ESPN Discussion of the Big Game

[cicampbe]

Herbstreit breaks down the game…

http://www.espn.com/espnradio/playPopup?id=24665149

Utah is HUGE underdog with only 1 of 17 ESPN writers picking the Utes. 

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24642039/college-football-week-3-game-picks

 

[KiYi-Ute]

I like that he at least acknowledges the East Coast bias and gave a shout out to the MUSS.

Thanks, Herbie.

[User Suspended]

Don’t understand?  The East Coast bias is picking a West Coast team to win – UW.

[KiYi-Ute]

Did you listen to the clip? The East Coast bias is that if this game was happening in any other conference, there would be a lot more media coverage of it. East Coast bias refers to the fact that football west of the Mississippi isn’t covered nearly as well as it is back East.

[Micah Montgomery]

The simple fact that UW got hosed in the Aurburn game on the no call targeting shot on Browning to stall the drive when the Dawgs took the lead in the 4th, a drive that would’ve put the game away, tells you all you need to know about the business of college football back east…..namely the southeast. So now they probably got the Dawgs winning out and back in the mix for the playoffs. Gonna be a good game for 3 quarters but I like the Dawgs D pretty much sealing the deal in this one. Might even hold em to a field goal all night long. WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!!!!!

[ironman1315]

How do you figure the field goal thing?

[UtMtBiker]

If not getting a targeting call is a reason you lost a game then you deserve to lose. Especially since nobody was hurt and it didn’t affect the play. 

[Utah]

The guys that picked Washington, are those the same guys that rode Sumlin/Tate/Arizona’s jock all summer? Probably. 

Utah is the better team. They are better at QB, RB, OL, DL, CB, ST and maybe even S and LB. We aren’t a lot better, but we are better. 

 

[Micah Montgomery]

Utah isn’t even close to being the better team 😂 Come on man be realistic at least. All I hear Utah fans keep saying is they’re a spitting image of UW. Not even. UW has team speed the likes of which not many can sniff. O line is still solid I bet Utah never gets a sack all night and Gaskin, Ahmed and Chico share touches.

[KiYi-Ute]

Not one sack all night? I’ll take that bet. 

[Tony (admin)]

O/U sacks: 1

[ironman1315]

The o/u is always 15 sacks…always!

[FtheY]

ALWAYS. 

[Utebeam]

Apparently, Auburn sniffed and stuffed the dawgs!

[ProudUte]

Everyone is entitled to an opinion.  I just don’t agree with you at QB, RB and OL.  But, that’s just my opinion.

[Kirk Kettner]

45-44… I want some of what she is smoking.

[cicampbe]

Right?! I thought the same thing.

[UtMtBiker]

Nope. 

QB- Washington by a mile, RB – Close but I give the edge to Washington because of what Ahmad brings, OL – toss up, DL – Utah, CB – Utah, ST – Utah, S – toss up, LB – Washington but only because we only have one solid LB.  Chase is as good as you’ll see in the conference this year.  

[Micah Montgomery]

Fuller might go off for another big game. This team is battle tested and your 45,000 strong pales in comparison to an SEC environment. I know your team will be all jacked up but that might not last in a 4 quarter game.

[Utah]

Look, no one said UW was bad. No one at all. UW could win this game. They could win this game by 14. 

BUT, UW peaked two years ago. And it’s too bad. I feel for you guys. I feel bad that you’ve been stuck with Browning the last three years, because if you had a half competent QB, you’d won one national title and would be gunning for another this year. 

That being said, UW has holes too. 

I think these teams are spitting images of each other. 

QB: Both have top 5 PAC-12 QB’s, but for different reasons. Huntley has the better arm, legs, and vision. Browning has better WR’s and TE’s. Browning is stalled or regressing. Huntley is improving. Slight edge to Utah. 

OL: Both teams have talent and both teams have issues. You have a huge loss at LT and your center is banged up. Utah doesn’t have any injuries. That is why I give the advantage to Utah. 

RB: Gaskins is really good. Moss is better. Not a big deal. Love is an A+. Moss is an A. Gaskins is an A-. I’d take any of the three and think I could win the game. I’d take Love over Moss and Moss over Gaskins. 

WR: Covey is the best WR out of any team. BUT, all the rest of your receivers are better than ours. UW is better. 

TE: Your’s are better. Ours have talent, but no experience. You have talent and experience. 

DT: Utah is better. We are 5-6 deep. Our top 4 DT’s would walk into UW and Fotu would start and the other three would have a legit shot at starting. 

DE: Push. Both teams have talent but lack pass rush. 

LB: If Francis Bernard can start or play early, then Utah is better. If Bernard can’t be trusted to play in this game, then UW is better. Bernard is a NFL guy and so is Hansen. Hansen may win PAC-12 defensive player of the year. 

CB: Utah is better. Not a lot, but better. We have two first round CB’s and a NB that has top 3 round potential. UW is really good, but Utah is better. 

S: UW is better. Not by a lot, but better. Your safeties are fantastic. 

PR: Covey is better. 

ST: Gay and Mishwishneoshki are just the best in the country. So, Utah is better. 

The most important positions in football are QB, OL, DL, CB, and ST. And Utah is better than UW in all. Not a lot better, but better. 

This game will be a fun game. BUT, it doesn’t scare me like Stanford and Love, or Arizona (sandwiched between Stanford and USC) and Tate or USC and all their talent. Washington can win this game. But, they aren’t better. Not this year. 

Washington is a 3-4 loss team this year. 

I see this game as a game that one of two things happens: Either Utah doesn’t make mistakes and wins 30-17 or they do make mistakes and it is an ugly 13-17 game and who knows who wins then. 

