So Moa is no longer committed… That is kind of shocking, but also not so bad

[chinngiskhaan]

He’s a good player, but he plays a position that we are absolutely loaded at… So doesn’t hurt us much if he doesn’t recommit to Utah.

[Tony (admin)]

I think it is funny when they put “respect my decision” on their tweets about commits.  What if I don’t? LOL 

[chinngiskhaan]

Lol yeah… like telling someone to respect you makes them respect you. It’s such a childish thing to say. Do they all buy tweet templates from the same source? I wish a commit would post something original for once. It’s strange.

[Ute Dub]

I love when anyone goes to social media with the attitude of, “I’m going to put all my s**t on Twitter for everyone to see…but don’t you dare respond how I don’t want you to respond”.

[dystopiamembrane]

Why wouldn’t you respect his decision?

[Ute Dub]

Because he solicited something he doesn’t need from anyone.

[dystopiamembrane]

What was it that he solicited?

[Larry B]

I’m guessing he’ll end up with the TDS. Probably only the beginning of them taking recruits from us.

[younglurch]

Really? Not sure I agree with that sentiment about TDS taking recruits from us in the slightest. What advantage do they have over us? This could surely be a whole thread on its own, but I am not sure one could argue in good faith the zoobs will suddenly attract our recruits because they are a better program.

BIG 12 invite won’t move the needle a ton, their one victory in 10 years over us won’t either. Sucks to lose Moa but this most definitely is not the beginning of a trend, in my humble opinion. 

[perceptionate]

I thought this was obvious. The in-state Mormon talent is now going to be even more favored for BYU. Moa is a perfect example. Remember 5+ years ago when we “stole” Covey from BYU? That’s not happening anymore.

[Ute Dub]

Covey was never *recruited* by BYU, although he was offered last second 

[perceptionate]

Uh, what? Yes he was.

[Ute Dub]

Ummm. Dig deeper, that was a last minute token offer.

[chinngiskhaan]

Or maybe you could just… I don’t know… be more accurate in your posts?

[Ute Dub]

Oh so you know the actual story there, please share. Covey was NEVER going to BYU and BYU did not recruit him with any effort.

[perceptionate]

Dude you just edited your post to make it look like you were right in your comment and I was wrong in my reply to you — which is the opposite of what happened. That’s really not cool.

[younglurch]

Geniunely curious to know why you think this. As an LDS person myself, I see very little football reasons for Mormon talent to go to BYU over Utah. Maaaybe QB’s or WR’s want to go there due to their offensive style, but what points to BYU being the destination now? 

[perceptionate]

“Football reasons” is the key caveat. It’s one of a mix of factors that recruits consider when making their decision. Utah is still the better program for sure (and in the better conference) but BYU’s program, national profile, and ability to compete is *significantly* improved with the Big 12 offer. Now, some of the “non-football reasons” may play a bigger role in the decision-making.

I’m not Mormon, but I understand that going to (and representing) a Mormon school is a big selling point for these guys.

[Central Coast Ute]

Are you even serious? In state Mormon talent isn’t going to BYU for religious purposes. You might argue out of state might, but people living in Utah seem to know better. Plus, Moa is a legacy kid, he’s not going to jump to BYU because they’re in the B12. That’s a ridiculous way to look at things.
UT and OU will be out of the B12 before BYU joins. If you’re paying attention to any of the realignment talk, you’ll see they want out pretty quickly. They’ll be gone before the other teams join and will lose P5 status as a result. On top of that, the rumors are WVU will be going to the ACC and Houston and TCU possibly to the PAC 12. KU and Iowa St. are still possibilities for the BIG too. The B12 will have to add more G5 schools. When you have a conference full of G5’s what kind of conference do you have? A G5 conference. BYU joining the B12 is not going to help them out recruit Utah. If it’s between Utah and BYU, Utah will still get who they want. As far as Moa goes, his tweet sounds like his offer was pulled. If not, he’s seeing guys like Reid who did really well and the Calvert brothers among others on that roster and he doesn’t think he’ll Crack the two deep any time soon so he wants to go somewhere he can play. This has nothing to do with byu out recruiting Utah for his services.

[perceptionate]

Yes, I’m serious — and this is a lot more simple than y’all are making it. I saw a lot of Ohio State fans and commentators noting that their recruiting might take a hit because of the Cincinnati offer. And that is Ohio State.

