Not really a bold prediction but probably a very obvious prediction.

[Anonymous]

On Utah’s first possession I imagine it will be identical to the first one against USC.  Just rush the ball down for a score.

[UteStuckInSeattle]

I’d be willing to bet that most of Utah’s drives will be run-heavy unless Utah falls behind and needs to play catch-up.

I don’t see Utah falling behind in this game, so yeah, lots of running on Saturday.

I think I’m OK with that. GO UTES!

[UtahUteGuy]

Would it benefit us to be a little unpredictable here and air it out a bit to begin the game?  TW appears to be capable of managing sustained drives through the air, and this would put Cal’s defense on its heels right from the get go.  It’s certainly risky, but I’ll bet Cal is game-planning for us to run it up the gut to start out the contest.

[Tony (admin)]

We ran on the first drive in the USC game because were blowing them off the line.  After that drive USC started stacking the box, which is when we went to the throw game.  The point is, we can theorize all we want, but what we do will depend on what is going on with Cal’s defense and how we are able to control them.

[GadValleyUte]

I agree. I think we come in and do what everyone knows we’re gonna do and blow teams off the line until stack the box and then let Troy start lighting people up. It makes sense with our personnel, and this week it make sense to maximize time of possession against an offense like Cal.
It’s obvious and Cal will be expecting it, but Football ain’t rocket science and if you’re a smash mouth team you gotta impose your will. If you can’t you’re not who you think you are/ want to be.

[ironman1315]

False, first play is play action pass for a 75 yard score. Next offensive play is a 30 yard run where moss dump trucks one guy and drags five more for 10 yards. After that it’s a forty yard screen to CBB. That’ll bring the score to 21-0 by 13:00 in the first quarter because we’d have scored a defensive of ST TD. Cal will be broken and roll over and die. The end of the game will be something like 60-14. The two TDS are in garbage time.

[Riot West]

That’s how I assume every game should go. And I’m disappointed when it isn’t the case.

[autahfan]

Keep our defense well rested, exhaust theirs. Lots of third and short. Shyne!

[Puget Ute]

Keep our defense well rested, exhaust theirs. Lots of third and short. Shyne!

This has to be part of the plan. Cal held ASU to 10 points in the 1st half (with four 3-and-outs), and then the Sun Devils poured in 41 in the second half. I think ASU scored TDs on 5 straight drives.

Cal’s defense is young and inexperienced, and won’t last for the full game.

[leftyjace]

Is anybody else scared about this game, or is it just me?

As far as OP, I agree. Why pass initially when you can run so well? Then once they figure out they can’t stop the run, they’ll stack the box, and open up the passing lanes.

If we were a pass-first school, I could see doing it in the reverse order – pass first, and then when they drop their LBs back more and bring less or stack less in the box run to mix it up.

But we’re a running school first – or at least, we have been the first few games of this year. It just make sense to do what OP is describing.

[Tomasina]

I am actually feeling pretty confident about this one… but that is usually a bad sign.

[St George Ute]

After the USC game last week, when I saw a road game against Cal was next, my first thought was the Utah/Cal game in 2011. That game hurt.

I remember it mostly because I was on my way back from vacation in SoCal with the wife and kids. We had stopped at a hotel in St George and I was forced to listen to the game on the internet rather than watching on TV as the hotel didn’t have the station. I just remember we got destroyed. No matter what we tried, nothing seemed to work and they were all over us.

Fast forward 5 years and the Utes are bigger, stronger, and faster. I think we have a pretty good offense (getting better and better too) and one of the nation’s top defenses. This will be a much more competitive game for sure.

This is going to be a fun game to watch. I’m excited for it! Is it Saturday yet???

[Anonymous]

I am a little nervous about the game. But fairly confident in the defense to perform. Cal has to score like 50 to win do you really see Utah’s defense giving up that many points?

[Warrior Ute]

It seems like last year the coaching staff felt like we needed to have a statement win.  They  chose the Oregon game to be that and approached the offensive game differently.  If the staff wants to make another statement win, I could see this being a time that they come in with some different approaches.

Whitt said that Oregon could score quick and so Utah had to score lots of points.  Cal has been able to score quickly over the last couple of years.  We might see a different approach and see some offensive fireworks from the Utes.  Then again, I get to go to the game so maybe I am just being wishful.