Do Not Play BYU

[Bostonutes]

I can’t understand why we would play BYU.  It makes no sense to me.  Play it for the “fans”?  No one will be at the game.  If we win, it will only prove the BYU is a fraud. It will add nothing to our national reuptation. If we lose the streak, we provide BYU with their greatest win in the history of the series.  It is a Covid year with the Utes have played only a few games and is very young, while BYU was beating up on Utah High School Region 3 for 10 games.  What is Mark Harlan doing?  He is not BYU’s athletic director. Do something that will benefit Utah.

Play someone in the Big 12 or Big 10.  I am not afraid of BYU.  I have just moved past them.  i have been a season ticket holder for 35 years and have tailgated for 25 years.  I am a Ute fan.  I want what is best for our program. Trashing BYU no longer defines Utah.  The buzz in the stands for Oregon, Washington, and USC dwarfs the noise at the BYU game.  As long as our athletic director makes choices that benefit BYU and the legislature, playing BYU will be a priority  If we allow our success to be defined by the BYU “Rivalry”. We will go no where.    Booo Mark Harlan!

[EastCoastUte]

idk man, i enjoy our rivalry games against BYU and don’t mind watching it. If we lose, we lose. at the end of the day, it’ll give our guys experience for future games. I’m all for playing against BYU. It’ll probably hurt watching but whatever, our boys are gonna learn.

[Central Coast Ute]

Wait, what did Harlan do? I can’t find anywhere where Utah is playing BYU.

[Tony (admin)]

Noting I’m aware of.  Just crazy talk amongst fans I think.

[Central Coast Ute]

Ok good. The way he worded it with “what is Harlan doing?” Sounded like something was up.

[GameForAnyFuss]

As long as our athletic director makes choices that benefit BYU and the legislature

Whoa whoa whoa…pump the brakes there for a minute.

I need to set the record straight, and I’ll do it as plainly as I can: The U is being held hostage by the legislature. It’s straight up extortion. The last time the U threatened to not schedule BYU-Provo Campus, the legislature threatened to take all state funding away from the hospital. Yes, over a football game.

Look, I’m the last person on earth who wants Utah to play BYU-Provo Campus. But if it comes down to funding for the hospital, I would support Harlan playing the game. Avoidance of the BYU-Provo Campus game cannot be more important than the University Hospital’s mission to save lives.

This is NOT on Harlan.

[Central Coast Ute]

Exactly. I don’t care who the AD is, he has to play politics since we’re a state institution.

[UrbanLiar]

I can validate what you’re stating. I was personally involved in a large and extremely important project for the University Hospital when the legislature froze all funding due to the lack of playing TDS in both football and the Krystkowiak cancellation of the BB game. I was (and still am) shocked.

[Dwight89]

You play as many games as you can this year. Doesn’t matter if it’s BYU, Idaho State, or Cedar City High School. If you think Utah’s “too good” for BYU this year, get over yourself. 

[PhiladelphiaUte]

Ordinarily, I’m with you.  Playing the tdS does nothing for the U.  However, this is a “throw away” year, where we’re halfway through November, and hadn’t played a single down yet.  We’re currently scheduled for only 4 games, plus a TBD Pac-12 opponent on Dec. 19th.  A bowl game would bring us to 6.  Nobody is suggesting that we drop a conference game in favor of playing the zoobs.  What’s being bandied about is what would happen if one of our opponents Covid-cancels us, and no other Pac-12 team is expected to Covid-cancel THEIR opponent as well?  Will we sit idle that weekend; playing no one?  Or will we look to substituting them with an OOC option?

The tdS would make a decent OOC option here.  Note:

(1)  That game will be a Home game for us.  So we’re not going to have to shell out for any transportation expenses.

(2)  Harlan already committed to playing the 2021 game in Provo anyway, so it’s not like we’d be saving that game for a better turnout at RES.

(3)  What a way shut the zoobs up.  I’m all for sticking it to the zoobs by refusing to play them, but in THIS case, there’s no better way to stick it to them than by ruining their “special season”.  These guys have cruised through their weakest schedule since 1984, and actually believe they ARE something special this year.  So let’s show THEM what it’s like to play a team who actually DOES play Defense, and let them show US which QB will be throwing the most TD passes for the Utes:  ours, or theirs.  Last year, it was theirs.  The year before, it was a tie.  And in 2017, it was ours.  Who might it be in 2020?

(4)  Our streak is NOT in jeopardy.  Had you SEEN their recruiting classes?  It’s a veritable “2-star bonanza” — every year.  Ours isn’t.  The tdS hadn’t had the scheme, coaching, or athletes to take us down in over a decade.  So WHAT that they’d already played 8 games thus far to our zero.  Our scrimmages are vs. tougher competition than that.

This is the ONE year where I would actually be in FAVOR of playing them.