I think we may be underestimating just how bad

[chinngiskhaan]

Wazzu’s defense really is, especially their majorly undersized defensive line. 

[MTM]

My Wazzu grad friend says their fanbase is thinking they’ll be lucky to get bowl eligible.

[Chidojuan]

Don’t think anyone ever thought it was anything more than a wet paper bag. Everyone was worried about the offense and our own being able to score enough points to keep up.

[utefansince79]

When you put up 63 and lose, (and it is NOT in hoops) you have a problem.

 

[UtMtBiker]

UCLA put up 60+ on them so I think it’s pretty obvious how bad they are.  

[EagleMountainUte]

13 points scored is the real accomplishment for that game. 

But if Huntley plays that way going forward I think Utah is fine. He made plays and throws that he hasn’t done in the past against even weaker defenses. 

[chinngiskhaan]

I guess my concern is that the offensive line will go right back to sucking the big one when we play a team that actually has a defense. I’m not worried that we didn’t put up 60+ on Wazzu, I think that was largely because we just wanted to keep the ball out of the hands of their offense, which was a brilliant game plan. I’m just not convinced that our offensive line can give Huntley the time to make those plays and keep his eyes down field.

Our defense on the other hand has seemingly put it all together.

[EagleMountainUte]

I don’t think Utahs oline has put forth their best effort forward by any means. Just like I believed the defensive backfield would bounce back. I also think the Ute oline has its best games ahead of them. That was the third game they have played all together. 

[Utah5410]

You’re looking at it the wrong way. Tyler Huntley is now the key. Against USC he was the only one to show up. Then against a bad WSU defense he lit them up (as he should have). ASU, CAL being at home is huge. I still expect a WASH lost. Hoping for a win, but they need to prove that U can beat Wash. bottom line 10-2 wins us the small. USC will lose two more times. Totally fine with that. Playoffs are done. But that’s fine. I just want roses.

[EagleMountainUte]

For 2019 Utah needed to prove a lot. They needed to beat SC in the Coliseum which they didn’t. They needed to beat Wazzu because they were on a losing streak. They just did. They now need to beat Peterson on the road. Those were the three huge things to get done. From a recruiting standpoint that Washington game is huge. Utah absolutely is entering a must win situation the rest of the way.

[chinngiskhaan]

I get that Huntley was the only one to show up at USC. My concern is that he’ll be the only one to show up against other decent defensive teams as well. Huntley is pretty good when the offensive line is pretty bad. Huntley is very good when the offensive line is pretty good. I want to see very good Huntley.

[EagleMountainUte]

Huntley is EXTREMELY good with Moss behind him to.

[Matthew Thomas Castleton]

Yeah. People seem to forget that Moss didn’t play the majority of the USC game. His loss in that game is basically the reason why Utah lost that game. It totally changed everything. IMO, Utah would be undefeated right now if Zack didn’t go down to injury at USC.

[Chidojuan]

Part of that is Ludwig scheming to what the OL gives him. I was overly optimistic about them at the beginning of the year, but they are not BAD, just average. They rank in the middle of the NCAA I think, I’ll look at the stats when I can. I really believe they got complacent with SC, which is the exact wrong team to get complacent against, and they got bailed out by Moss and Huntley a lot.

[alUmnUs]

Who cares? Utah defense held that offense to 1 TD.

[Ghost of the HEB]

Their QB threw 9 touchdowns against a PAC-12 defense a week ago. Holding him to 1 TD and very few yards is a massive W — regardless of how bad their defense is.

[chinngiskhaan]

Of course it is a awesome win. I’m not bringing this up to downplay what the Utes accomplished. I bring it up because I wonder how much the offensive execution (which was through the roof against Wazzu) will/won’t drop off when we play a team with a quality defense.

[Warrior Ute]

Utah score+10 over WSU average points allowed. (Even with the crazy UCLA 67 points)

WSU averaged +20 against other opponents average points allowed. 

Utah held them to 13.

UCLAs scores were all at the end of the game with craziness taking place.  With 3 minutes to go in the third UCLA was down 49 to 17 and started a crazy desperation comeback.  With 3 minutes to go in the third Utah was up 24 to 13 and driving for their next touchdown.  We were trying to run out the clock while UCLA was desperate and pulled off a miracle win.  

WSU may be a bad team defensively but the Utes win was still a dominant performance on both sides of the ball.