Search Results for 'fano'

[The Miami Ute]

I guess my biggest gripe this past season is Smith’s inability to take advantage of Saunders, who I believe was one of the most talented players in the squad. I was sitting there in the second row of the Huntsman and watched Saunders torch UCLA for 25 points in just 24 minutes, single-handedly keep the Utes in the game, and look legit doing so. I’m like WTF, why isn’t this guy getting major minutes on this team? Every time I saw him, he was way, way more dynamic than guys like Anthony or Stefanovic, and don’t get me started on Exacte, who couldn’t hit a cow’s ass with a banjo.

[utetastic]

Roster is on Utahutes.com
People that are not on the 2023 roster that were on the last 2022 roster:
Graduated or moved to NFL:
Stone Azarcon S
Braeden Daniels OT
Mohamoud Diabate LB
Jaylen Dixon WR
Solomon Enis WR
RJ Hubert S
Devin Kaufusi DT
Logan Kendall TE
Dalton Kincaid Clark Phillips CB
Transfer Portal:
Ethan Calvert LB
Clayton Isbell S
Paul Maile OL
Andrew Mata’afa LB
Malone Mataele CB
Landon Morris TE
Jordan Noyes K
Ricky Parks RB
Mason Tufaga LB
Tyler Wegis DE
Others:
Jonathon Johnson (walk-on RB)
Masaki Kudo (walk-on WR)
Hunter Lotulelei OL
Shuhei Mitsumoto (Walk-on LB)
Fua Pututau DT
Tennessee Pututau DT

I hadn’t heard anything about Hunter Lotulelei, so that was a surprise to me. I had heard rumors about both Fua Pututau and Tennessee Pututau retiring because of injury.

New People on the 2023 roster not on the 2022 roster:
Transfer Portal:
Miles Battle CB
Cole Becker K
Logan Fano DE
(Levani Dumoni in not on the roster yet)
(Emery Simmons in not on the roster yet)
Return Missionaries:
Solatoa Moeai OL
Nate Ritchie S
(Sione Fotu in not on the roster yet)
2023 Recruits:
Owen Chambliss LB
Spencer Fano OL
Jonathan Hall S
Mack Howard QB
Mikey Matthews WR
Other Walk-ons, transfer and new
Cade Baker WR
Justice Brusatto SN (Idaho State)
Brigden Craig TE (Nevada)
Colter Dawson TE (BYU)
Jacob Edmonds OL
Vou Fitisemanu LB (Snow College)
Austin Francis S (Snow College)
Franky Jacobsen WR (Utah State)
Taka Lautaha DT
Alfredo Lira RB
Hunter Schroeder RB
Jamarcus Smith RB
Braxton Turner DT (Georgetown)
Preston Viehweg S
Daniel Wood RB

Miki Suguturaga is listed as a TE (was a DE)
Tao Johnson is listed as a CB (was a WR)

[The Miami Ute]

I couldn’t disagree more strongly with you. No, Smith is not doing “fabulous work.”. If Smith was doing that, he would have had a winning record last year and made it to the NCAAs this year. In fact, what Smith is doing is eerily similar to what K did his first two years in Utah with the absolute guarantee that there isn’t a Wright, Poetl, or Kuzma around the corner.

I don’t dislike Smith at all and want him to succeed but I’m starting to have doubts about his recruiting prowess as I don’t see a single player in the roster, with the exception of Carlson and Saunders, who are anything more than just a guy. You mention guys like Stefanovic and Exacte but neither one of those players is special at all. Exacte couldn’t hit a cow’s ass with a banjo and Stefanovic is slow, an inconsistent shooter, and commits way too many turnovers.

As I said in a previous post, next year will be the tell. If the team regresses, then we’ll have definite proof that Smith probably won’t succeed in Utah.

[chinngiskhaan]

Ugh… Seriously?

This team is ahead of schedule. That much is obvious. We took pretty much the exact roster we had last year and won 6 more games (all of those extra wins came in conference, not because of a terrible OOC schedule).

Worster, Madsen, Carlson and Stefanovic all showed clear improvement from last year. Carlson and Madsen in particular have improved. One look at those two is all you need to see how much this staff has helped them improve. Carlson, who seemingly could not put on useful weight prior to this year, looks like a different person.

