Long Winded 2¢

[Jake]

QB: Barnes – He’s a one read, tuck it and run QB. He forced a lot of balls that should not have been thrown in the first place to his first read. He plays with a lot of heart, but unless he makes some drastic improvements, I hope he’s never a long term starter. I understand he was thrown into the fire last night last second, and maybe I should cut him some more slack, but I don’t think he’s the next guy. Interested to see what others think after last night.

RB : JJ – obviously needs to clean up some things, which is expected with a recent position move. But man he runs like a beast. Wish he would’ve got more touches and was able to get into a rhythm last night.

Glover – looked pretty good last night, solid performance, would’ve averaged closer to 5 YPC if it wasn’t for a bunch of 1 yard carry’s against stacked boxes at the very end.

Bernard – Wish we wouldn’t have played him last night, obviously wasn’t able to be effective with his injury, hope it wasn’t made worse by playing. But man, he’ll do anything for this team, one of my favorite players on the team.

WR/ TE: Vele – big catch at the end of the game, heck of a grab.

Dixon – How does the coaching staff not realize he needs more touches? He’s super dynamic and seems to make a play every time he touches the field, but only gets out there a couple times a game.

Kincaid – played his heart out again, fingers crossed he’ll be alright in time for Oregon.

Mcclain – Wish we would see more of him out there, don’t know if I saw him last night.

OBlock: I think they did pretty good considering Wazzu constantly stacked the box. Opened up some holes a couple times, hard to do with 7-8 constantly around the LOS.

DLine: looked really good last night, but Wazzu has a pretty bad O Line from the sounds of things. Elliss seemed to be wreaking havoc on them. There were a couple times where we couldn’t finish off the sack, hopefully we clean that up. Van, and Reid looked good as well.

Backer: Diabate looked pretty good. Lander looked solid when he was in, better than Karene. Karene is too slow, doesn’t matter if he knows the scheme better than any of the other LB’s when he can’t execute. I think Lander should get more time in his place. LB is still a glaring weak spot. I think the 4-2-5 defense works better for us.

CB: Looked pretty good as well again, Broughton got beat on a double move but made some good tackles in the flats, as did Clark. Looks like we played more zone than we usually do, and looked inexperienced at times. Missed assignments led to their first TD, both Clark and Hubert covered the same guy while another man ran free. But it also allowed us to cover the flats well which they liked to attack, so you take it.

Safeties: Might’ve been the best looking position group last night. Vaki looks like a beast, so did Bishop as usual. Hubert had a good game going until his targeting, needs to keep his head up there. Even Isbell came in and made a good play on their last drive.

Special teams : Straight garbage as usual. Kick coverage looked good but would rather avoid it all together.

Would love to hear what people think about Barnes or the linebacker situation.

[RedUte14]

Bryson Barnes is not a starter in my eyes. He is a serviceable backup. He provides maturity and stable ness right now that Nate Johnson not Brandon Rose could provide in this very moment.

But I doubt he starts next year.

[Jake]

I would bet we probably bring in a transfer unless we feel like Rose or Johnson is ready next year if Rising leaves which seems likely.

[prestitute]

Pretty sure we think Johnson will be the dude. It could go another way, but you don’t bring top flight guys in to sit for several years. We already lost Costelli for bringing Johnons in. I think we will see him come up big next year. 

 

[Utah]

Yeah, it definitely seems they are grooming Johnson to be #1 and Barnes to be #2 next year with new FR QB as #3/RS. 

[RedUte14]

The times I noticed Barton he just always seems to be a step behind where he should be. He needs the experience and has more potential the karene. So keep him out there, but as of now he is just a body and needs a break out game.

[UtePac-Man]

I thought Barnes did great all things considered. He got the W. It was his first collegiate start. He had limited reps leading up to the game I beleive since Onlyu said Rising practiced all week. Barnes was a bit jittery throughout the game but had some nice throws to Money, Dixon, Kincaid, and that first down to Vele on the clock-killing drive. Whitt said on Monday that Wazzu’s D was first place in the Pac-12, so our offensive backups did just enough to win on the road. Last year, ironically, it was Rising’s first collegiate start vs Wazzu at home. He seemed a bit jittery in the first half of that game but settled in, especially in the second half. We coughed up the ball several times that game and won 24-13 last year with a much better front 7. My jury is still out on Barnes, but I love his heart and grit! I like your $0.02 on many points and agree on the linebackers; Landon has a very high ceiling… thank you for sharing. Go Utes!

[Tony (admin)]

Thanks for the post. Did you paste from Word or something? I removed a TON of garbage HTML from the post.

[Jake]

Notes app, sorry lol. Felt easier

[ProudUte]

Good analysis.  

I don’t think Barnes is our future at QB.  However, I cannot judge him based on last night.  He did not take QB1 reps because Rising was planning on playing.  I think he did well for his first start without getting the reps.  He has already surprised everyone by coming from a 1A school and starting in major college football.  Look at Alabama’s backup QB.  I am sure he was a highly-rated recruit but he was far from stellar in his two starts.  By the way, I think Johnson is our future starting QB.  But, I wouldn’t count Barnes out when he gets the reps and experience.

I agree with you on Jackson.  He is a great athlete, big and fast.  He needs playing time to perfect his RB skills.  If Thomas doesn’t come back, I hope Jackson gets 8-10 touches a game.

