U vs. Y '12

[PaloAltoCougar]

So why start with 1975?

Because very few of us here were conscious of college football (or pretty much anything else) prior to 1970. Utah should bring in stats from the 30s and 40s, though. It's like Persia justifiably claiming more military victories than the U.S.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Inventors of college football: BYU-1, Utah-0

Plays named after a school(Utah pass) Utah-1, BYU-0

[Portland Ute]

So, are the ute fans who are sandbagging doing it because they view BYU as the better program after their utes lost 5 conference games last year and appearing early on as though this year's team may actually be worse - as hard to believe as that may be?

Maybe it's just that some of us spent 8 hours of our life to go to Logan last friday and saw just how awful Utah's offense is up close and personal and haven't seen BYU play this season other than a few highlights on LDS-TV, Channel 5.

[Portland Ute]

So why start with 1975?

That was a fantastic year.

[LA Ute]

May I suggest y'all take your cues from their parents? Lie down and be slaughtered Saturday. That will surely soften our stony hearts.

If we perish, we perish. But we have been taught by our mothers, Ute alumnae all, that if we do not doubt, Kyle will deliver us; and we do not doubt that our mothers knew it.

Brother LA Ute, I'd be grateful if you would respect Bronco's ownership of that metaphor here.

'Preciate ya.

Thank you so much for reminding me. I am sorry if I gave offense. Good golly, I should have gotten permission from the copyright owner, as Elder Mendenhall surely did. That was ignerent of me. To all within the sound of my voice, er, keyboard, whom I have offended, I ask forgiveness.

[Top Ute]

Because very few of us here were conscious of college football (or pretty much anything else) prior to 1970. Utah should bring in stats from the 30s and 40s, though. It's like Persia justifiably claiming more military victories than the U.S.

Ahhh ... the "I wasn't around for it, so it doesn't matter" rebuttal. Gotta admit, you were +1,000 on the money line to be the first one to use it.

[ERCougar]

Plays named after a school(Utah pass) Utah-1, BYU-0

Utah football fans are (by necessity, it seems) students of history, that much is certain.

[Katy Lied]

I had some stuff to add and modify, but it says definitive. Crap.

funny.

[ERCougar]

Ahhh ... the "I wasn't around for it, so it doesn't matter" rebuttal. Gotta admit, you were +1,000 on the money line to be the first one to use it.

http://cougaruteforum.com/showpost.php?p=874117&postcount=323

It did take about 22 minutes to hit point 1.

[Top Ute]

http://cougaruteforum.com/showpost.p...&postcount=323

It did take about 22 minutes to hit point 1.

I will admit, I was puzzled that you brought up that decade on our behalf. BYU actually beat Utah once in the 1940s.

[LA Ute]

My rivalry moment of clarity:

Walking home from the 2010 game (the Block Party), I shook my head in amazement at how quickly and unforeseeably the rivalry game can take fans on both sides from joy to despair, and vice-versa. I had just seen that happen again. I actually knew how BYU fans felt after that stunning finish, and they probably knew better how Ute fans felt after BYU's stunning last-second wins. I found myself saying sincerely to every BYU fan i saw, "Your guys played a great game." I decided then just to try to enjoy the ride and not get caught up in who wins and loses, which is beyond any fan's control anyway. That's why I am just fooling around this week.

But I am not fooling around when I tell my CUF buddies that I 'preshate um. I rilly do.

[Tone Loc]

BYU fans are sandbagging because they know that they really don't know much about how good their team really is. The game against Weber St. didn't teach them anything. The win against Washington St. looks ok on the surface, until you recognize how poor of a team WSU is. WSU barely held on to a win over Eastern Washington at home. They were outgained by over 100 yards by an FCS team. In fact, EWU put up more yards against Wazzu than BYU did.

You like comparisons? EWU beat Idaho 20-3, in Idaho. Idaho goes to Bowling Green and fights hard, but loses 21-13. Bowling Green goes to the swamp and is only down 17-14, ends up losing 27-14. So EWU pretty much = the Florida Gators.

For all of the talk about how bad Utah's OLine play has been(and it has been bad), how good can Cougar fans feel about their OLine. An OLine that could only average 3.0 yards a carry against the worst front 7 in the PAC-12. How many rushing yards do you think they will get against Utah's front 4?

WSU committed to stopping the run. They stacked the box. WSU's DC even said he was worried about BYU running over them. They made Riley beat them, and he did.

