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Viewing 10 results - 11 through 20 (of 1,463 total)
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  • #245715
    ProudUte
    Participant

    Rising, more than any former Utah player, generates the full range of emotions among die-hard Utah fans. He led us to two PAC12 championships and two Rose Bowls. Who will ever forget his gutsy performance against USC in 2022. He was then the true leader of this team.

    On the other side of the coin, Rising and his injuries caused angst and frustration among Utah fans. Some of this is because Whitt and how he handled things. I don’t know what went on in the locker room during the 2023/2024 seasons. The locker room was a disaster last season for sure. How much of this is on Rising? Any answer would be subjective at best. Personally, I blame Whitt. Yrt, admittedly – I was not in the locker room, so this is just one man’s subjective opinion.

    #245697
    BeachUte
    Participant

    I will never understand how some Utah fans have such a hate-boner for Rising. Without Rising, Utah has zero Pac-12 titles, no Rose Bowl appearance and Whittingham is probably long gone with how that 2021 season was shaping out. He literally stepped in and elevated Utah football unlike any other quarterback sans two: Alex Smith and Brian Johnson. And even then, only Smith was able to do what Rising did here: win two conference titles.

    Rising was a powerhouse in the locker room and still remains best friends with a ton of players (many still on the team). None of what you said has any level of truthfulness.

    The culture slipping? Look at the Head Man. He was the one who downplayed the severity of Rising’s injury in 2023, letting Rising take a lot of heat from ungrateful fans who spread rumors that he was sitting his chubby ass out and collecting a cool million in NIL incentive. It wasn’t until Rising finally called Whitt’s bluff and went on Bill O’Reilly discussing his injury and how bad it actually was – which was not sanctioned by Whitt – that led him to swallow his pride and finally admit Rising was out for the season (like a week later, or maybe even days later, I can’t recall, Whitt officially declared he was done for the season). And that’s not to say Rising’s relationship with Whitt soured (though he was always closer to Ludwig since Lud recruited him). But Whitt played games all year in 2023, and then again in 2024 and Rising’s image took a hit – not within the locker room, mind you, but with fans like you.

    Beyond that, Rising was not game-ready for that ASU game. He had no business taking the field but because he’s a competitor and wanted to get out there, and Whitt saw the season going down the tube, he played. Whitt should have firmly said no and ended the charade instead of putting Rising at risk for further injury (and well…).

    Rising led Utah to arguably the two most impressive seasons in school history (cumulative, when you factor in winning the Pac-f**king-12 twice). He’s a legend and never once lost the team or the locker room.

    #245682
    UTE98
    Participant

    I was not in favor of Rising coming back last year. And IMO Rising’s poor decision to hold onto the ball way too close to the sideline hoping to make a miracle play is just as much the reason for his injury as the latish hit. He has always been a gambler, and he went all in on one play and lost. Not monetarily he robbed the Utah casino house blind. That’s my opinion. May not be popular but that is how i see it. After the debacle of 2023 and game time decisions I was ready to move on from him before last season. Rising and Whitt both mishandled the past two years. Luckily Rising is gone. Whitt’s move.

    Do NOT think i am taking anything away Rising in 2021 or 2022, I’m not but if the pig farmer can beat Caleb William’s and USC in 2023, last year should never have happened.

    #245679
    BeachUte
    Participant

    I hate to say it but it feels like pure hubris all around has cost Utah – from the coaches, to the players and to the fans. It’s been an awful look since Utah was forced into the Big 12. Our fans thumped their chest, Whitt hinted at Utah not being a permanent member of the Big 12 (when he made that comment about expecting Utah and UCLA to play again due to conference alignment changing again) and so many people suggesting Utah was on deck for the Big 10. Well I’m guessing any interest from that side has cooled significantly. On top of that, the hubris of coaching, specific to the vquarterback position, has really set Utah back. And all of this at the worst possible time since there’s already a huge amount of uncertainty in college football right now and the teams poised to take advantage of it are the ones with some level of stability and success, which boggles the mind because that was Utah up until 2023.

    It just shows how rapidly everything can come undone. We just gotta hope it can be fixed just as rapidly… but I’m not so sure. Utah feels broken right now.

    #245574
    BeachUte
    Participant

    How doesn’t it make sense? We have a long history of Utah and BYU being on equal conference footing and when they were, the rivalry was much more competitive than it was when Utah played in the Pac-12. That’s just a fact.

