I am a bit concerned about the BYU game

[ProudUte]

Why?

BYU is putting everything into this game.  They have been preparing for us since December.  They are currently having player-run practices with total focus on the Utes.  They are watching film every day.  They will know every move and every tendency.  Our former Defensive and Offensive coordinators are coaching the Cougars.  Few people know Coach Whitt the way they do.

Yes, on paper we are the better team for sure.  We have an amazing defensive line and it appears we will still be strong at LB, but not the same level of experience.

BYU has and will put everything into this game.  They do not have a lot to lose and we do.  I hate it when we go into these kind of games.  Also, BYU seems to be a better team this year with experience and depth.  Even nationally they are being seen as a top 40/50 team.  That is much better than a year ago.

Are the Utes taking this game as seriously as BYU?  I highly doubt it and for good reason – the PAC12 games are the important games on our schedule.  Coach Whitt teams have typically started the season seeming a little lackluster and unprepared.  We cannot afford that to be the case this season.

We are the better team IMO and by every measurable factor.  However, the better team does not always win.  I hope we come out strong, beat these guys up and win big.  But, we haven’t seen that in a long time.  Even the 54-10 win was almost all in the second half.

Go Utes!!!

[whitlessham]

kwhitt will need to prepare like he did for the UofM game a few years ago. The challenge is how do you motivate a Ute program that has beaten the zoobs for eight years in a row.

I just don’t see how a Ute recruit from FL or TX can get real excited to play a religious school from provo utah.  It’s going to be a challenge.

[MauchDawgUte]

I share some of the concern, however, I like the fact that we will be back to full strength and I think Ludwig will come prepared with some wrinkles no one has seen before. I also think that, for whatever reason, we always play better in RES south. 🙂

[EagleMountainUte]

Ludwig should rush the ball down their throats.   I also think it won’t go well for TDS. I said this last season but they will put too much into this game. It is their Super Bowl and I think the only way Sitake keeps his job. 

[chinngiskhaan]

As well as those coaches know Whitt, Whitt knows them better. They have the same team minus their only two NFL defenders.

We will be FINE

[whitlessham]

Oh god… the ” we will be fine” response.

This is the phrase used when kwhitt loses a recruite or the offense gets annually shut down.

[Utah5410]

Serious question. How is BYU going to score points ? Zach Wilson is coming off of shoulder surgery. He is good. But still hasn’t proven to can consistently move the ball against elite defenses. They have new RB. But do you really think they are going to run against our DL ? they have only 1/2 receivers who can maybe get space. JJ, Lewis, Guidry will look them up. This game will come down to one thing, turnovers. I can see TH trying to do too much and causing stupid TOS. This is one game where I hope Whitt just tells Ludwig to line them up and run Moss,green,Henry etc. run clock and do be super conservative. BYU does not have the horses for 4 quarters to compete. The game will be close. But If we do that we win like 17/20- 10 or something. But I’m fine with that. Air it out against the pac and the rest of the league. BYU will be good this year prob 7/8 wins. We don’t and shouldn’t get cute with them. If we keep it simple we win easily just not comfortably.

[EagleMountainUte]

Utah will also play the starters more in the first half and won’t have to prepare for a championship game. Good hell that was such an awful game to agree to. I said right from the go Utah will play in the P12 championship that year. I end up being correct and it made Utah come out flat and nearly lose. 

[noneyadb]

They scored 27 without too many issues last season.

[Larry B]

Remember, there are 4 guys on our roster who should be collecting NFL money right now. They chose to come back because they knew they could be a part of something special. I don’t see them allowing BYU to ruin that. They, along with the coaching staff will have the rest of the team ready.

And yeah, we’re not breaking every practice huddle with “beat BYU!” and our media day isn’t going to consist of players talking about BYU but I have no doubt that they have started prepping for game 1, even if it is just film study.

This team wants big things and they know they have what it takes to get them. They won’t overlook anyone. I fully expect them to be dialed in game 1.

[Central Coast Ute]

Conversely, the Ute coaches also know their coaches very well too. I get your points though and they’re all valid.

[cjd1]

Whitt said we will never lose to BYU again. That’s all I need.

[UteFanatic]

I’m going to say something a little controversial here.  Let’s say BYU does win this game.  Who freaking cares?  Yes, Cougar nation will explode with happiness not seen since “Pandemonium in Provo” after they beat Oklahoma in 2009.  Meanwhile, Utah will prepare for what really matters, P12 games.