Smith has proven, at USU and here at the UofU that he knows how to help his guys improve. What remains to be seen is whether or not he can recruit.

If everyone with eligibility stays, and we can find a replacement for Anthony, I think we could be a tourney team next year. This season was a success even if it ended horribly. We had injuries to two of our most reliable shooters, and things went south from there. I don’t think that is Smith’s fault.

[The Miami Ute]

Dude, if I didn’t know better, I’d be saying that guys like Anthony, Stefanovic, and Exacte had money on Stanford to win. I lost count of how many bricks or blind passes into the teeth of a defense those guys had last night and over the last couple of months of the season. The comment above talking about the relationship between Harlan and Smith is really quite demonstrative of the issue with Utah MBB.

And talking about Harlan, how exactly has he moved Utah sports onward and forward? I’m not on the inside but it seems to me that the answer is “not much.” It seems to me that all he’s been doing is surfing on the groundwork that Hill laid out for him. If the above is true and Utah didn’t even consider Randy Bennett for the job, well, to me that’s close to criminal negligence.

Folks, this is basketball not football. It’s easy to turn a program around if you know what you’re doing. Cronin inherited a dumpster fire from Steve Alford when he was hired at UCLA and turned that program around from his first season. I guess the real tell on this program will be seeing how many guys leave in the off-season. If we have something similar to your regular, garden variety Coach K off-season, when 4-5 guys would routinely jet then Utah, we have a problem.

[krindor]

Breakdown by Position

QB
Level of Concern/Excitement: Mild Concern/Mild Excitement
Reason for Excitement: Cam Rising has put together 2 stellar seasons and returns; Nate Johnson, Brandon Rose, Mack Howard provide lots of avenues for upside
Reason for Concern: Cam Rising Injury means he may not be back (or not fully capable) by start of season and backups lack either experience (everyone besides Barnes) or upside (Barnes)

RB
Level of Concern/Excitement: High Excitement
Reason for Excitement: Ja’Quinden Jackson established himself late as a legit lead back.  Micah Bernard is back as a do-everything RB and Chris Curry is ALSO returns. Plus Jaylon Glover played well as a true freshman and there’s a bunch of highly touted new recruits coming in as well (John Randle Jr, Dijon Stanley, Michael Mitchell)
Reason for Concern: None really; things CAN always go poorly, but the position is very well stocked. The one thing I’d like to see is Jackson catch the ball more out of the backfield.  Utah’s historically been best when the RB can do that (Booker, Moss) whereas Thomas and Jackson haven’t contributed in that regard

WR
Level of Concern/Excitement: Mild concern
Reason for Excitement: Vele is returning after catching 55 passes for 695 yards.  His 55 catches were #2 behind Kincaid, but more than any other pass-catcher since Covey in 2018. And his 695 yards (also behind Kincaid) were more than any other pass-catcher since Carrington in 2017.  Hopeful that Parks can take the next step and/or Matthews can immediately contribute
Reason for Concern: Beyond Vele, it’s a lot of unknowns.  Parks had 26 receptions for 414 yards, but with Dixon and Enis leaving, no other WR had more than 7 catches.  Team needs more depth and higher-end production – lots of guys who could step up with Makai Cope, Tao Johnson, Mikey Matthews probably the most likely 

TE
Level of Concern/Excitement: Mild concern/mild excitement
Reason for Excitement: Kuithe returns, plus Yassmin and potentially Jacobsen are ready for larger roles
Reason for Concern: Losing Dalton Kincaid – not realistic to expect anyone to replicate what he did – not even Kuithe

OL
Level of Concern/Excitement: Mild concern
Reason for Excitement: Keaton Bills is awesome and Utah just brought in two elite prospects in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu. Lots of depth
Reason for Concern:With injuries, underperformance, transfer, the OL has been a bit of a revolving door.  Kump, Mokofisi, Laumea, Kaumatele all have some experience, and I’m sure there’s other guys I’m missing.  But with a tough opening schedule, we have to get this ironed out quickly…lots of depth, but finding the right mix is tough

Defensive Interior
Level of Concern/Excitement: No concern, limited excitement
Reason for Excitement: Junior Tafuna and Simote Pepa both return as solid contributors, plus some depth. 
Reason for Concern: None of those names have shown themselves as a top-notch disruptor from the inside.  Which is fine… but you’d love to see someone grow into that

Defensive Edge
Level of Concern/Excitement: Mild excitement
Reason for Excitement: Van Fillinger started to look good after a rough start, plus strong seasons from Jonah Elliss and Conner O’Toole.  Everyone returning, lot of potential with a relatively safe floor. 
Reason for Concern: Like the interior, needs someone to take that next step and become someone the offense has to scheme around.  Fillinger has the most potential for it, but could be any of a couple guys. 

