The Utah 2011 Football Thread

[Top Ute]

I'm not getting why everyone is so down on Arizona. We'd likely be 1-3 if we played their schedule as well.

[U-Ute]

I watched most of the ASU/Mizzou as well as the first half of the ASU/USC games.

ASU is talented, but undisciplined and inconsistent. They definitely play well at home. They lost to a surprisingly good Illinois team. I don't know Illinois, so I'm not sure what to think of that loss. USC showed how different things can be on the road, and we showed that we can play well on the road. Kyle has these guys disciplined, even if we don't quite have the talent level (ASU looks really athletic).

That said, I like our chances against ASU at home. The @Cal and @Arizona games are making me more nervous now.

@Pitt is a crap shoot just because of the time change, but has no bearing on conference play.

Not sure what to make of Washington State yet. I haven't seen them play. I always hear about how much they suck year after year though. They kicked UNLV's ass at home and lost to SDSU on the road.

If we beat ASU and lose only one of the @Arizona or @Cal games. I like our chances.

Like any other conference, championships are won on the road.

Montana St W
@USC L
@BYU W

Wazzou W
ASU W
@Pitt L
@Cal W
Oregon St. W
@Arizona L
UCLA W
@Wash St W
Colorado W

You can easily flip-flop the Cal/Arizona win/loss.

9-3 (7-2) is conceivable. I think we have to win 2 out of the 3 road games of Cal, Arizona, and Wash St. and we will be in good shape in the division.

ASU is 1-0 in conference, but has to play @Oregon and @Utah, plus their rivalry game against Arizona at home.

If they only lose the two road games, that puts them at 7-2 as well, but we would've beaten them head to head.

All in all, going into this season, 9-3 seemed ridiculous. There is still a lot of football to be played, and injuries will start to accumulate. Still, it doesn't seem so far fetched now that we have the USC and BYU games out of the way and we have a better feeling for this team.

[BoylenOver]

Announced earlier today: the ASU game will be at 1:30pm on ROOT (aka Fox Sports)

[OrangeUte]

Announced earlier today: the ASU game will be at 1:30pm on ROOT (aka Fox Sports)

awesome! same place as the washington game. i like it.

[falafel]

Someone should call CPS on these parents:

[YOUTUBE]XoU8jd1f8io[/YOUTUBE]

Kids faking the crying too. What a sad video.

[BoylenOver]

Po'u Palelei joins the team. He was rumored to be joining as far back as spring camp, but didn't make it until now. Won't practice with the team until next week.

[LA Ute]

Po'u Palelei joins the team. He was rumored to be joining as far back as spring camp, but didn't make it until now. Won't practice with the team until next week.

Can you remind me of who he is and why this is good? I do not doubt you, of course....

EDIT: I can answer my own question:

Offensive lineman Po'u Palelei, who signed with the Utes in March, has taken care of his academic requirements and enrolled at Utah. Palelei was at practice Wednesday and is eligible to play this year, according to Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.
However, it's unlikely he'll play since Whittingham said he is starting at 'square one.' According to his bio, Palelei is 6-foot-5 and 380 pounds, however, he looked well above that weight and has a lot of conditioning work he must do.

[BoylenOver]

Turning into a "worst-case" season.

No depth on the offensive line? Lose Tony Bergstrom.
No experience or talent behind Jordan Wynn? Separated shoulder.
Limited athleticism at linebacker and no experience at safety on top of all that.

Sigh.

[LA Ute]

Turning into a "worst-case" season.

No depth on the offensive line? Lose Tony Bergstrom.
No experience or talent behind Jordan Wynn? Separated shoulder.
Limited athleticism at linebacker and no experience at safety on top of all that.

Sigh.

[OrangeUte]

Being an optimist who was strengthened in my faith of the Utes during the 80s, I still believe that the Utes are talented enough to compete in the PAC 12. We may not win it (obviously), but we were 2 plays away from being up 21-10(7) and having the momentum swing our way. We have all seen amazing things out of backup qb's (Ratliffe) and so even sans Wynn, I won't give up and I won't get down. I don't believe that this team will either. Our fans need to bring the same excitement to the game next week that they brought to this game. We cannot get down on our team. Remember the 3 guys in the stands for the Indians in the movie "Major League?" We need that dedicated optimism. We need to remember that Dres Anderson is a freshman and he popped a critical fumble - but he also just about made a spectacular play in addition to catching a great TD in this game. While young and thin at some spots, we may yet prove the naysayers (even those within our own fanbase) wrong and win a few that they are now writing off as impossible because our Utes lost one that they should have won.

