Kyle’s press conference at media day

[AlohaUte]

Kyle at Media Day

[UtahPilot47]

We have been listening to him for years. He seems genuinely confident he has a great team this year.

 

[Tednab]

Guess we’ll see .. biggest concern for now is how their going to adapt to the humidity in Florida

[ProudUte]

We need to turn the air off and pump steam into the practice facility to simulate the humidity in Florida. 🙂

[dystopiamembrane]

I like this idea. Oregon does similar training techniques with crowd noise and the like in their practice facility.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

Luckily, it’s a night game.  And while it’s still fairly hot in early September, by the time the evening rolls around, it’s much less so.

That said, it should still play a factor, as most of our guys haven’t experienced this sort of natural phenomenon before.

[GameForAnyFuss]

I’m mostly worried about ball security.

First of all, we seem to have fumbling problems in an early game every year.

Second, even when it’s “cool” in Florida, their godforsaken humidity has everyone sweating like an ovulating cow. That means slippery hands and arms, which means balls get knocked loose easier.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

If you pay close enough attention, with the exceptions of John White (2011-12) and Ty Jordan (2020, RIP), you’ll find that the “fumbling” problems tend to come from the “new” RBs.  It seems that each new tailback puts the ball on the ground about 3 times, then rarely fumbles again.  We’re very experienced at that position now, so give Jaylon Glover a trio of drops, and we’ll be fine.  Or better yet, give it to him vs. Weber St and San Diego St, and only throw him on the field in Gainsville if it’s late in the 4th-Qtr, and we have a big, sustainable lead.

P.S.: When I played high school football in South Texas (it’s very humid there), we’d hold our summer practices from 5:30 to 7:30 in the morning, because that’s the only time it was cool enough to ward off heat exhaustion. It was humid, but not 90-degrees. So the ball wasn’t that slippery. Game times always kicked off after 8pm, so humidity wasn’t much of a factor in the evening either. You’ll find that “cramping” is a bigger deal than “ball security”.

[Charlie]

The best way to counter the heat and humidity is depth. It is key that we do not fall behind and keep our rotations quite liberal especially in the first half. Only late in the game go just to the ones unless they need a blow. On both lines, the 2s need to play a third of the game, the strategy of here and there constantly is best and is a challenge more for the Oline. Should see a number of LBs, CBs, WRs, and safeties. Should be easy for TEs and RBs. It will be interesting to see the strategy for QB. We may need to have a roster handy more than usual for a first game. Likely, the weather in Utah may help with prep more than we like.

[utefansince79]

Lots of chances to practice in the heat here in Utah, but humidity makes a huge difference

 

[ProudUte]

Agreed.  And the voters seem to think so too.  The Utes got 26 of 33 possible votes.  I don’t think any team in PAC12 history has received that many 1st place votes.  Now, we need to prove it on the field starting September 3rd.