Many people are suggesting that USC will blow us out.

[ProudUte]

That of course could happen because USC’s offense is so potent.  Some have suggested that they are better than when we played them on October 15th.

But, look at the games USC has played since they played us (throwing out the CU game).

They beat Arizona 45-37.  This was a close game throughout and USC broke away late.

They beat Cal 41-35.  Cal is not a powerhouse.

They beat UCLA 48-45.  DTR threw three interceptions and lost a fumble and the Bruins still only lost by 3.

They beat Notre Dame 38-27.  ND had two key turnovers in USC territory.  ND’s QB passed for a personal best in that game.

I guess what I am saying is that USC has not been stomping on teams since they last played the Utes.  In fact, three of those games could have been lost.  

Yes, Utah has some injuries.  But, we are still the best defense USC has played this season.  USC players know what is on the line for them.  Will this help or hurt them?

[EagleMountainUte]

Utah has an actual loss though. Yeah it was Oregon at home. But Nix should not have played. Clearly completely hobbled and couldn’t defend himself.
Oregon’s passing defense is one of the worst in the nation. Yet Utah inexplicably did nothing to exploit that. It wasn’t just Rising was hurt. It was a terrible game plan. Blame the kicking game as much as you want but the coaches have known for at least two years what it is.
I am still bullish on the Utes because against ranked competition on the road they have a less than stellar record.
Now Rising was less than amazing against Oregon last year in the CCG. But it didn’t matter because Oregon’s offense was awful. This years CCG isn’t that way. USC has a very prolific and explosive offense led by a qb who can take over games.

I do agree that Utah can keep this close mainly because USC defense is awful. If Utah can take away Tuipulotu again I think they will be fine.
If the defense continues its current trend and manages some turnovers it should work out. Williams has been using his legs really well lately. Utah struggles with this, obvious statements in all of this.

[ProudUte]

EagleMountain, I also am very concerned with what our offense did against Oregon.  It really bothers me that we could not exploit their pathetic pass defense.  I am with you – I don’t know if it was our game plan, Rising’s injury, or something else.  Regardless, we looked very bad on offense that night.  There were NO chunk plays.  That is crazy.

If we win on Friday, we will need a Rising who can run when needed and be patient in the pocket.  He has done neither since getting injured.  If he is not a threat to run, USC’s D ends will pinch in and stop the run.  We need Rising to have a good to great game to win IMO.

 

[EagleMountainUte]

Maybe it was because it was Colorado but Rising didn’t even look to exploit the edges which were wide open. Barnes confirmed this in his post game comments when asked by Mitchell. Also it took Ludwig some time to use Dixon to do just that. It is something that infuriates all of us in chat. We all say USE DIXON. Maybe we will see it other than a decoy a million times.

[The Miami Ute]

In my view, Oregon State has a better running game overall and there’s no one currently with the Utes that’s to the level of Damien Martinez.

[SalUteopia]

Agree with Miami. OSU ran far better than us. And Martinez is just a freshman!

[krindor]

We definitely had a lack of chunk plays against Oregon… but that’s not a new weakness. Our offense is good… but not explosive. Here’s Utah’s rank in

Plays of 10+ yards: #12/131 (excellent; worth noting that USC and Washington are tied for #1)
Plays of 20+ yards: #48/131 (not terrible, but definitely not great – right with USF, Coastal Carolina, South Carolina and Liberty)
Plays of 30+ yards: #99/131 (pretty bad, tied with Utah St, Middle Tennessee, Akron and Illinois
Plays of 40+ yards: #129/131 (ahead of New Mexico and Ball St)

We’re REALLY good at getting solid gains over 10 yards… but we don’t do the huge explosive chunk plays to which Oregon was/is vulnerable

[Charlie]

Going into the Oregon game I also thought Utah needed to pass often to beat Oregon and wanted more passing. Then I watched Oregon State, the team built most like us, take Oregon apart using the run only throughout the last three drives. Clearly, our coaches and Oregon State saw a path to beat Oregon running the ball. Now with what we have learned about the RB room and knowing how the chemistry was whipping up and down, I wonder just what was the state when we played Oregon. Possibly, the explanation could be the coaches had a very good plan to exploit the Oregon defense, should have just as Oregon State did, but it required RBs running on all cylinders. We don’t know how close the coaches came to getting the same results out of TT as last year. Could we next see a result that is an addition through subtraction? In this case, the coaches could be the other 5 blind men that have more information about what is an elephant.

[The Miami Ute]

That’s my take as well. I think USC is definitely beatable and if their offense plays just a couple of notches below optimal it’s really game on. For a team that’s on the cusp of the CFP, USC sure dodged a bunch of bullets and had a lot of close games. The only PAC team that they blew out was Colorado. Every other contest was close or reasonable in nature. In a football season, sooner or later the crows come home to roost and USC has been the beneficiary of a +23 turnover margin. It might not be against Utah, but you have to figure that before this season ends USC will have a game with at least two or three turnovers. That’s the way the football gods operate.

[Dallas]

They should be better than when they played as, assuming their million dollar receiver plays the whole game. He got injured and didn’t finish the game against us.

[ProudUte]

They are now missing Dye who was their leading rusher and third-leading receiver in that game.  I think they are also missing one of their O-line too.  Addison is back and playing again.  He was their leading receiver against Notre Dame.  However, no one receiver had more than 45 yards last Saturday.  Jones did have 25 carries for 154 yards.  It appears that ND kept USC from going deep.  

[Central Coast Ute]

Jones might be better than Dye.

[AlaskaSteveUteAlum]

The lead up to this game reminds me of the lead up to the 2009 Sugar Bowl. Every one of the “experts” is predicting against us. They don’t know what that does for a KW-coached team in a crucial game. We’ll win, by at least a touchdown. KW loves to see those “experts” eat their words. The halftime and after game commentary should be fun. Let USC know that they’re not good enough (despite buying a team and a coach) to be PAC-12 Champions.