BYU’s entire season rests on this one game.  Players in the past have referred to this game as their “Super Bowl” and they spent an inordinate amount of time discussing the game at their media day.  Utah on the other hand, is the near consensus favorite to win the South again and compete for the P12 Championship.  This game is MEANINGLESS to the overall goal for Utah, which is to win the P12 and appear in the Rose Bowl.

I want Utah to win and they likely will (Utah will be favored by 6+ points going into the game).  But if we happen to lose to a team thirsty for a win after a decade – who cares?

[EagleMountainUte]

I feel what you are saying. But at the same time Utah needs to start this season off correctly. It would take a hit for some recruits you never know.

TDS is going into a pretty impressive schedule against big opponents. Will it be an impressive outcome for them?  Obviously matter of perspective at this point but I don’t see them winning many games the next three years.

Utah will win.  

[UteFanatic]

“Utah will win.”

This is why I’m not worried.  It would be an upset if BYU-P won.

[noneyadb]

A loss to Brigham likely indicates Utah will barely be competing for a bowl game. Who cares? That’s a drastic reality from preseason expectations.

The Fire Coach K crowd would be a drop in the bucket compared to the Fire Whitt crowd.

[UteFanatic]

Not necessarily. BYU might turn out to be a decent team and Utah tends to suck in the first couple of games. A loss to BYU does not necessarily mean a failed season. Last year we barely beat a mediocre NIU team and ending up winning the South. 

[noneyadb]

Search Brigham’s schedules. The only P5 teams they’ve beaten are borderline bowl teams.

2018- Wisconsin was a top 5 preseason team- lost and all their preseason hype went to s**t. Ended up winning their bowl game just to get to 8 wins. 

Losing to Brigham is a death sentence.

[whitlessham]

Agreed 

[UteFanatic]

Assuming Wilson stays healthy, isn’t BYU projected to be much improved this year than previous seasons? 

Also, Utah loses to bad teams occasionally during what is otherwise considered to be “good” seasons (Cal, Colorado, Oregon), so losing to a bad BYU team and then having a good season aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.

 

 

[EagleMountainUte]

Proof is in the pudding but I don’t see TDS making giant leaps to hurt Utah. Comparing the 2018 game to this one is ludicrous as well. 

[Utesbyfive]

It would be horrible. We’d fall way down in the top-25, and might even be out. I know the ridiculous attitude of “Well, Utah can’t ever make the CFP.”

But I have hopes that they can. If we lose to BYU, we’re out of the hunt. We have to win all non-con games.

 

[Grimmetal]

Healthy. Returning starters on offense. One of the top D-lines in the country. We’ve got guys that can’t wait to tear into BYU. Anae. Covey. Bernard.

I think it’s GREAT to hear TDS chirp without much coming back from us. Quiet confidence. We know the program knows what’s being said.

[Utah5410]

Utah will win. However the 2020 season I’m not so sure. We lose a lot.

[Tony (admin)]

“They will know every move and every tendency.” Wil lthey? When we play them there will be NO film on us. Yes they can look at old Ludvig film, but I think there will be plenty of formations, motion, blocking schemes and such that they’re not expecting. Even if they are well prepared, I’ll still take our backfield against their D any day.

[Onlyu]

All I can tell you is there isn’t anyone in the program preparing for home games against No. Illinois or Idaho St. We have bigger fish to fry eventually but honestly who else would our attention be on? We can’t wait to play BYU in this spot. No one is intimidated by their atmosphere, no one is intimidated by their talent. We return 80% of the guys who played for a PAC-12 title and Rose bowl berth. They’ll run the same scheme this year as they did last year…we won’t. We have film as well by the way. So their QB watches film…so their coaches watch film…do you honestly think don’t? Do you really think we’ll look past them to Idaho St? We will be 100% ready for this game!

We have a Sr QB who runs the heck out of it and a Sr. NFL RB with high quality depth, plenty of options on the O-Line, the deepest WR core in years so whoever wins those spots in camp will be ready, 2 physical TE’s who can actually catch the ball.
Bowen is a freak at LB…big time and NFL caliber talent all over in front of him. Bernard is damn good as well. JJ and Blackmon will play in the league. Where will they hit us? The opposite corner? Their O-line is full of underclassman but somehow they’ll be able to dominate us up front…with literally 3 NFL guys out of 4 and Tupai and Tufua are NFL type players too.

All I can tell you is that their s**t talking has been heard. Talk all they want…we’ll show up and see what happens.

Things happen, turnovers happen but we win this game in this spot 9 1/2 out if 10 times if we play our game.

