Notes from Bartle interview

[ProudUte]

Riley said that he has no clue about Rising and he believes Whitt is being honest when he says that he doesn’t know for sure.

Bartle said Whitt didn’t say much but that was expected.

The positive from the Whitt presser is that this is one of his best teams and very deep. The kicking/punting is much better. Whitt said they expect to score 80% of the time when they get inside the forty.

Bartle feels there are still plenty of weapons to win without Rising and Kuithe.

This is the first true road game opener for Florida in 30 years. This is a big deal and speaks to Utah as a program.

Both guys say that they know there are injuries on defense, but they have no idea as to who. They also don’t know if some of them will play. (I must say as a fan, it is frustrating to not know anything about these injuries.)

Mertz is not the player Richardson was. He is just an average P5 QB. Priority number one for the Utes is to stop the run. Expect a lot of play-action. Mertz was sacked a lot last season.

The uncertainty of the injuries is frustrating. There is depth across the board on the defense.

Florida has had a lot of turnover and they have had to remake this team. There are many new guys. (I think this helps us. This will be the first time that these guys will be playing together.)

Florida lost a key defensive end to injury. (I also heard that their center may not be able to play.)

Nothing new on recruiting.

The committed recruits are all looking good. The Davis kid from California was up here playing against Bingham on Saturday. He should be a great safety for the Utes.

Bartles prediction – a defensive slugfest. Utah 21 – 17.

[22Ute22]

Yup, Florida’s O-line has 3 new transfers. The projected starting 5 had 3 guys not play in the spring game, and due to the injuries they’ve sustained, they have only 10-14 practices as a starting 5, 3 of which are in a new system. If their center is out, that would mean 4/5 would be new starters. I hope we can take advantage of that, but it’ll depend on how the D-line plays, especially with the injuries.

[Extra Medium]

On paper the Utah defense should FEAST!!!

[2008 National Champ]

I never like eating on paper

[chinngiskhaan]

Defensive slugfest.

Translation: Utah’s defense keeps Utah in the game, while Utah’s offense simultaneously keeps Florida in the game.

[Ma’ake Kava]

I expect both defenses to try and dictate the game. *If* we can generate pressure without blitzing, we can get them off the field. If we use pressure packages then there’s risk Mertz can get it to the RBs and WRs, who will be a handful one on one. The emphasis on tackling in camp is huge.

On the other side, if Nate’s at QB they’ll run blitz, so he’ll have to prove he can do damage through the air, or he’ll be out of the game, fast. Their 3-3-5 and propensity for zone blitzing will be an attempt to force quick decisions and confuse the OL, no matter who’s QB.

Whether the offenses can negate this pressure is pivotal, but sustaining that kind of defensive effort requires depth and serious conditioning. If things are roughly equal or close, we get an advantage in 2H.

With a new DC (even with experience in their scheme) I’m doubtful their D will be able to mask coverages with great skill, so quick & accurate reads and execution is essential. Just move the sticks.

Conversely, can our D mask coverages to bait Mertz into bad decisions & throws? (The 2019 D with Burgess and Blackmon as coverage safeties was the epitome of wrecking QB decision making. Four of that defensive backfield are still in the league.)

[The Miami Ute]

I’m just shaking my head. A lot of people are talking about 30 year old Austin Armstrong as if he’s Bill Bellichick. So far, the biggest takeaway I have from him is that he’s very aggressive and likes to blitz a lot. There’s benefits and drawbacks to that. I know that last year his defense at SoMiss gave up quite a few big plays (30+ plus), probably because they were blitzing so much. I can’t believe that Ludwig hasn’t taken notice of that and planned accordingly. By the way, Ludwig was already an OC when Armstrong was born. Huge difference in experience.

[ProudUte]

Southern Miss gave up an average of 372 yards per game last season. That’s not bad but not fantastic either. I agree that he lacks experience. I hope we can exploit his lack of experience. But, he may be great. Personally, I suspect that a new coach with a bunch of new players will struggle early in the season.

[Redblood]

We used to struggle against that defense when in the MWC. Because we aren’t a big play team. I want to say New Mexico and BYU ran it and we performed worse against it. Hopefully we’ve figured it out.

[2008 National Champ]

New Mexico ran a 3-3-5 for years under Rocky Long. He took it to San Diego State where Danny Gonzales was his DC, who then took it to ASU.

There’s really not much difference between it and the 2-4-5 that UW ran for years. One LB plays the edge and the other stands up a yard or so off the line. The real key to making it working is having a good nose/1-tech so the other 5 can use their speed in addition to having a numbers advantage.