    In 2021, Utah had the 32nd ranked class in the nation according to 247Sports. In that same season, BYU had the 74th ranked class.

    Show me any time when Utah and BYU were members of the same conference where Utah was ranked 42 spots ahead of BYU in recruiting rankings. You won’t find one.

    Utah consistently out-recruited BYU while in the Pac-12. That’s a fact.

    Utah consistently earned more than BYU in the Pac-12.

    But in the MWC? It was a lot closer recruiting-wise.

    And financially? Utah wasn’t hand-over-fist raking it in more than BYU.

    Now I do agree with you that the NIL is a different beast. But I don’t necessarily trust it’s one where Utah will find an advantage over BYU with it.

    And for recruiting? I don’t necessarily think Utah’s recruiting has dropped off that much. They’re currently ranked 50th. The last class was 39th, which isn’t far off that number I pointed out in 2021. I suspect by the end, Utah will crawl into the low 40s recruiting-wise for 2026. The difference, though, is BYU.

    BYU’s 2025 class finished 42nd, just a few spots behind Utah. They went from 42 spots behind Utah a few years ago, to now just three spots or whatever in this previous class. I think a large part of that is due to their joining the Big 12. Independence was not good for their program. They lost a lot of ground on Utah during the 13 or so years they were independent.

    So, it’s not a surprise that BYU’s national ranking for 2026 in recruiting is currently 19th. Some of that is absolutely due to their great season. Oddly, they’re currently at where Utah was in the 2023 rankings – so a year after their first Pac-12 title and Rose Bowl berth.

    But that’s my point: BYU in no universe would have the 19th ranked class if they were still independent. They just wouldn’t. BYU’s best class from 2011 to 2022 was 56th – their last year as an independent team. Their average class ranking according to 247Sports, was 68th in the Indy era. Most years, Utah was in their 30s, sometimes dipping into the 40s. But they generally had 20 to 30 spots on BYU.

    There’s no denying BYU has seen a significant uptick in recruiting. As I said, some of that is directly related to their surprise season last year – but it’s also because they’re now back in a legitimate conference and not toiling away in independence like they when Utah was in the Pac-12.

    So, yes, I think the ground has leveled a bit. Your Ohio State comment isn’t really relevant because both Utah and BYU will likely be vying for the top of the Big 12 – or at least toward the top – most years. In the Big 10? They wouldn’t be equal to Ohio State. You’re absolutely right. That’s why we’re localizing it to the Big 12.

    And to your last point: all those can create a new cycle. But absolutely, Utah joining the Pac-12 and BYU going indy ushered in a new cycle in this rivalry. We saw it play out as Utah went 9-1 vs BYU as a member of the Pac-12. We saw it play out in recruiting, as Utah vastly out-recruited the Cougars year-after-year, despite some leaner years from Utah’s perspective (2012, 2013, 2017). That was absolutely a new cycle in the rivalry – where BYU was becoming vastly uncompetitive head-to-head. To the point that I think Utah actually overlooked the Cougars in a lot of these games (like 2018, when they had already locked up the school’s first Pac-12 title game appearance and fell behind by like three scores).

    I don’t see how that cycle can continue when there’s evidence already that BYU is better positioned today than they were five years ago. The truth is, their 2020 season was great too – and it didn’t see near the boon in recruiting that they’re experiencing right now. So, I don’t buy it’s just their 11-2 campaign driving that top-20 class at the moment. I think it’s factors that indicate BYU is better positioned than they were five years ago when going 11-1 netted them the 56th best recruiting class in the nation.

    That’s all I am saying. I think we’re in a new cycle. I think it’ll be a similar cycle to what we saw pre-Pac-12. You know, the last time Utah and BYU were in the same conference.

    It doesn’t mean I think BYU is set to dominate – it just means I don’t expect Utah to go 9-1 against BYU over the next ten games and to be honest, I suspect they’ll have some tough losses … just as we experienced in the MWC (when Utah lost to BYU three out of four seasons after their four-game win streak ended).

    That’s it. It’ll be much more even than I think a lot of fans are expecting and both programs have different advantages. Utah with not having to deal with the honor code and BYU with their NIL likely being more plentiful right now than Utah. But BYU was on a collision course to irrelevance before the Big 12 came calling and I think their being spared has started a new cycle in this rivalry. After all, Utah is a loss away from their first three-game losing streak in the rivalry since losing four-straight from 1989 to 1992. That feels different than nine straight like we saw from 2010 to 2019.