Enjoy the Summer…the boys are working hard

[ProudUte]

Thanks for your post. It makes me feel better about the game. 

[crazyute]

The only thing I worry about is injury. Especially if Utah starts pulling away and byu starts to feel helpless

[noneyadb]

I’ll wager chants of “Puntwig” will rain loud and clear…

[Utesby1]

Another factor that trends in their favor is that our depth is far superior to theirs but in the first game of the season depth is not a factor. Playing them the last game of the season usually gives us a significant advantage since their 2nd and 3rd teams are woefully inferior to ours.

[ironman1315]

Name five players that they have that would start for us.

[UteThunder]

I don’t know their roster well enough but I would bet they have 5 or more who would start for us beginning with Bushman. They probably have an OL or two who would start for us. Bernard was a starting LB for them, it’s likely at least one of their LBs is as good as he is or better. Tonga on the DL might start for us.

I have to say though, this viewpoint of “they don’t have 5 guys who would start for us” is a misleading one because the implication is that this is a game of our 1s vs essentially the equivalent of our backups. That just isn’t true. As Urban liked to say, our MWC 1s could go toe to toe with just about anyone else in the country. Likewise, BYU has certainly proven that their 1s can go toe to toe with ours. 

 

[ironman1315]

Bushman wouldn’t start for us. He’s not a good enough blocker.

Tonga, who is he starting over Fotu or Penisini.

Who in their LB corps is starting over Bernard and Bowen?

There is maybe one OL.

Not a QB. Not a RB. Not a DB. Not a WR. So even if we go by position group we have maybe 3. Maybe.

Can they play with us? Sure. Are they as talented as us? No. BYU isn’t beating us. They won’t get a lead. Utah will control throughout and it will look close but won’t be.

[UteThunder]

Get out of here with that “not a good enough blocker” garbage. Bushman is a better receiving TE than anyone of our guys have shown so far and he would be  our leading TE in receptions, yards, and TDs. 

[TheJuggernaut]

Bushman would start, but he’s probably the only one. Maybe I Kaufusi at LB, only because Bowen is a bit of an unknown. Maybe Empey at C, maybe Gwanwoloku at S. No way I trade anyone from the following position groups for BYUs starters – QB, RB, WR, DT (Tonga isn’t starting over Penisini or Fotu), DE, CB.

[ironman1315]

TEs have two jobs, run blocking and pass catching. If you think not a good enough blocker is garbage then you think half of a TEs job is garbage.

[Central Coast Ute]

Which is exactly why he played less last year. Grimes requires TE’s to block, which Bushman isn’t great at.

[UteThunder]

I don’t think TEs blocking is garbage, but saying he sucks at it as the reason for not starting for us is garbage. How are you measuring his blocking ability? How am I supposed to refute that? Just say that he is good at blocking?

I’ll go back to my original point which is, it doesn’t matter how many of their guys would start for us, their starters are right there with ours until proven otherwise. Winning these nail biters year in and year out shows how close our starters are to each other. If we absolutely dominate them for a change then I’ll change my tune, but until that day comes . . . 

[ironman1315]

You got a sucky blocker at TE. It’s second and five. Said sucky blocker comes in the game. Because he’s a liability he’s in pretty much only Passing downs. What’s a defense gonna do? That’s why being a sucky blocker isn’t a starter. That’s why bushman wouldn’t start for us. And that’s what bushman was last year. He came in on 75% of pass plays and less than 50% run plays. You don’t block you don’t start.

[UteThunder]

Those percentages are interesting if true, but mean nothing without context. How many run plays did they use a TE other than Bushman? 

[ironman1315]

Dunno. Probably more often than not since having an extra blocker is a good thing no have one run plays.

[EagleMountainUte]

Squabbling over Tds players feels wrong. 

[Central Coast Ute]

I’m not sure that Bushman is big enough to be a Pac 12 TE. Tonga could possibly start ahead of Penisini but even that is debatable. I wouldn’t trade any O lineman for anything on TDS .

[Duhwayne]

Play BYU? Why would I not want to go there?

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/video-angry-byu-fans-hurl-trash-at-pac-12-officials-after-utah-loss/

[noneyadb]

Gawd there’s a lot of arrogant bastards on here. Brigham’s going to be a difficult game. Their Coach knows how to play defense vs Whitt. I see this game being close just like all the others and Utah fans coming away feeling uneasy about the season. Utah may blow it wide open if they can force turnovers, but the o-line needs time to gel and a new offensive system is going to create problems.

[ironman1315]

You =too. Name 5 players that would start and name who would they would start over.