I think (hope) that Bishop moves to LB next year.  He needs to put on 15-20 pounds as Chase Hansen did back in the day.  He could be a difference-maker at LB.

 

 

[Jake]

With our depth at safety moving Bishop could be a great move. Next year we’ll have Vaki, Isbell, and Ritchie comes back

[UtahUtesRock]

With all due respect I see these types of posts and wonder “do we really think we know better than the coaches”? If we do, we should be contacting Mark Harlan for a job interview. Do I think Barnes is the next QB1, no. Do I believe the coaches want to make him QB1, no. Fairly certain they watch these kids and practice and are better able to make to right call based on the body of work they see as compared to the rest of us. I was bummed and nervous when I saw him enter the game last night but I was also equally confident that Kyle thought Barnes gave him the best chance of all his other options to compete last night. 

[Jake]

I know what you’re saying. And I agree Barnes is a better option at the moment that Johnson or Rose. But like you said, he’s not the future. But Ill take a job if they offer me haha.

[ProudUte]

Of course we don’t know more than the coaches.  I often say that to family and friends when they say we should play a different guy or we should run this play, etc.  However, as a fan – it is fun to discuss things.  I would never judge Barnes on just last night.  I think he did okay, but he didn’t have the reps to prepare.  My biggest complaint is that he should have kept the ball on a few occasions when the ends crashed in on our RB.  Otherwise, I think he did very well considering.

 

[noneyadb]

It’s easy for coaches to get locked in on certain players though. Lots of coaches do it. Dixon, Money Parks, Ricky Parks, Chris Curry, Jordan Wilmore, Enis, McClain, Jackson, Johnson and many others are so underutilized. With what Jackson and Johnson both bring athletically, for Barnes to be QB2, something else is going on.

[krindor]

So you think there’s fully 9 offensive skill position players that we should be using more?

It’s simple enough to wish guys we’re getting more opportunities, the hard part is deciding who you’re going to take opportunities away from to get those guys more. More Enis and Dixon and McClain means less Vele and Money Parks and Kincaid (and Kuithe when he was healthy). More Curry and Ricky Parks and Jackson means less Tavion (who is already phasing out in recent games) and Micah and Glover. And Johnson means less Cam. Wilmore would be tough to use more since he’s transferred (twice) since last being on the roster

[noneyadb]

I think Utah QB’s have rarely had the time in the pocket to fully go thru progressions. They go one and run. The pass protection has been awful for years.

Rewatch 2015 Michigan game. Joe Williams shows flashes of what he can do with his speed yet it takes ARod a year to get him on the field. No you don’t want to take away from Booker, but you can’t simply ignore a players abilities.

Thomas wasn’t ready this season. Ludwig, instead of seeing he was out of shape, continued to give him the carries in camp, practice, and games rather than going with others sooner. Some kids shine in the lights some don’t. But coaches have to give kids the opportunity and once here and there isn’t enough.

[noneyadb]

@krindor😂 It’s a list of players that haven’t/didn’t get many opportunities under this staff either this season or previous. I know Wilmore isn’t on the staff… I’d argue that touches have been taken away from Enis and Dixon and given to others, but this comes down to preparation and kids being taught the position. Barnes has been here two years, he should know how to read a defense and audible out of a play at this level for two 4* QB’s to ride the pine behind him. Wazzu is bad and if not for a review booth targeting call or muffed punt, Utah doesn’t walk away with the W and everybody has a much different outlook.

[SOWhat]

Money…
There is only 1hr of football time in a game, not enough to fully utilize all those players. All the skill players, so they are called, except the QB, are used situationally, according to the game plan or need. It’s not realistic to expect that the players, except those who are very good, can be utilized.

[UtahUtesRock]

I dunno I think it was maybe OnlyU that was saying in practice Parks is like a deer in headlights. I will admit that when I see Dixon come in for 3 plays a game and make 2 out of 3 big plays it’s a head scratcher. 

[SteelUte]

Two more cents.

Not a pretty game, but its nice that our program is at the point it is. 10 years ago we had to show up with all our starters and get lucky to beat a team like Wazzu on the road.  Now we show up with whoever we got and have enough to pull it off. Although in those days, it seemed like we could win it with decent place kickers, and now well….

The refs were bad, their microphones, the spots, the holding calls, the cameras were bad. Light years from the quality of game that Utah had vs USC.  

Strange that after our bye week the team was as banged up as they were.  

Targeting- I understand why the rule is in place, but I wish there were two types of infraction.  A more serious call merits the current penalty, and a lesser infraction gets 12-15 minutes of game time off in the current game.  I don’t know…?

 

 

[SalUteopia]

Well said, @Steel

[RedRocks]

I don’t understand why Dixon is not more involved either. Then again, none of the receivers get many touches in this offense. What do I know.

[#3bballer]

I think Dixon needs touches as well. Seemed like they simplified the offense considering rising took all the practice snaps.

[DrahtUte]

I’m really surprised at everyone’s apparent expectations for a young QB playing their first full game. We’re Utah, not USC. Since when did we start believing we should have a bunch of top tier backup QBs just waiting to reveal their elite talent first chance they got? We’ve had to grow every good quarterback we’ve ever had. 

I’ll have to go back and watch Cam’s and Huntley’s first games but I don’t remember them being any better than Barnes was last night. 

[Dallas]

Whit said Barnes didn’t know he’d be starting until 30 min before game time.