My three biggest concerns this year…

[Sweetness]

I keep seeing so much optimism from everyone about this season but I can’t help but have the following thoughts/concerns: 

1) I can’t help but think at some point Huntley will get injured and be out 3-4 games, and I have very little confidence in our backup situation. Last year it was a luxury to have Troy come in and win the Arizona and Colorado games for us. He struggled against Stanford, but outside of the botched two point conversion I thought he played really pretty well against USC. If that same situation happens this year, we could be in a world of hurt. I know a lot of people are high on Tuttle, but from my personal observation in the spring, I didn’t see a kid that could go out and win many Pac12 games this upcoming season. Maybe this point isn’t fair, as it is predicting something that hasn’t happened, but I feel like if it does happen it will torpedo our season. I think we’re a year away from having a good backup QB situation. 

2) Our offensive line was really pretty bad last year. Everyone talks about how they came on strong towards the end of the year, but the level of competition in the games they looked good was way down. UCLA and Colorado were a mess. Washington state lived in the backfield, and we averaged 2.6 yards per carry against Washington. They weren’t great against WV either. I know we return four starters, but I felt like we had a bottom third pac12 line last year and the one guy we lost was probaby our best offensive lineman. I can see this group jumping to being average, but to expect anything more than an average o-line seems unrealistic. This also contributes to my fear of point 1. 

3) This is definitely the smallest of my worries, but if we’re being honest unless Boyd and Covey have spectacular seasons, we probably have one of the worst WR corps in the P12…again. Maybe Bryan Thompson takes a big step forward, maybe Enis shows up and has the juice, but I haven’t seen anything from Mariner, Simpkins, or Nacua that suggests their anything but 2nd/3rd string on the majority of P12 teams. 

I’m probably just being overly pessimistic, considering I do feel really good about every other position group. But I just have a hard time seeing a 10 win season when I look at our schedule. My prediction is another 8-9 win season like we had from ’14-16. If Huntley goes down for any significant period of time, I think we will be between 5-7 and 7-5. 

Anyone else feel the same? 

[EagleMountainUte]

I agree with all of this post 100%. I used to be just like that as well. Until I realized that speculating about the painful s**t isn’t fun.  Football is entertainment and escape. I try to have a pretty realistic outlook on what actually happens with Utah football when it happens. I believe and it is fun to believe this that Utah’s ceiling is a 10 win season with a shot at a Rose bowl. You are right though if that s**t happens I think 5 is just as realistic. I also think I could get kidney stones again and really fear it but don’t like to speculate on when that will happen again. 

What I am saying is a lot of things can happen to torpedo that 10 win pipe dream. I am operating on the assumption that for once Utah gets a little lucky and Huntley stays upright for a change. I am realistic about it and know Utah hasn’t had healthy a qb for like ever. This might actually relate to the oline as well. Also to the wr inability to get their ass open. Chicken and egg or it just might be Whitt who is at the bottom of all this. 

I am really high on Utah’s backfield though. Moss and Shyne are going to be good. Moss really started to figure things out to end the season more than oline coming together. 

[Sweetness]

I like the way you think! And I will say going into 2008, i wasn’t thinking undefeated season and it happened. I also wasn’t thinking 8 wins in 2014, and then devontae booker happened. There probably needs to be some luck and maybe a surprise or two from a player we’re not expecting much from, but the fact that 10 wins is even a possibility is pretty awesome. 

[EagleMountainUte]

I don’t think it is unrealistic in thinking two things may happen. Huntley moves from middle of the PAC to top three qb in the PAC. Utah is very dangerous if they get very good QB play. The other is finally getting some luck with a healthy QB all season. Obviously a lot depends on that but I am opitimistic about it. If Huntley goes down I think a backup can come in and be solid enough to hand off to workhorse RBs for some wins. 

[Ute Bc]

I definitely agree with 1 and 3.  Regarding number 2 for some reason, I am not as worried.  Last year the offensive line was learning a new offense.  The did seem to come together and I think one more year with the same O will be huge. That combined with hopefully 2 great running backs should help a ton.  

