Bring on the Bears

The second half of Utah’s season begins this week when the Utes will take on the Cal Bears.  Short of an epic Arizona State meltdown, Utah’s chances at a south division championship probably have to wait for next season.  But there’s still plenty left to play for and the Utes seem to have remained focused if their 26-14 victory over the Pitt Panthers last Saturday was any indication.

The Cal Bears seem to be Utah’s mirror image in the north division.  Both teams stand at 3-3 on the season and both teams come into this ballgame looking for their first conference victory.  Both teams feature strong defenses and offenses that rely heavily on running game.  Here are some of my keys to this ballgame for the Utes—

·        Utah MUST MUST MUST stop spotting their opponents 14+ points a game.  Whether its fumbles, interceptions, or blocked punts, Utah hasn’t played a clean ballgame since BYU the third game of the season.  That must change to get a win against a very capable Cal team.

·        Jon Hays has to become more than a game manager. By now the word is out….Utah wants to give the ball 30+ times to John White and see if they can pound the ball.  If Jon Hays can’t defenses pay for bringing 8 in the box, the Utes offense will continue to struggle.

·        Trevor Reilly and Derrick Shelby must continue to play at a high level.  Reilly and Shelby are providing the Utes with one of the better pass rushing duo’s in the country right now and the results last week was holding Pittsburgh to a total of 50 PASSING YARDS.

Utes face must win game vs ASU

5 turnovers and 4 quarters of undisciplined, uninspired play on Saturday has the Utah Utes with their back against the wall.  The Utes fell to Washington 31-14 in front of shocked sellout crowd on Saturday.  The loss leaves Utah with a 2-2 record and 0-2 in the PAC 12 and now they face the presumptive favorite for the South division championship. 

Whats the good news?

Well...The Utes aren't dead just yet.  If (huge if) the Utes with Jon Hays as the new starter at quarterback can somehow pull off a win this Saturday against Arizona State, they're right back in this thing.  Arizona State plays Oregon the following week and Utah would gain the tiebreaker with a win on Saturday.  Theres plenty yet to play for.  The Utes need to regroup this week and address a great deal of issues.  Here are some of my keys to winning this game--

• The Utes must win the turnover battle.  This is an ASU team with a clear NFL caliber quarterback in Brock Orsweiller and plenty of weapons offensively.  They cant give up anything cheap as they did only 8 seconds into the ballgame on Saturday against Washington.

• The Utes must find a way to possess the ball.  They ran a total of 6 plays in the 3rd quarter against Washington and the defense wore down as the game went on.  They must ways to run the ball and with a healthy body at quarterback the Utes might open up the playbook a little more....They have no choice.

• Special teams must make some plays in this game.  With the second string quarterback running the offense, the defense challenged by all the fire power the Sun Devils possess, the Special Teams must win this matchup.  Wether its a blocked punt, a fake field goal or a kick return, the Utes need a boost from these guys.

Utes to face the Washington Huskies this Saturday

The Utes play a huge game this Saturday against the Washington Huskies.  If they win, the game could set up a South Division title game against Arizona State next week.  Washington beat Cal last Saturday and is 3-1 on the season with their only loss coming to #10 Nebraska.   Here some of my keys to winning this game---

·        The Utes must contain mobile quarterback Mike Price.  Price is a dual threat quarterback who likes to buy time in the pocket with his feet and he finds open receivers downfield.  The Utes will have to be very disciplined and bracket him.

·        The Utes must run the ball better on first down.  Through the first 3 games, Utah has had too many 2^nd and longs and 3^rd and longs.  This is the point in the schedule where the offense has to start running the ball effectively and stay on schedule with 3^rd and short.

·        The Utes have to find a second back.  Jon White has been very effective and is leading the PAC-12 in rushing but the Utes have yet to find a counter punch.  Tauni Vakapuna has been ineffective and Harvey Langi hasn’t been given many reps in game situations.  The Utes must find a second back or White will wear down as the season progresses.

This is a huge couple of weeks for the University of Utah’s football program ladies and  gents.  Win the next 2 and the Utes assume the inside track to the inaugural PAC 12 championship game.