[ProudUte]

Total nonsense IMO.

[ironman1315]

Why? Are you really trying to tell me that Washington is better at every position, including ST?

I disagree that Utah is better at all these positions, but I still find these teams to be fairly equal. The last two games have been decided in the closing moments. Last year Utah led almost the entire game but didn’t close it out. These teams are practically the same as they were last year. It’ll be a close battle.

[User Suspended]

Soo, it’s Friday and the Kool aid has an extra cup of sugar in it….I get it.

But if the teams are EVEN as your buddies suggest, then why is Utah a 6 point dog…AT HOME?

Is it the fake news liberal media bias?  

So sad.

[Utah]

This guy doesn’t understand betting. ^

[User Suspended]

but if Utah is the BETTER team ( I learned this on Utehub) then why is Vegas giving Utah 6 points???

 

Hmmm, I’m sure Vegas will correct this glitch.

 

I wonder what Utah/UW spread would be on a nutural site?  12-15 points? 

[Utah]

Usually when someone does a sweet and short answer, they really don’t know why they feel the way they do. So, they go with blanket statement and no real retort. 

I’d love to know why he thinks it’s nonsense. Why does he think Browning, who has terrible feet in the pocket, doesn’t go through his reads, his comp % is declining every year, he has made a lot of TERRIBLE mistakes this year, mistakes you’d expect from a freshman, why is Browning better than Huntley? Huntley who has been very solid this year, even without using his feet. 

I’d love to know why he thinks UW’s OL is better, when their top OL is out for the year, their C is banged up and they struggled vs ND. Yes, we struggled, but Sutton Smith was amazing. We won’t face a player that good again. I was wrong about Smith. Oh boy was I wrong. 

I’d love to know why he thinks UW’s special teams are better, when they have been awful this year. 

I’d love to know a lot more about why he thinks the way he does. 

The reality is, he probably doesn’t know. He’s seen clips of talking heads proclaiming UW a top 10 team and has gone off that to base his opinion. That’s ok. Nothing wrong with that. 

But, with that comes some danger, because the reality is, those guys are clueless about west coast football. These are the same guys that thought Sumlin was a better coach than RichRod and Tate would be a heisman finalist. I’ve said this all summer long, but based off Washington’s schedule alone, they weren’t winning the north, let alone the PAC-12. 

Stanford and Oregon are scheduled losses for UW. That’s two. Going to play Auburn in the south was just dumb. That’s three losses. And looking at the tape, Utah is better than UW. Not by a lot, but slightly better. 

And you give me Whitt and I’ll take that. 

 

[ProudUte]

I firmly believe our special teams is better.  However, we have not shown it so far.  But, those problems are fixable.

I believe our corners are as good as UW and the same with our DL.  I also agree that our linebackers are very good.  The point here is that like most years our defense is very good.

But, I in no way agree with your assessment on the offensive line, running backs and QB.  You seem to be really down on Browning.  Many others (who know more than you) really like his pocket presence and ability.  Our offensive line has been horrible to date.  If we would have played Auburn, we would have probably been subject to 10 sacks.  Moss is a very good RB.  Gaskins is also very good and they appear to be deeper.

So, this is why I thought your post “in my opinion” was nonsense.  But, this is indeed just my opnion.  I have seen nothing from our offensive line to believe we are close to UW, even with some injuries.

Go Utes!!!

 

[Tony (admin)]

Stadium smack is zoobish.

[Micah Montgomery]

Wazzu, Oregon State and Utah all 3 have that FCS vibe going with the sardine can stadiums 

[Micah Montgomery]

I will say special teams is a huge deficiency for this UW team. Kicking game probably worst in the nation so I do worry about field position.

[utefansince79]

Unfortunately the Utah special teams have been less than special, turning over punts twice, not having a lot of success on punt returns, and failing several times on field goals.

They did block a FG in the Weber State game which is a plus.

 

 

 

 

[Duhwayne]

Did someone say something about East Coast bias in coverage? In addition to time zone issues, broadcasters and their ad buyers know where the eyeballs live.

[Utah]

It is what it is. People worried about where the PAC-12 ranks in terms of P5 conferences…that is a losing game. We will always be behind because we don’t have the eyeballs, so we won’t ever have the revenue. 

Then you add in just DUMB things like “schedule up OOC” and “play 9 P5 games” and “USC has to play Stanford every year” and scheduling Stanford vs UW when UW is playing their tenth game in a row or giving Oregon a bye week before UW and not UW or scheduling USC on a Friday on the road on a short week…

The ONLY hope the PAC-12 has in raising it’s “profile” is to schedule down. Drop to 8 conference games, force your teams to schedule 7+ home games a year, don’t play east of the Mississippi. Neutral site games in LA, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Seattle and maybe once in a blue moon in Texas. Maybe. 

Then, you get undefeated teams more regularly, you get six more wins a year, which is another ranked team or two every year, and you win your “neutral” site games. 

[dwainegf]

Then we go 1-8 in bowl games? I do believe there is a bias against the West. Whatever the reason, it does not matter. We need to win games when they are on TV. (Bowls, inter sectional…. or whenever.) Recently the PAC-12 has not done this. I agree with the 8 game conference schedule and another home game, otherwise I think we have earned our lower ranking by our performance in those big games.

[Micah Montgomery]

IKR. It’s imperative we win our bowl games as a conference. Bad enough the SEC and ACC think so little of us but at the same time I can’t blame em. Tosh Luopoi been bringing polys to T town now they know what we’ve known out West for decades.

[Micah Montgomery]

Imagine if Tagovailoa was your quarterback