Is the Troy Williams hype train leaving the station??

[Anonymous]

I might not get on that train until after the USC game.

[Milton Vanderslice]

Jump on it. It feels so good.

[UtahSig]

All the reports from camp I have read are making me want to climb aboard. It sounds like he is accurate with the ball, avoids turnovers and is serious about time in the film room.

I know it is the collective psyche of Ute fans to be eternally pessimistic and avoid pre-season hype, but you know what, I am going all in on Troy. I am on the train!

He will be the best QB at Utah since Alex and will take us to the PAC 12 Championship. We will win that and be in the playoffs!

All aboard! Next stop CBF Playoffs!

[Anonymous]

[Utah]

I’d say hop on, with realism. He will be our best QB since BJ. Maybe he will be as good as BJ.

So, that’s great news. Our goal should be Urban’s goal:

200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing.

We can definitely do that with Troy.

[Anonymous]

I think those comparisons are very unfair.  Also I haven’t seen Whitt or his staff develop a QB since BJ.  I would also argue that BJ is sort of fruits of Urban so Whitt really has whiffed on the QB position for a long time.

Dline and Cornerback? The man is a God among men when it comes to talent at these positions.  He also has the running back thing figured out.  But QB?  Still a work in progress.

[Anonymous]

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised what the coaching staff can produce when they’ve got a QB with the right skill set, mechanics and decision making. We’ve been lacking in that department for a number of years.

[KiYi-Ute]

I think there are a number of factors at play here:

1) The lack of consistency at the Offensive Coordinator position. Luckily, this is our first year in a long time where we’re actually working in the same system as the year previous. Hopefully that continuity works it’s magic among all offensive position groups (not just QB), to allow for more success in the butthole-clenching experience that is the “Throw game”.

2) Development of strong, assertive Wide Receivers who know how to run a route and get separation. I think the single biggest and most positive change we made this offseason was poaching Guy Holliday from BYU. BYU has always had strong wideouts, and a lot of it has to do with his coaching. From camp, it sounds like our WRs are more fired up than ever and are ready to ball.

Hopefully I’m right here, and not just knee-deep in red Kool-Aid.

[Thlete]

That’s a good point. The WR coach change could be a huge factor for success. Wilson had his issues, but many times the WR corp did not help him out much. I kept looking at the record breaking WR for Colorado (Spruce?) and wondering how to coach up a guy to be like him – though not the most physically talented, he ran crisp routes and got separation.

[UtahSig]

I hope he is better than BJ. I think we might view 2008 through rose colored lenses. If you watch all the games, that offense was pretty crappy most of the year. The Sugar Bowl was awesome, but even TCU and Oregon State were terrible offensive outputs until the last drive. On the other hand, I always wondered how good BJ could have been if he stayed healthy and had a different OC.

I am hoping for (don’t laugh, got check the game stats) Jordan Wynn vs Iowa State type of performance. The reason I pick that game, is that is the last game that ARod called as the OC when he had a healthy QB. It was a thing of beauty.

[Anonymous]

TCU had a pretty legit defense in 2008. Oregon St also was very good defensively. Also we forget that when it mattered the Offense gave output when it needed. Remember the 2 minute drills to win those games?? I don’t think Utah will ever have enough offensive power to sustain Iowa st or Oregon 2015. Now if you meet crappy defenses yeah I think that will happen.

[UtahSig]

Yeah, TCU was a legit D. I can’t remember enough about OSU 2008 to say one way or the other if their D was legit, so I will trust you on that point.

As for the ISU game, I am halfway joking about that. I know that game was an anomaly, but man I wish we could see that type of offense more than once every 4-5 year.

To be realistic, if we average 200 and 200 (pass/run) per game I will be very happy this year.

[Anonymous]

2008 USC Schedule the PAC10 Champion that year a team OSU beat.

http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-08/pac-10/2008-usc-trojans-football-schedule.php

It was one of the lowest outputs of points by USC that year. Next to Cal and Arizona.  I can just think of NFL talent from those years.  Cal and Oregon st put a lot of good defenders in the NFL those season.  Not remembering on Zona, Trojans always lay a dump in Arizona though it seems.  PAC is hard and the fact that Oregon st beat that USC team says a lot about who Utah beat. I still would have loved a USC vs Utah matchup in 2008

[Anonymous]

Last year at Santa Monica he passed for 2,700 yards at a 68% completion rate with 34 TDs against just 4 INTs and 10 yards per completion. Granted, it was against JC competition, but those figures point to an accurate passer. I am guardedly optimistic, though this Conference is brutal.

And now can I go back to negative Nelliedom?

[Anonymous]

Love you man.

[Thlete]

Given that I don’t have faith in any QB coach on our staff to develop our guys a whole lot, I have hope that Troy is bringing with him all the tools he needs, being a JC guy. Love everything I’m hearing about him and if we can just be the 7th or 8th best passing team in the conference to complement our elite D – look out.

[Anonymous]

I am more concerned about sustained drives and the completion percentages. Utah needs to wind down clock and get points for wins. Even if it is FG’s they need to sustain drives, stop having three and outs etc.

[rbmw263]

im just glad someone separated themselves from the pack. Its a reason for optimism but mostly im just hopeful as hell hes the real deal. I want to see him play live D1 games before I jump on the hype train

[GoUtes]

I know the preseason hype is a little overboard but an article in the Trib by Kyle Goon got me excited where he talked about the fact that Williams has some swagger. I think we have missed that the past few years. I think the QB needs to have a little swagger and confidence to lead the team. The fact that Williams seems to have that combined with better coached and more experienced WRs gives me some hope that the “throw game” will improve.