How do you think that BYU's offense compares to Utah State's? Riley Nelson is at best a B grade replacement for Chuckie. He isn't anywhere near as shifty and fast, and he isn't as accurate of a passer. Arm strength is probably a push. Williams is a much better back than anyone in BYU's backfield. No one that Utah will face Saturday will have the speed and ability of the Aggies backfield, and Riley while having 2 better targets, is not as good a passer as Keeton. Despite these weapons, USU's offense was only able to get 13 points during regulation against the Utes. Do BYU fans think they will do any better.

By all the numbers, Riley is better than Keeton. He even has better running numbers, better PER, better winning %, etc. Williams is a quicker back, but Alisa and Foote are far more powerful.

On the other side, Utah's line was a hot mess in the first half. Utah made some drastic alterations in the lineup for the second half, and despite not having any practice time with that lineup, they didn't give up any sacks and there was much less pressure. Moving Brenner to LT is a key move. He is hands down the best lineman on the team. I don't know why Whitt insisted in keeping him at RG. He filled in for Beadles at LT as a Freshman, and started for Cullen as a Soph. He is 6'4" which is a little short, but his presence there is going to stabilize the entire line. Jones will get the start at RG. Bot(#79) was abused by USU, but people forget that he replaced Bergstrom last year against BYU and held his own. The line is still a worry, but it will be much better this week.

After all those wonderful adjustments, the wolfman still only averaged 3.6 ypc in the 2nd half, and Hays went 8-21 for 112 yards. Looks like Gary adjusted as well and said lets drop more in coverage, take away the quick reads, and it worked. Not sure how the o-line will be "much better" in one week going against one of if not the best front 7 utah will see this year.

BYU is stout against the run, but they are going to have to commit their linebackers to run support much more than they did against Wazzu. No luxury of playing a 2-4-5 this week. The Cougar secondary better be ready to be tested much more in their base alignment this week. Scott will be a matchup problem for your secondary as will Anderson. DVC is inconsistent, but will have to be accounted for as will Rolf and Murphy.

BYU only went nickel against WSU in passing situations, and they will do the same against utah. How are hays and scott going to test them more than tuel and wilson? Remember all-pac 12 wilson? Well, he got shut down. By the way, Tuel threw up 24 points on EWU in the first half before he got hurt. So bring on hays and scott.

Ultimately, the game is going to be a defensive struggle that will be decided by QB play. Losing Wynn was addition by subtraction. Riley is more accurate than Hayes, but Hayes has a stronger arm and is more likely to beat you with a big play than Nelson. The advantage that Utah has is that they will not have to commit as many resources to stop the run as BYU. Leaving more players for coverage and containment of any scrambling that Nelson may try. Utah will also cover better than anyone that BYU will see on their schedule. Losing Rowe hurts, no doubt. But Blechen didn't play SS against BYU last year(he was at LB) and Chappius had his best game of the season. BYU is going to have to commit more of their front 7 to stop White, even with Utah's line trouble. This is going to lead to a soft spot behind Ogletree and Kaveinga. The safeties are not going to be able to fill that void because they will have to respect the speed on the outside, and Hayes ability to get the ball down the field.

I love how utah fans are claiming that losing Wynn is good for them. Apparently your coaching staff saw a lot of their qb's and still picked Wynn to start. A Wynn that they had to know wouldn't last the whole season, but they still went with. Plus, Wynn's numbers are better than hays by quite a ways. But keep telling yourself that hays is better. And please stop talking about this vaunted running attack that BYU is going to have to account for. You averaged 4.1 ypc against northern colorado, your running attack scares no one. Nevermind that your only tested running back is in a walking boot, if that even matters.

Fans tend to get wrapped into what happened last week and not look at the whole picture. Based on the play last week, most fans should view BYU as a prohibitive favorite, but the smart fans are sandbagging, because they know that their offense can be yield quite inept this weekend, and they know that Utah has the weapons on offense that can beat them down the field.

Even non-fans are putting money on the cougars. The line went from utah-1 to utah +5. That equals a prime money making opportunity for you smart fans.

[byu71]

Even non-fans are putting money on the cougars. The line went from utah-1 to utah +5. That equals a prime money making opportunity for you smart fans.

I have about $1,000 doing nothing. Enlighten me so I can make 90% on it.

[YOhio]

I found myself saying sincerely to every BYU fan i saw, "Your guys played a great game."

You're lucky they didn't knock your block off for being so patronizing.

[LA Ute]

Utah football fans are (by necessity, it seems) students of history, that much is certain.

Well, we admittedly don't spend much time on football between 1975 and 1990 or so. We've kind of ceded in-depth, granular study of that era to our Cougar brethren. I'm sure those years have produced their share of BYU doctoral dissertations already.