Onlyu

[crash11]

@Onlyu: Give us some hype for the big game this week! How are you feeling about the game? How’s the team feeling/looking? Sounds like for the most part they are healthy, think they can live up to the hype IF key guys stay healthy?

Always appreciate your insight! Go Utes!

[Onlyu]

It’s game week!!

I think this is the deepest team we’ve ever assembled from a recruiting/experience/talent standpoint. We don’t have the Sr laden team we had in 2019 BUT we’re better top to bottom without question. I think there are 4 games we can lose and this is one of them.

We have an unquestioned leader in Cam and plenty of real offensive weapons that have played in big time games so we should score often. We have better bodies in the receiver room but it will take the young guys time to figure out Ludwig’s offense. We’re probably 5 deep there. Would like to see 2 more new guys develop over the course of the season – Reed/Mbansor. The way we use our tight ends helps significantly though so not overly concerned.

I love our defensive backfield. I think our front 7 will be strong and very possibly better than last year but I’m not sure what the ceiling is. They have a chance to be really good BUT if they’re less than that it will put pressure on our backers and we lack experience there after Reid and Diabate. Tons of talent though.

Florida’s roster averages a 4 star rating so they have plenty of high level options. They lost a lot and have a completely new system which will be a major challenge for them early in the season. Lots of energy around the coaching change and program so the environment will be very difficult regardless of the heat/humidity. I’m more concerned with rain than I am with those things though. Without the sun it will be bearable and shouldn’t have a huge effect.

We have options up front if any one of the starters struggle but I’m bullish on our O-line overall.

The guys are ready…I think we’ll play well and leave Florida 1-0. We HAVE to control the run and if we do we’ll win by 10+. Napier ran it 60% of the time at ULL and I don’t expect anything different with the struggles I expect in their passing game. Not sure we can stop their run game but we need to control it.

35-24 Utes!!

[ProudUte]

Thanks, OnluU!!!  Very informative post.

You said, “I think there are four games we can lose.”  I remember when Ute fans looked at the schedule and said, “I think there are four games we can win.”  Now, we are playing a much tougher schedule and we know we can be in every game.

 

[Ute Dub]

I like our chances with Ludwig + a seasoned QB. Want to throw a depth chart at us? – Your best guess.

[RedUte14]

He already stated before he will not be giving us a depth chart, because Kyle is keeping things under wraps.

[Tony (admin)]

And just like that we have a depth chart. is it a deception? LOL

[Onlyu]

OK since it’s game week and just for fun…best GUESS but nothing concrete here and not taking into account any potential injuries that may or may not have occurred in camp. Mostly just how I would see this going.

QB – Cam, BB, JJ – part of my reasoning here is to have JJ mimic AR on scout team for this week. Nate has similar speed but not the same size and JJ is a load! As in past years they grade practice and bounce #2/3 around. My personal belief is that JJ ultimately wins the job provided he continues to improve his passing game.

RB – Tavion, Micah, Jaylon, Chris. I think they’ll all play. Micah and Jaylon can both catch the ball AND are damn good runners so are difficult to defend. Jaylon is dynamic.

FB – Kendall – sheesh. Pretty excited for short yardage and the potential destruction this guy might cause. We were actually much improved in goal line last year with Tavion. That trend continues this year.

TE – Kincaid, Kuithe, Yasmin or McClain

RT – Kump, Falcon
RG – Bills, Moko
C – Maile, Maea
LG – Laumea, Moko
LT – Daniels, Daniels, Daniels

Close competition so produce or perish! Flip the guards R/L

WR – Vele, Solo, Parks, Cope, Dixon (Kuithe) then I hope two of these 4 figure it out quickly – Tao, Gilmore, Reed and Mbanasor

PK – Noyes, Redding

P – Bouwmeester

CB – Phillips, JT, Vaughn, Marks, Savage, Lawler then the 3 young guys – Lloyd, Davis, Malaska

DT – Tafuna, Vimahi, Kafusi, Pututau’s

DE – Van, Miki, Gabe, Ellis or O’Toole

LB’s – Reid, Diabate, Barton, Medlock, Calvert bros, Furey or Tafuga

FS – RJ, Isbell, Blue

SS – Cole, Vaki

Nickel – Matalele, Phillips

Good chance I forgot someone and like I said this is just my opinion NOT an actual depth chart.

