Week 5, There Will Probably Be An Upset

[TripletDaddy]

Maybe whit can bring in John Robinson or Tom Osborne to replace Dennis Erickson.

[Moliere]

I thought Brian Johnson was the co-OC....or is that experiment already over?

[All-American]

I thought Brian Johnson was the co-OC....or is that experiment already over?

Seriously, what kind of Mickey Mouse organization puts somebody so inexperienced in as a coordinator? I'm glad BYU would never do anything like that.

[Solon]

Every year Utah usually has a great leader on defense. That guy may not be the most talented, but he's experienced, smart, usually a returned missionary and able to rally the defense and wave guys around to where they should be when he sniffs an impending play.

It's Jared Norris.

Charlie Weis, next head coach at Utah?

Shit, I'll take Hoke.

[dabrockster]

Shit, I'll take Hoke.

I think Hoke is doing a fine job for UM. He just needs more time... They need to give him another 2.. 3.. 5.. 10 years...

[Topper]

I think Hoke is doing a fine job for UM. He just needs more time... They need to give him another 2.. 3.. 5.. 10 years...

Please extend his contract. Perhaps he can be grandfathered and given a lifetime contract?

[TripletDaddy]

The good news for the Utes is that as a result of all the PAC 12 recruiting, talent has never been better on both sides of the ball.

[wapiti]

The good news for the Utes is that as a result of all the PAC 12 recruiting, talent has never been better on both sides of the ball.

They never could have taken Washington State down to the final minute two years in a row with MWC talent. I see progress.

[MarkGrace]

Week 5, Funk Will Probably Be Upset

[Omaha 680]

Week 5, Funk Will Probably Be Upset

Yeah, tell me about it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yeah, tell me about it.

EFF YOU!

[Lost Student]

The good news for the Utes is that as a result of all the PAC 12 recruiting, talent has never been better on both sides of the ball.

The U of U is a utility and a poorly managed one at that. There are pockets of greatness but it is a generally mediocre place. We are seeing the gradual mean reversion back to reality.

That said, it has an incredible brand and following and Cougs must acknowledge that U of U had a superior brand value recently. Whether the school will capitalize on this before it erodes is to be seen (but not looking likely at this point).

I think there's validity to the idea that the U of U is deliberately scaling back its involvement in the escalating arms-race of college sports. I think the state of Utah considers the U football team to be an important rallying point for the residents all over the state, hence the attractiveness scheduling really bad teams out of conference. I also think the decision to keep Whitt and his staff, in many ways a smaller-profile coaching group than Bronco and co., shows a shift away from the normal obsession with growing athletic prestige.

Dare we suggest that Utah is doing the right thing for a publicly funded state university with an academic mission by focusing on things other than athletics? The track-record is there (discontinuing men's track and field and cross country). I believe that, in a generation or two, the Utah football team will be in FCS or D-3.

I think that's the direction they're going, but I suspect they'll stop short of FCS or lower. They may strive to be like UVU or the other small state schools: standing for something important and trying hard to be competitive, but accepting that they'll probably never be top-notch. That will take many people outside the U of U Board of Trustees a long time to accept.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think the Utah Board of Regents sees Utah football (or basketball) the way most ardent Utah fans do. Time will tell.

[Flystripper]

The U of U is a utility and a poorly managed one at that. There are pockets of greatness but it is a generally mediocre place. We are seeing the gradual mean reversion back to reality.

That said, it has an incredible brand and following and Cougs must acknowledge that U of U had a superior brand value recently. Whether the school will capitalize on this before it erodes is to be seen (but not looking likely at this point).

I think there's validity to the idea that the U of U is deliberately scaling back its involvement in the escalating arms-race of college sports. I think the state of Utah considers the U football team to be an important rallying point for the residents all over the state, hence the attractiveness scheduling really bad teams out of conference. I also think the decision to keep Whitt and his staff, in many ways a smaller-profile coaching group than Bronco and co., shows a shift away from the normal obsession with growing athletic prestige.

Dare we suggest that Utah is doing the right thing for a publicly funded state university with an academic mission by focusing on things other than athletics? The track-record is there (discontinuing men's track and field and cross country). I believe that, in a generation or two, the Utah football team will be in FCS or D-3.

I think that's the direction they're going, but I suspect they'll stop short of FCS or lower. They may strive to be like UVU or the other small state schools: standing for something important and trying hard to be competitive, but accepting that they'll probably never be top-notch. That will take many people outside the U of U Board of Trustees a long time to accept.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think the Utah Board of Regents sees Utah football (or basketball) the way most ardent Utah fans do. Time will tell.

[Bo Diddley]

The U of U is a utility and a poorly managed one at that. There are pockets of greatness but it is a generally mediocre place. We are seeing the gradual mean reversion back to reality.

That said, it has an incredible brand and following and Cougs must acknowledge that U of U had a superior brand value recently. Whether the school will capitalize on this before it erodes is to be seen (but not looking likely at this point).

I think there's validity to the idea that the U of U is deliberately scaling back its involvement in the escalating arms-race of college sports. I think the state of Utah considers the U football team to be an important rallying point for the residents all over the state, hence the attractiveness scheduling really bad teams out of conference. I also think the decision to keep Whitt and his staff, in many ways a smaller-profile coaching group than Bronco and co., shows a shift away from the normal obsession with growing athletic prestige.

Dare we suggest that Utah is doing the right thing for a publicly funded state university with an academic mission by focusing on things other than athletics? The track-record is there (discontinuing men's track and field and cross country). I believe that, in a generation or two, the Utah football team will be in FCS or D-3.

I think that's the direction they're going, but I suspect they'll stop short of FCS or lower. They may strive to be like UVU or the other small state schools: standing for something important and trying hard to be competitive, but accepting that they'll probably never be top-notch. That will take many people outside the U of U Board of Trustees a long time to accept.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think the Utah Board of Regents sees Utah football (or basketball) the way most ardent Utah fans do. Time will tell.

I don't think having a great football program operating in the black and a being great academic institution is mutually exclusive. No, I'm not commenting on whether Utah is either.

[SCcoug]

I don't think having a great football program operating in the black and a being great academic institution is mutually exclusive. No, I'm not commenting on whether Utah is either.

He's riffing on dallasviking, LAUte and Solon there. Well done Lost Student.