Long time Ute fan first time poster

[Jim Vanderhoof]

I’ve been a life long Ute fan. My first year at the U Bill Meek was the football coach. Lots of downs turned in to lots of ups.

I normally just read posts but thought I might give a quick thought on the quarterback situation.

I get the give Johnson reps takes. No matter how many reps he gets this week his arm and ability to read defenses and make adjustments on the line of scrimmage won’t change. Also the opposing defenses won’t change their philosophy of attacking the young qb.

We have an elite defense and our only chance to get to the CCG is with Cam at qb. The coaches know this and we all know this. We need to be all in with getting Cam ready even if it slows down our qbs development. With the defense must play more standard D. Cam’s experience and presence can make a big difference even if he is not the same Cam.

Let’s go all in with Cam or bust!!!

[Utah]

This is the reality. If Rose was healthy, maybe the coaches decide to put Rising on the burner and let him simmer and focus on Johnson.

While Johnson has all the potential in the world, this is his fourth season, if that, being a QB. He is just limited due to lack of experience.

[//r00t4Utes]

Confused by “this is Johnson’s 4th year at QB”

Unless you’re taking about high school

[Utah]

He didn’t play QB until his JR year in HS.

HS – JR
HS – SR
College – FR
College – RS FR – this year.

[RedRocks]

“If Rose was healthy” – Is there a reason for this optimism around Rose? We’ve never even seen him play.

[bopahull]

Hey, you know everything would come up roses with Rose.

[Tony (admin)]

Welcome to Ute Hub @jvhoofs! Post more! Tell your friends! Spread the word. GO UTES!

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Thanks Tony!! I really enjoy the knowledge and insights of this site. It’s great to be a Ute football fan and to see the success Ronny Mac Urban and now Whittingham have turned this program into a perineal contender. Go utes

[RoboUte]

“Let’s go all in with Cam or bust!”

Here’s the problem, we’re already at bust.

We have been all in with Cam this entire time. At this very moment we are all in on Cam and all we have to show for it is a worse team. Our 2nd to worst offense in the PAC (112th in the country) is a direct result of our being all in on Cam.

And I’m never buying the narrative that practice won’t help Nate, that’s foolishness, if you buy that then you should also buy that Cam doesn’t need the reps either. Why would he at this point? If I’m putting my money on which quarterback will improve more with a week of reps between QB A with years at the helm and QB B with two games it’s pretty obvious it’s QB B. I’ll also remind you that in this not so hypothetical scenario QB B doesn’t wince when he sees a flight of stairs.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

So you think a freshman quarterback with a limited playbook can compete with the top teams right now? We just destroyed a top freshman qb from ucla.Sure reps will help with timing and maybe a few additional plays. Arm strength reading defenses take time and we don’t have it now. We want to win this year!!

If Cam is not healed and can’t throw the ball down field then we lose anyway. My point is Cam gives us the best chance to win this year. We could have all three qbs transfer.Time improve is off season and spring. We are not winning a cc with Johnson this year.

[RoboUte]

“If Cam is not healed and can’t throw the ball down field then we lose anyway”

Yep, in which case it will then be undeniable that we wasted this entire season kneecapping the progress of our 4 star recruit(s), and the in-game production of our offense with them, for a guy that produces the same results as them. At that point NOT ONLY have we ruined our 2023, but we’ve also put our 2024 behind, robbing our future of reps and in-game experience.

You see it like this: “Oh well both are losses”

I see it like this: “One loss costs far more than the other”

I’ll take the cheaper loss 110% of the time. My gut tells me that Cam’s going to go out there and do fine at… some point. But it also tells me that if we had gone all in on our young guys that we’d have probably hung 28 on UCLA and the discussion about our future conference championship probability looks very different.

[homer]

Wow. Bill Meek was coach when I was a freshman. If you went to fb games when there was a track and the student section extended to the 50 yd line, we probably at least walked past each other.

[NarfUte]

He was probably the other student there

[Charlie]

I was here for Lovat and Howard, lean but pleasant years.

[noneyadb]

Would definitely hate to be in Ludwig’s shoes this season. Hindsight they needed to move on from the Barnes experiment after 2022 Wazzu game. At this point let Johnson have all QB1 reps until Rose or Cam are cleared.

[2008 National Champ]

People have been telling me for years what a genius Ludwig is. Apparently he even invented the 3 tight end offense. Sure seems like a guy with those credentials would have had a plan in place for Barnes, Rose, Johnson or TQWSNBN instead of trying to force square pegs into round holes.

What we are witnessing this year is the same reason why most Utah fans were happy Ludwig moved on after 2008. The Baylor game was a perfect example. His plan did nothing for 3 quarters and then he took the reins off the QB just in time for a comeback victory.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Homer back then we were the must instead of the muss. Must come a game once a year. Brownie Van Galder was a must see QB. Lol

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Narf you couldn’t be more wrong. My older brother was with me!!

[pedro]

I disagree with the notion that reps won’t help NJ make reads or throws. That’s exactly what reps will do. That’s why they practice. Our scout team often goes unheralded, but they are often some of the best. They run the opposing teams D. That would give NJ the looks he’s going to see, the coverage he’s going to see and YES the pressure he’s going to see. Which is precisely one of the many reason CR might not be great when he comes back, he hasn’t been seeing that.

[RedRocks]

I still don’t understand why people want to blame the offensive woes on Johnson. Sure, he is limited in some ways; new quarterbacks usually experience a learning curve.

The play calling on offense has been pretty terrible. How can Johnson prove that he can throw the ball if you call ‘run up the middle’ almost every down?