The Utah 2011 Football Thread

[Ute]

I generally agree with LA Ute's analysis, with one caveat. At the beginning of the season, 7-5 looked reasonable. But with USC's sanctions, we saw an opportunity, and that gave at least me some hope. Sure enough, they got their opportunity, but they squandered it. So while our expectations were realized, our hopes were on the cusp of being realized, and then were dashed.

[LA Ute]

I will take the high road and congratulate the Utes on their successful 7-5 season. I also agree with LA Ute on pretty much all points in his post:

1. Everyone pretty much expected the Utes to finish in the middle of the group and that is exactly what they did.
2. The Utes' situation looked awful and scary when they played Cal.
3. The loss to Colorado (first home loss to a team playing Colorado in 4 years) was a belly flop
4. The Utes are, without question, below USC

Again, congratulations on a successful season and best of luck in either the Sun Bowl or the Vegas Bowl.

I will stay on the high road with you and not say much about the fact that Utah, an outmanned newcomer to the PAC-12, took USC to the last play of the game. I'm sure that somewhere on this board you have already acknowledged that and have congratulated the Utes on a very credible performance in the first PAC-12 football game.

[Ute]

No news here exactly, but here are the major bowl projections, or at least the updated ones.

These four writers predict the Sun Bowl.

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/30517/pac-12-bowl-projections-week-14

http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls/projections

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

This one predicts the Vegas Bowl.

http://cfn.scout.com/2/557866.html

[Mormon Red Death]

My prediction....OK state will jump over the Farm, especially with another game next week. And once again, the PAC will get screwed out of a second berth in the BCS. OK State is already ahead of them in the AP.

weren't you the one saying USC should apply for a waiver to be the second pac-12 team?

[UtahJazzFan88]

No news here exactly, but here are the major bowl projections, or at least the updated ones.

These four writers predict the Sun Bowl.

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/30517/pac-12-bowl-projections-week-14

http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls/projections

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions

This one predicts the Vegas Bowl.
http://cfn.scout.com/2/557866.html

Lot's of inaccuracies in the Scout one from what I've heard on other college football news sites and forums.

[TripletDaddy]

I will stay on the high road with you and not say much about the fact that Utah, an outmanned newcomer to the PAC-12, took USC to the last play of the game. I'm sure that somewhere on this board you have already acknowledged that and have congratulated the Utes on a very credible performance in the first PAC-12 football game.

I appreciate your efforts to share the journey with me and I definitely congratulate Utah for almost tying that game at the end. It was a scrappy effort and even though it was a loss, it certainly deserves recognition for exceeding everyone's expectations.

[LA Ute]

I appreciate your efforts to share the journey with me and I definitely congratulate Utah for almost tying that game at the end. It was a scrappy effort and even though it was a loss, it certainly deserves recognition for exceeding everyone's expectations.

This saddens me. It doesn't mean as much when we have to dig the congratulations out of you. And after all those nice things I said about Trojan football!

[myboynoah]

This saddens me. It doesn't mean as much when we have to dig the congratulations out of you. And after all those nice things I said about Trojan football!

Hey, be careful. 3D is taking the high road, so best to keep him there. He's unlike many BYU Fans like myself who often find joy in the low road. We strive to be like 3D, but all too often, finding the path upward very steep and full of loose gravel, slide back to the comfort of lower paths.

[LA Ute]

Far and away our biggest problem in 2011 has been having a QB who can get the ball to a very deep and talented pool of receivers. It will be interesting to see how KW, Chow and Co. deal with that in 2012. Wynn will be a junior still and will have had over a year for his throwing shoulder to heal, to loosen up scar tissue, work on his throwing motion, etc. (I think it was hostile who said a torn labrum really needs at least a full year to heal.) Still, Jordan is fragile, and if our only backup is still Hays we'll find ourselves in the same spot next year. I can't imagine Whit will let that happen.

[NorthwestUteFan]

What did we learn about the Utes' talent level in the PAC-12? That same friend opined that we are probably "in the middle somewhere, a little better than UCLA, Oregon State, Wazzu, UofA, maybe just below UW and ASU. USC, Oregon & Stanford are above everyone else, no question." Seems about right to me.

It would be nice to win our bowl game.

Top to bottom your friend may be correct. But i will add that the defensive line (including OLBs - Reilly has serious NFL potential given 15-30 more pounds and a few years of experience) is easily top 3 in the conference. The defense overall was pretty good overall, and played far above their heads in creating turnovers, etc. The special teams unit was pretty solid through much of the season, but for the three(?) fumbled kickoffs/punts. Punting was very good, field goal team was quite good until the CU game, and how many people can claim to have blocked TWO punts in a game like Greg Bird? Remember, he wasn't even the "PAC Special Teams POW that week", losing the honor to his teammate.