This was a sloppy loss to a very good team. The Washington team I saw today was good. The Utah team I saw today was not. But, that doesn't mean the good Utah team we expected won't show up next week. I believe that they will, and I will continue to believe that each and ever week!!!

Please, though... Don't wear those black pants with red jerseys again - it looks ridiculous.

[Portland Ute]

Being an optimist who was strengthened in my faith of the Utes during the 80s, I still believe that the Utes are talented enough to compete in the PAC 12. We may not win it (obviously), but we were 2 plays away from being up 21-10(7) and having the momentum swing our way. We have all seen amazing things out of backup qb's (Ratliffe) and so even sans Wynn, I won't give up and I won't get down. I don't believe that this team will either. Our fans need to bring the same excitement to the game next week that they brought to this game. We cannot get down on our team. Remember the 3 guys in the stands for the Indians in the movie "Major League?" We need that dedicated optimism. We need to remember that Dres Anderson is a freshman and he popped a critical fumble - but he also just about made a spectacular play in addition to catching a great TD in this game. While young and thin at some spots, we may yet prove the naysayers (even those within our own fanbase) wrong and win a few that they are now writing off as impossible because our Utes lost one that they should have won.

This was a sloppy loss to a very good team. The Washington team I saw today was good. The Utah team I saw today was not. But, that doesn't mean the good Utah team we expected won't show up next week. I believe that they will, and I will continue to believe that each and ever week!!!

Please, though... Don't wear those black pants with red jerseys again - it looks ridiculous.

Here are the things I think resulted in the loss:

1) Washington was very aggressive and hard hitting. They FORCED turnovers and they capitalized. It's odd that their last drive of the first half and their first drive of the 2nd really set the tone for the rest of the game. Does that sound familiar? UW was the aggressor and deserved to win. Other than the Hays fumble at the end of the game, the other 5 all resulted from hard hits or good coverage.

2) Wynn went down and didn't return after halftime. He actually looked fairly decent in the first half. I thought it was his best half of football this year. Tough break, but haven't we all known this was coming at some point?

3) To a lesser extent, stupidity. The false starts and laziness from Cullen. The personal fouls on that last UW drive of the 2nd quarter. Dumb. Unforced. Stupidity. I will not give UW any credit for this last point. It's on the Utes and they should be embarrassed.

[OrangeUte]

Agree on Cullen. His movement on 4th and inches really hurt.

On the last drive of the 2nd half, what was the call on #32? the tv coverage never showed what happened. Kwhit looked like he was giving Fotu a talking to but he's 42. Angine know what happened. UTES need to get these stupid penalties under control. Cullen seems to have one of these in every game.

[LA Ute]

Agree on Cullen. His movement on 4th and inches really hurt.

On the last drive of the 2nd half, what was the call on #32? the tv coverage never showed what happened. Kwhit looked like he was giving Fotu a talking to but he's 42. Angine know what happened. UTES need to get these stupid penalties under control. Cullen seems to have one of these in every game.

I didn't see but someone who did says Fotu "was running his mouth" against a WU player near the end of the half. The ref stepped in to separate them and Fotu chose that moment to head-butt the WU UW player. When he was coming off Whit was lip-read to say to another coach, "Don't put him back in this game," or something along those lines. Idiot. The same guy who was driving down I-15 the wrong way, drunk, gets a chance to come back to the team and play, and obviously still has some growing up to do.

[OrangeUte]

I didn't see but someone who did says Fotu "was running his mouth" against a WU player near the end of the half. The ref stepped in to separate them and Fotu chose that moment to head-butt the WU player. When he was coming off Whit was lip-read to say to another coach, "Don't put him back in this game," or something along those lines. Idiot. The same guy who was driving down I-15 the wrong way, drunk, gets a chance to come back to the team and play, and obviously still has some growing up to do.

Ugh!!! We gots to rebound. Gots to. Without Wynn that is much harder, but I believe we can. Faith.

[Sizzle]

I didn't see but someone who did says Fotu "was running his mouth" against a WU player near the end of the half. The ref stepped in to separate them and Fotu chose that moment to head-butt the WU player. When he was coming off Whit was lip-read to say to another coach, "Don't put him back in this game," or something along those lines. Idiot. The same guy who was driving down I-15 the wrong way, drunk, gets a chance to come back to the team and play, and obviously still has some growing up to do.

It's UW not WU.