    RoboUte
    Participant

    For over two years now we haven’t been able to effectively pass the ball, run the ball, or kick the ball (It’s been longer for kicking). Unfortunately for us, those are the core functions related to scoring points. It’s not really an exaggeration to say that our glaringly obvious opportunity for improvement is being able to field anything resembling an offense at all. We’re not even talking positioning groups or depth or anything here, which would normally be the answer. We flat out need to field an offense. Any part of one.

    Honorable mention: Special teams. We consistently lose the possession to possession field position battle these days when it used to be practically how we won in the mid 2010s. We can’t punt well, and we return them even worse. We returned the ball for 235 yards in 2023 and 2024 combined. Almost the exact total we had in 2022 alone. And adding those three seasons together comes within 20 yards of 2021 alone. Our dropoff here fairly well mirrors our dropoff in offense, only differing in that it started earlier.

    #245267
    BeachUte
    Participant

    I think that’s what some Utah fans fear: the cycle we’re entering is not favorable for the Utes.

    Utah and BYU had not been on even footing conference-wise since 2010 – or 14 years before Utah joined the Big 12. That’s a cycle right there that Utah took advantage of by out-recruiting, out-revenuing and out-playing BYU (going what, 8-1 vs the Cougars in that span). They also built a much higher profile.

    Granted, it’s one season but BYU certainly seems to have some of the intangibles that Utah had a decade ago in this rivalry and I’m definitely concerned we’re entering a cycle maybe similar to the 90s and early 2000s pre-Meyer: Utah is competitive with BYU on the football field but BYU is the better, more established and successful program nationally.

    Utah has a lot riding on this season. BYU too solely because if they regress to their 2023-selves it may bring doubt about their ability to sustain success – while Utah has to prove last year was a fluke.

    Ultimately, BYU has an advantage on Utah with the NIL, as the Utes probably fall toward the middle of the conference behind Texas Tech, Baylor, BYU and TCU (maybe Iowa State and Colorado too) but Utah has the advantage of not having the honor code, as we’ve seen this summer how impactful that is for BYU.

    The question is which one will be a bigger hindrance? BYU has gobs of cash Utah doesn’t but Utah has a far more liberal player policy than BYU.

    I guess we’ll see but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.

    #245211
    2008 National Champ
    Participant

    The @ Baylor game was 2023 with Barnes/Johnson as QB’s. 2024 was in Salt Lake and that is the game Rising was injured.

    #245125

    In reply to: RES Experience

    BeachUte
    Participant

    I think that’s an excuse. It’s simple: Utah was not fun to watch last year. Fans disengage when the team is bad – and boring in the process. It was very frustrating watching the Utes last season. Take the Arizona game. That crowd was jacked at the start but the energy evaporated pretty quickly when Utah had drive after drive stall with no points. I get that fits into your point about injury but it’s not just that, it was the inability to do anything. And frankly, I don’t think that would have been any better of an atmosphere if that game was played in 2023 (especially since it came against a Pac-12 foe).

    I’ll also point out the energy vanishing vs TCU too for the same reason. The Frogs were a former MWC rival and I know a lot of fans who were really excited to see Utah play em again just for the Utes to face-plant.

    We’ll see how the energy is this season but I think a lot will depend on how good they are.

    Like, I remember there being zero energy vs Oregon in 2023 and that was a direct result of Utah getting blown off the field early. Bad play can be energy zappers.

    #245110
    2008 National Champ
    Participant

    It’s true that you would expect about a 7-5 2022 if Rising had moved on and Utah had stuck with their existing QB room instead of bringing in a starter – for a really attractive spot considering most of the team was coming back from a Rose Bowl squad. The difference is that you would also expect the 2023 & 2024 iterations to have an experienced, multi-year starter leading the team. And as many on here remind us, competent QB play with all else being equal would have had those teams making runs at the playoffs.

    I would have traded a “down” year in 2022, knowing in advance that Utah was breaking in a new QB, for the expectation of big 2023/24’s in a heartbeat. And that would have been long before 2024 became the least fun year of my 37 years watching Utah football.

Viewing 10 results - 11 through 20 (of 1,463 total)