Hopefully Sitake and Whittingham will realize that teams watch game film and will be very quick to exploit weaknesses. They need to lock down those weaknesses before the game the following week. See WSU -> Colorado. WSU killed us on those quick-strike drives, looking like the vintage BYU Cougars of old. CU did much the same thing. Utah's safeties were great on making picks, but they (along with the LBs) bit on nearly every play-action pass and got killed for it.

If Utah had any kind of a passing threat to complement the talented running game and exceptionally talented receiver corps, this season would have been completely different. Defense was quite good, with a few problem areas. Special Teams play was good with a few WTF problems but nothing structurally wrong. Running game was far better than expected despite opposing defenses knowing we were going to run the ball and stacking the box. Passing game turned out to be barely adequate, and I cheered when we finally played a game without a turnover from the QB.

I find myself wondering how things would have turned out if Utah even had a QB like Connor Halliday (WSU) or Tyler Hansen (CU). If we have a Brock Osweiler, Nick Foles or Keith Price quality QB, the team be a serious power in the PAC South, and with a Matt Barkley or Andrew Luck-quality QB they would be in the talk for Pasadena in the coming years. A Barkley or a Luck ain't coming to Utah, I understand, but somebody with that level of talent would make Utah dangerous in every game. Chow should be able to develop Travis Wilson or Chase Hansen to at least Halliday/Hansen levels, and perhaps to Osweiler quality. If he can get them to the next level beyond that (before he retires) then I will be beyond happy.

With a decent passing threat, Norm Chow can open up the playbook. If Jordan Wynn can get his arm back into 2009-shape (especially the throwing motion), and continue to bulk up his body in general, he will turn out to be decent enough. But Utah needs more than just a 'game manager' out there, they need a guy who can be creative and convert a 3rd and 8 more often than not. Perhaps Shreve will be in a position to contribute at QB. I hope to see an all-out QB competition in Spring Camp and Fall Camp next year to determine who is truly the best and most capable QB on the roster.

As is obvious and has been stated before numerous times, everything comes down to depth at every position. Building depth at positions takes years of recruiting. John White IV is a truly special running back, but I hope they are pulling out the stops to find a solid replacement. Harvey Langi has potential but he needs to put his head down and stop running into the QB on the handoff. Tauni Vakapuna has shown flashes of brilliance, and looked like a bowling ball through the defense on Friday (until he fumbled), but he was injury prone after getting his ankle twisted maliciously after the play was over while under the pile against a certain team earlier this year.

Utah will get to that level eventually, but I suspect we will see more painful 'wtf' losses over the next few years. Hopefully they will decline eventually...

All told, I LOVE being in the PAC. I LOVE that the team can compete with solid competition every week. I LOVE that there aren't any truly BAD teams in the league, and no guaranteed wins.

[Ute]

I loved this post. My thoughts exactly.

[TripletDaddy]

All told, I LOVE being in the PAC. I LOVE that the team can compete with solid competition every week. I LOVE that there aren't any truly BAD teams in the league, and no guaranteed wins.

You are up in the night. There are some bad teams and very mediocre football programs in the PAC.

[Sullyute]

Far and away our biggest problem in 2011 has been having a QB who can get the ball to a very deep and talented pool of receivers. It will be interesting to see how KW, Chow and Co. deal with that in 2012. Wynn will be a junior still and will have had over a year for his throwing shoulder to heal, to loosen up scar tissue, work on his throwing motion, etc. (I think it was hostile who said a torn labrum really needs at least a full year to heal.) Still, Jordan is fragile, and if our only backup is still Hays we'll find ourselves in the same spot next year. I can't imagine Whit will let that happen.

I agree that this is priority number one. I don't know if Wynn is the amswer or if Shreve can make a difference will no experiencience behind his belt. Maybe the LonePeak QB will be able to make a difference. Is he coming in the spring or will he be a fall camp only guy? Either way, I still think we are a few years away.

But close behind is the offensive line. We lose 2 or 3 guys from the line which had some ups and downs this year. I hope that the second string guys are ready to fill the shoes and add to it (surprisingly there seemed to be no drop off with the guy that took Brennar's place).

[Flattop]

You are up in the night. There are some bad teams and very mediocre football programs in the PAC.

Not New Mexico and UNLV bad.

[cougjunkie]

Not New Mexico and UNLV bad.

Actually yeah Colorado and Washington State are historically New Mexico and UNLV bad.

Washington was 0-11 just two years ago.

Arizona and Oregon State were terrible this year.

4 Pac-12 coaches have already been fired with possibly more still to come.

Say what you want but it was a bad year for the Pac-12 and maybe Utah had a down year too but going 7-5 during a down year for the Pac does not bode well for the future.