We can argue mitigating factors, but it is a simple reality: When a football program in your state improves, recruiting gets harder.

[Stone]

You speak truth. It will absolutely get easier for TDS to get recruits. That does not mean that TDS will win every recruiting battle (I know you are not saying that, but others seem to infer that). The stability of a conference will definitely benefit TDS and improve their ability to recruit. Their improved ability will have a negative effect on Utah’s ability to get certain recruits. No question. The only question is how much of an impact. 

[Larry B]

The Big12 invite plus an undefeated (or 1 loss) season in a year the Pac12 is down and we might not get 6 wins is enough to change the momentum in their favor, IMO. Add to that, they’ve got a coaching staff that appears to be clicking, where we’re probably looking at a new OC and new HC in the next couple of years, if not next year.

[Tednab]

You have some valid points .. TDS has a good shot this year to run the table and put them in a good position for recruiting .. Seems like they’re trending upward , while Utes have hit a plateau.. even with that , Utes have more appeal in my mind .. but the kids who choose TDS were always going to go there regardless

[younglurch]

Thanks for the reply. I can see your points, but like others have said–I don’t think they alone are enough to give them momentum. Then again, these are 17/18 year old kids we’re talking about. Recency bias probably does play a big factor. 

[PAC12Teams]

Of course they will be grabbing talent from the Utes.  After all just look where they get to play.

Waco & Lubock Texas,  Manhatten Kansas, Stillwater OK, Morgantown VW…  Make sense to me.

Please respect my reply!

[Ute Dub]

If I had a thousand down votes I would slap you with them all for this bitch ass comment. 

[MDUte]

I wouldn’t be suprised if this is a situation where Utah backed away from Moa. One of my good friends is tied into the Weber High program and is at every game. He said the only thing that explains Moa’s 4* rating is being a legacy Utah kid. Moa’s been riding the coattails of his Dad, Ben Moa, (former Utah star TE) his high school career. My friend said that Moa not only gets beat all the time on the edge but he consistently gives up on plays and is lazy…not the type of hard working competitor that Utah goes after. I realize it sucks to lose a highly rated recruit but it sounds like this most likely is a good thing for us. 

[chinngiskhaan]

I’m not disappointed. His family is not known for things that are good 

[pedro]

I’ve seen him play 3 games this year and I would disagree.  Lazy at time, sure.  But he plays pretty hard for the most part.  He does try to do too much sometimes, but that can be coached.  

[Rick]

He is a bit of an arm tackler in the film I have seen.  If he were to stay at DE I don’t see him starting over Carlton or Filinger any time soon and we are pretty loaded at LB with young talent.  Also at 6’2″ he is a little short for DE.  I wish the kid all the best and hope he finds what he thinks is best for him.  Better for him to do this now than enter the portal a few years from now I guess.

[Central Coast Ute]

I agree. Personally I think Utah told him there’s no room. I could be wrong but the Utes only have have few spots this year and LB is stacked. I don’t think Utah lost this one. I think he lost Utah.

[younglurch]

Also of note, in his tweet announcing his decommitment, he specifically mentions his “offer was not pulled or dropped.” 

Not to read the tea leaves too much, but recruits who aren’t worried about their stock dropping or losing out on future big offers don’t put stuff like that in their announcements. 

[MDUte]

Exactly. That’s code for coaches told him he’s likely not going to see the field and encouraged him to look elsewhere to keep his options open. 

[RustyShackleford]

Someone said that it was a mutual agreement, I think it was Markham from rivals

[Stone]

I don’t understand recruiting rankings well, but curious if that is really a thing (about his ranking). I would understand a kid getting an unjustified bump in rankings if his dad was a star in the NFL, but Ben Moa was a good player at the U of U (I don’t even know that I would call him a star at the U of U). If his son is getting a bump from his dad’s limited college career, then I have some serious credibility questions for the guys making these rankings.

[Hellhound152]

D-line recruits from Utah are like grunge bands from Seattle in the early 90’s.  All the major labels want to sign them now regardless of actuall skill.  Recruiting services are hyping them because it was a major egg on face situation when Utah first got to the PAC 12 and their 2 star D-lineman were making all conference and the league and no one knew where they came from.