Utah 54, BYU 10—-Utes blow away Team Down South

In one of the least expected outcomes in recent memory, Utah thrashed BYU in LaVell Edwards Stadium.  It was a joke…. BYU turned the ball over seven times and the Utes took advantage turning the game into an avalanche, crushing the Cougars 54-10.  Patterns are starting to form giving me a great deal of hope about what this can do.  Some of those include—

·        This offense plays better as the game wears on.  The offensive line wears down defensive fronts and the game plan sets up things that Norm Chow has the discipline not to burn until the game’s second half.  If Utah’s offense can learn how to start quick, this team will be a very tough out.

·        Jordan Wynn’s throwing motion is improving.  For the 3^rd straight week, we’ve seen less wounded ducks and more zip on that ball.  He’s got to get a quicker release and prevent so many batted balls.  Very correctable and its improving.

·        This defense is as good as last year with an added pass rush.  Between Trevor Reilly’s two sacks and the outside pass rush of Derrick Shelby and Joe Kruger, the Utes have the ability to make pocket quarterbacks very uncomfortable.

·        The kicking game is a disaster.  For the second straight week, a field goal was kicked low enough for an outstretched hand to get a piece of it.  It went through but Utah has to get that corrected or it could cost them an appearance in the championship game.

Utes 14, Trojans 23--Utes lose but buckle up

Wow…talk about mixed feelings.  On one side I’m terribly disappointed to come back from oblivion so many times only to be turned away by a blocked field goal on the last play of the game.  On the other hand, that felt like Utah football.  They Utes played tough defense, made big plays, stayed in the game and Jordan Wynn, despite being very imperfect, kept punching back.  I’ve got my chin up….This is just the beginning.

The potential is there…..There is plenty of reason for optimism.  Jordan Wynn will get better.  He’s throwing off his back foot, staring down receivers, turning his back to the line of scrimmage to evade the rush (I’VE NEVER SEEN THAT) and not getting rid of the ball on time….all correctable.  This offense is only going to get better and it only needs to get a little better with how the Utes are playing defense.

The Utes are right in this thing.

Welcome to the new world where you no longer have to go undefeated.  We have to win a division.  Do that and we play a championship game for entry to the Rose Bowl.  This is a marathon folks.  Keep your chin up…I’m getting a championship vibe.

NEXT up:  YBU….or is that BYU?  I can’t remember.

Utah 27, Montana State 10. Are my hopes dashed?

EEEEEK.  Double EEEEEK. Here I was a week ago contemplating planting a rose garden in September in preparation for a possible run to the Rose Bowl. Delusional?  Perhaps....  Possible? I thought so.... I was functioning under the impression that I cheered for a football team with a veteran and talented quarterback, strong offensive and defensive lines, plenty of speed around and a genius offensive coordinator in Norm Chow. What am I thinking now after watching the Ute offense fail to pass for 300 yards against their Big Sky opponent?....I’m thinking the quarterback part of that equation should have me holding off on the roses.
 
The first play from scrimmage, Jordan Wynn rolled out and found DeVonte Christopher for a….wait for it….4 yard gain which Christopher had to reach to the ground to get.  The second play from scrimmage was an incomplete pass to fullback Luke Matthews. The third play from scrimmage, Wynn overthrew Christopher on a ten yard curl.  And when I say “overthrew,” I mean Christopher needed to be Wilt Chamberlain on stilts to catch that ball.  For the game, Jordan Wynn went 15 of 23 for 101 yards against Montana State. One-hundred and freaking one yards! Let’s go get the Quarterback from Davis High.  I guarantee he could throw for 101 yards! Wynn looked confused...He looked panicky....He looked like it was first start. The worst indication for Ute fans was his reluctance to throw the ball deep ball.  Is that surgically repaired shoulder really healthy?  The dink and dunk throwing game against Montana State certainly didn’t prove it.  Was he under orders to not show much for the upcoming USC game?  I hope so.

For the Utes to be successful against PAC-12 opponents, they can’t just play good defense, make few mistakes and manage their offense to victories as they did against Mountain West opponents.  You actually have to be aggressive Utes.  You have to make your share of plays. The defense looked up to the task giving up only 258 yards to a reportedly competent Montana State offense. The kicking game (questionable leading up to the first game) showed up with Coleman Petersen making both of his field goal attempts.  We need OFFENSE. We need Jordan Wynn.  We need an offense which goes on the attack and takes advantage of defenses that over commit to the run.  We need the Ute offense to pull its weight.   That awful feeling I have in my gut after watching the Montana State game is…..they can’t.


I really like roses Jordan….Shapeup!