that losing Cox won't effect them. I also think getting a healthy Fotu back will help at LB as well as a healthy JJ Williams. Black has enough experience and I don't think there is a drop off between him and Chapman. I really hope Burton comes back. Losing him will hurt big time.

On O they will have a hard time replacing Schlauderhauf and Taylor. They were there best O lineman. Utah played the entire 2nd half of the Utah game with two starters out and that is when the offense was better (part of which was the play calling). Utah has some good talent on the offensive line in the program. Not a huge concern. Shaky made some big plays at wide-out, he also only had 22 catches all year. Someone will have to establish themselves as the go to guy like Brooks was. They have a ton of depth at wide out though with Christopher, Dunn, Mathews, Ransom, Lee, Moalo and couple of kids that redshirted this year. The problem with the O is who is going to get them the ball. I am not one that will dismiss Wynn now because of the shoulder injury. He makes bad decisions. He has a lot of talent around him, he can't get the ball to them. There is where my concern lies.

As for BYU

On D they have to replace 3 players in the their secondary and hands down their best defender/player on the team. I personally don't think they have the talent in the program that compares to the three guys they lost. I see a huge drop-off there. The linebackers will be better. BYU has some talent there especially at OLB. The D line will IMO be about the same. Can Romney Fuga come back off of such a bad injury? Russel T was never the same. It is a lot harder for big men to recover from the type of injury he had. If he can't, I actually see a drop off at the D line. Vic was good. Manu was serviceable. Jordan Richardson is coming off of a late ACL tear as well. I think the only position BYU is better at on D is at LB.

On offense is where BYU will make the most improvements. Speardon is gone, maybe Reynolds. If Reynolds leaves that could be a huge blow. Everyone else returns sans Asthworth. If Apo lives up to the hype, the O could be pretty good.

[BoylenOver]

All joking aside. If BYU loses by 1 point to Utah at RES in game where I think we can call agree that BYU dominated everything but the scoreboard (which in fairness is all that matters).

Rush yards:
Utah-89
BYU-65

Pass yards:
Utah-207
BYU-228

Total yards:
Utah-296
BYU-293

TOP:
Utah-27:28
BYU-32:32

Turnovers:
Utah-3
BYU-4

Penalties:
Utah-3-40
BYU-2-20

[Hot Lunch]

While I agree that the depth on their D-line is solid....why did they struggle to get pressure on the QB consistently this season?

That was my only issue with the D line. I think they have a couple o freshman that could be really good in Riley and the littlest Kruger. They did everything else well. That is something they need to improve on for next year. Losing Cox won't hurt them at all though.

[MartyFunkhouser]

If we're losing 3 players from the secondary (which isn't happening; Burton will be back) that supposedly finished last in the MWC, wouldn't that be a reason Utah will be better? If Keith McGill stays committed, he'll give us a true free safety (which JTR is most certainly not), and that will improve the secondary.

Losing Cox won't be an issue, because the depth along the defensive line is superb. Losing Brooks and Smithison won't affect the receivers. We've had different o-linemen get reps this season because of injuries, so I'm not too concerned about that.

But road games against teams that finished above .500. You wouldn't be referring to Air Force and SDSU, would you?

Only BYU players can improve with experience. Ute players will never improve.

[Jarid in Cedar]

That was my only issue with the D line. I think they have a couple o freshman that could be really good in Riley and the littlest Kruger. They did everything else well. That is something they need to improve on for next year. Losing Cox won't hurt them at all though.

Tevita Finau joined the team in late Sept and was getting starter minutes at the end of the year. Give him spring and fall camp and he may be the rush end we lacked.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Rush yards:
Utah-89
BYU-65

Pass yards:
Utah-207
BYU-228

Total yards:
Utah-296
BYU-293

TOP:
Utah-27:28
BYU-32:32

Turnovers:
Utah-3
BYU-4

Penalties:
Utah-3-40
BYU-2-20

How did we win when they dominated us statistically like that.

[LA Ute]

Tevita Finau joined the team in late Sept and was getting starter minutes at the end of the year. Give him spring and fall camp and he may be the rush end we lacked.

Ah! Some hope! I do think that must be something very high on Kyle's list.

[kccougar]

I'd just like to say that I love this thread right now.

[Top Ute]

I'd just like to say that I love this thread right now.

Yep. Junkie makes his case as to why Utah will be horrible, yet Utah fans could care less about BYU's trajectory, nor have they made any passioned plea for why it will be worse. We all know who this game means more for. It certainly isn't Utah fans.

[EdmondDantes]

That was my only issue with the D line. I think they have a couple o freshman that could be really good in Riley and the littlest Kruger. They did everything else well. That is something they need to improve on for next year. Losing Cox won't hurt them at all though.

I definetly agree. In fact I think losing Cox won't even register as a blip on the radar. They'll be fine at D-line. If I remember correctly Whittingham admitted they oversigned at that position the last 2-3 seasons because they were stuck with depth issues at one time and he swore that would never happen again while he was the head coach.

Which might explain their linebacker problems now.