Flight leaves in 2 days!! Can’t wait!

[Central Coast Ute]

In this game, do the Utes run 4-2 or 4-3 on defense?

[Redblood]

Just reading between the lines: Is it fair to say the D line isn’t as stout as in past years?

[Onlyu]

I think the DL is plenty deep but I do think the player makeup is a little different. Guys like Fotu and Pepa will likely start out on the scout team and they’re talented. Might be a slight trade off from size to speed/quickness and the ability to generate pressure, which I think we’re better prepared for this year. That said, there isn’t a huge disparity in size difference YOY, probably 10-15 lbs on average is all so not sure we’ll even notice it outside of increased pressure in the middle of the field.

[AZUTE]

With FL’s problem at WR they are going to focus on the run. Keep the pressure off Richardson by keeping him out of long down situations.

Both teams with want to control the clock and keep the other teams O off the field.

Utah has to survive/manage Florida’s first game new Coach fired up excitement.

Wildcard is Richardson. He has the talent to carry Florida to a win but if Utah can confuse him with coverages he hasn’t seen he could easily throw a couple of picks. He could just as easily run for 150 yards if the Utah D can’t keep containment and stay in their rush lanes.

[ProudUte]

Completely agree AZUTE.

[Trailgoat]

Napier does not want Richardson running the ball ad lib all day. UF has zero depth at QB right now. Sure they want to beat Utah, not at the expense of losing their QB before SEC play. Keeping Richardson healthy for SEC play is the priority. This game means a hell of lot more to Utah than Florida. Agree, Napier is a run heavy coach. Utah shuts down Florida’s run game the gators are in big trouble with or without humidity.

I am perplexed why there is so much hype about Richardson. I get his physical attributes. Richardson is a very inexperienced QB when you look at how much college football he has actually played. His two biggest games were against LSU (loss) and USF (win). Chose those two games mainly because they were the only two games out of 7 he had meaningful college football minutes and threw for over 100 yards, next closest game was 82 yards against Georgia who completely shut Florida down, Jones played most of the game. Keep in mind, Mullen did a lot of QB shuffling with Richardson and Jones. The Florida QB situation last season was very odd. Jones was clearly their best QB, but he was very inconsistent resulting in Mullen doing the platoon thing. All the talk about Florida hanging close with Alabama had nothing to do with Richardson. Jones was the QB. This was clearly a WTF game for Alabama. It was Young’s first road game as a the starting QB for Alabama. BTW, leading tackler against Alabama tied with a couple other was Diabate.

In Richardson’s last 4 games when he played meaningful minutes he threw 4 TDs, 5 INTs. 658 passing yards (167 against LSU), rushed for 101 yards on 35 rushing attempts. He has stats for only one game in November, 11/27 against a 5-7 Florida State team where he was 5-7 passing, 1 TD pass, 11 carries for 27 yards. He has zero stats for essentially the full month of November since 10/30 against Georgia where he had 2 INTs, sacked twice, and had 12 carries for 26 yards.

I am calling it right now. Scalley and Utah’s defense are going make it a long day for Richardson. Other than Georgia, Richardson has not played against a defense remotely close to Utah’s talent or scheme. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the film room with Scalley and his defensive coaches. I see now why Florida fans and players are relying heavily on the weather to win this game. This game by no means easy, is Utah’s to lose. Utah plays their game this one’s over early. To add more humidity to the fire, Florida’s leading tackler last season is now Utah’s starting LB. Go Utes!

[Onlyu]

I agree about AR and the depth behind him. Just not sure they can afford to not run him. They become really one dimensional if they don’t use him in the ground. He’s a big bugger and is probably pretty durable.

The Kentucky game in week 2 is more important for sure. A lot of things working in our favor IMO.