My thoughts on the game

[chinngiskhaan]

Coaching: Came out a bit flat on offense against a team we knew we would dominate. There has been one or two of you here doubting Scalley’s coaching ability the last several weeks. I think it’s clear after last night that he is doing an excellent job with this defense. They are head and shoulders above where they were at the beginning of the year. We lost one of our best defensive linemen for the year and managed to play better anyway. We didn’t get 15 sacks, but we DID get 16 sacks+TFLs… That’s basically the same thing. You could tell from the beginning of that game that everyone on our team knew we were going to win.

QB: Rising started off rough but figured it out eventually.

RB: TT is back. The running game did much better with the QB under center. Clearly Rising was a bit uncomfortable passing from under center, but the running game was excellent. Tavion is a lot of fun to watch when he is on his game. Love to see it.

WR: Parks had another drop or two, but still had a decent game. Vele played great. The TD catch in the corner was a beautiful throw and catch.

TE: Yassmin still hasn’t learned to hold onto a football. He started letting go of the ball before it hit the pylon. He got lucky AF. He might be the worst football holder I’ve ever seen.

OL: Pass blocking wasn’t great (at least early on it was terrible)… probably due to the change to more under center stuff. Understandable. They clearly changed things up to feature the running game more, and that is fine with me. I think that is more sustainable.

DL: EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE. DE #1 out? No problem. 

LB: EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE. Nothing to point out really

S: the future is blindingly bright at safety for the Utes. #8 and #11 are going to be a scary duo for the next few years.

K: Got a touchback… thats a win.

P: great fake punt, sold it really well.

Excellent game. This team has improved every week. If we can control the ball against Oregon, I think we win without too much trouble TBH.

Also, Stanford had a bunch of unnecessarily chippy players. Probably because most of those guys know they could be playing for the Utes right now looking at a future in the NFL.

 

[The Miami Ute]

Regarding the safeties, I’d like Bishop to stay the full four years at Utah, but I think that he’s gone after next year. He’s just that good of a disruptor. Incredible that both Alabama and Georgia missed out on a guy that talented sitting right on their laps. Hopefully, the NIL crooks don’t show up at his door.

[ProudUte]

Chinngiskhaan, good synopsis of last night’s game.

However, I think Oregon will be tougher than you think.  Rising in a brace is not the same player.  He did make two nice scrambles that he didn’t even try last week.  However, one of Cam’s strengths is keeping the ball when the D Ends are pinching in on the RB.  He has not done that since USC.  I hope he is capable of doing that next week.  We need it to keep the defense honest.

 

[chinngiskhaan]

If we run 20 more plays than Oregon and win TOP by 10 minutes, we absolutely win. How is that even a question?

[RoboUte]

On your assessment dont let recency bias paint it too much we just had a very easy 3 game stretch. We’ll see if all this holds up against a team with a pulse. Though Zona had half of one.

And Stanford playing chippy was very odd, Washington plays like that not Stanford. I do wonder what the deal was.

[chinngiskhaan]

Earlier in the year we didn’t play this well against bad teams. This team is improving despite missing several key contributors and an injured Rising.

Making Oregon prepare for Tavion is a HUGE win. I don’t really do game result predictions, I’m just saying this game was exactly what we needed before the big one.

[W16Ute]

Well said… Unfortunately safety #11 is a senior. But i think Vaki is going to do great and Isbell is progressing to replace him.

[chinngiskhaan]

Oops… I meant Vaki. My bad.

[Central Coast Ute]

I think they get Ritchie back next year too. At safety we’ll have Bishop, Isbell, Ritchie, Vaki. The future is bright at that position and Scalley is a Hell of a coach.

[J Rocksville]

I don’t know that playing for Utah would make those guys all of a sudden high level NFL guys set to make millions. If you could choose to start your life in your early to mid 20s with an outside chance of making a roster and a 6 to low 7 figure salary for a year or two, or have a free Stanford education and the support of that ridiculous alumni association going into a career… I dunno man. It’s kind of a coin flip