Linebacker
Level of Concern/Excitement: Very excited
Reason for Excitement: Lander Barton and Karene Reid return and Levani Damuni comes in from Stanford.  So much depth – Justin Medlock has high potential, Hayden Furey has starting experience and several more highly rated recruits in the wings (Kaeo Akana, Owen Chambliss, Johnathon Hall)
Reason for Concern: None

Cornerback
Level of Concern/Excitement: Excited
Reason for Excitement: Injuries from previous years mean lots of experience returns in Zemaiah Vaugh, Miles Battle as the high-profile transfer and JaTravis Broughton.  Faybian Marks has even played, plus Utah brings in CJ Blocker and Smith Snowden.  Sione Vaki has also played at safety or slot corner so lots of depth.
Reason for Concern: None, though depth would definitely help if one of the young guys came on strong.

Safety
Level of Concern/Excitement: Excited
Reason for Excitement: Nate Ritchie, Cole Bishop are both great safeties.  Solid depth with either Vaki or Isbell as well
Reason for Concern: Ritchie coming off the mission may take a while to get back to his top level, but otherwise looks solid.

 

Overall, I feel pretty good about most of the defense (though more pass rush would be appreciated).  The offense has more concerns – the QB situation will eventually be solid, the RB room is great, but the pass-catchers and the OL are a bit unsettled.  The OL is probably the most pivotal, but hardest to assess early. 

 

 

 

[ProudUte]

I share your excitement at running back.  JJ was just beginning to show us what he can do.

I do not share the same level of concern as you with CP3 leaving.  I am not saying CP3 was not a great player for us.  But, we are bringing in an experienced 6’4″ CB from the SEC and our two top recruits are cornerbacks.  I might be wrong (it wouldn’t be the first time) but I am less worried about CB than some others on this board.

I am most worried about QB (as of today).  Cam is confident that he will be ready.  But, for him to be effective he needs to be able to run.  I like Barnes as a person, but he is not a top level P5 QB IMO.  If he is the guy – I am very worried.  I hope Johnson is the guy or one of the other two.  But, if Johnson was the guy, why didn’t he play a single play in the Rose Bowl?  If we come out of spring ball and Johnson or Rose is QB2 – I will feel a bit better.

As for the other defensive positions, we have two guys who have started at LB as well as some depth.  We should be excellent at safety and our Dline is improving.  Fillinger will be healthy and we have added Fano to a deep group.

 

[dystopiamembrane]

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Utah men’s basketball team looks to get back in the win column as another crucial game awaits the Runnin’ Utes inside Desert Financial Arena when they take on Arizona State this Saturday, Feb. 18, at 4 p.m. (MT) on Pac-12 National/Arizona/Mountain.

utahutes.com preview

[chinngiskhaan]

Unless we can’t replace him with an absolute home-run hire like Brian Johnson (not going to happen) or David Shaw (also not likely) I think we have to give the job to Harding.

I’m not convinced that Harding is ready for it, but I gotta think he gives us the best chance of retaining our offensive recruits (like Fano), and keeping system continuity in place. Ludwig is getting close to retirement and has likely been teaching someone on this staff the ropes. While I don’t have any inside info on who that might be, I gotta think it would be Harding.

The system we are running now is the system we should have been running from the beginning, and it’s the system we should continue to run for the rest of our programs existence IMO. Balanced run/pass with an emphasis on TEs in the passing game. Harding has to be the best option for keeping the current system in place.

Also, Harding is arguably our best recruiter, and arguably our best position coach. If anyone deserves a chance (another chance anyway) at OC, it’s Harding.

[ProudUte]

According to this article, Utah has the most returning production of any team in the PAC12 (tied with USC). We are ranked 5th on offense and 45th on defense. I think our defense will be fine with some incoming talents like Richie, Fano, etc.

Returning Players