[Tony (admin)]

Injuries are the one thing we can’t foresee. We can be 2-3 injuries away from a very bad season.  BUT the same can be said for any team.

[PorterRockwell]

I think we are past the days where one or two injuries details the season.  For the most part we now have PAC12 depth.  

When Urban was here he said our 1’s could play with anybody and he was right. He said there was significant dropff with our twos and threes.   

There is some drop off now but it’s not nearly what it was five years ago.  A kid goes down now and we have a capable backup behind him.  That wasn’t the case 5-10 years ago.  

[Tony (admin)]

I assume you mean derailed. 

[PorterRockwell]

Yes  damn autocorrect 

[ProudUte]

Injuries at QB can mess up a season.  Just look at UCLA the last few years.  I really don’t know what to expect out of Shelley and Tuttle.  No one knows until they hit the field.  I suspect Tuttle will redshirt, making Shelley the backup.  I hear great things about him, but who knows if he can deliver.  Part of whay made 2004 and 2008 such great seasons were the lack of many season ending injuries.  If we want to win the South this year – we will likely need the same thing.

I hope that are WRs step up.

One big things with the Oline is experience playing together.  We didn’t have that last year and now we have that.  I suspect they will be much better this season.

 

[Tony (admin)]

Shelley looked good in the spring game. 

[PlainsUte]

8-9 wins is not being pessimistic with this schedule

[Utah]

So much this. I think people are getting ahead of themselves with this schedule. I don’t think we fully realize how HARD it is. And how EASY USC’s schedule is. I’d give us a 1% chance of winning the south based on schedule alone. 

 

[EagleMountainUte]

1% idk about that. Zona, ASU and fUCLA are installing brand new systems. 

[Puget Ute]

Wow.  They skip both Washington and Oregon.  This schedule is lining up nicely for the Trojans.

 

Next year we have a relatively easier schedule (drop Stanford and Oregon, pick up Cal and Oregon State).

[FtheY]

Utah – I haven’t looked it up, but it seems on par with 2015 when we beat ucla on the road and went 10-3, yeah? Or maybe it was 2014. Either way it was a tough year and we had an amazing season. I could definitely be off though. 

Assuming the difficulty is the same, what drove such an amazing season? I remember good running back play from Booker and good special teams. Maybe injuries we’re light? Would it be unreasonable to think we could be in the same ballpark? We also had some lucky breaks on close games though, missed fg at UCLA, etc. 

[ironman1315]

My three biggest concerns:

1) what kind of coat will I need to watch the parade

2) Will my kids want to watch

3) how long will I rub in this natty in BYU fan’s faces. I’m thinking 34 years should suffice.

[rbmw263]

This year might hinge on harding developing the line. Given his track record I think the outlook is good, but you are right. The line was nowhere near good enough last year. Very poor pockets and not much running room against any DL worth a damn

[Chidojuan]

Despite how much he frustrates me, Jon Wilner has us with the #2 Offensive line in the South. He’s frustratingly correct in a lot of his predictions. I’m confident in Harding. Time will tell if that is misplaced confidence.

[EastCoastUte]

1) if Tyler does get injured, im pretty confident in our other two options shelley and tuttle with what we saw during spring practice. they’ll only improve with time.

3) i feel like its all about experience. now that alot of those players have 1-2 years under their belts, they’ll be alot better this year. plus with a better QB, it can only go up from here.

i guess im just optimistic because we are getting alot of guys returning this year? haha

[gUrthBrooks]

I’ll chime in. To have that special season you need some NFL talent on offense. See Freddie Brown/ David Reed in 08’ along with Matt Asiata. Also, 04’ had Alex and Paris Warren, John Madsen. We might get their but that would call for some breakout players on Oh-fence.

[UtMtBiker]

I agree we are a year away form a great back up situation. I think Huntley will make a great back up next year. I don’t think our WR situation is bad at all. OL is more of a concern for me.