We are who we are

[ProudUte]

I took a day away from this board, because I knew Saturday night was difficult for Ute fans like me.  We had hopes and expectations that were not met.  We only needed one successful drive in the end to win that game.  (It could be worse – we could be Tennessee.  They had a chance at the CFP and were destroyed by an unranked team.)

Face it – we are not Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, etc.  We have NEVER had a five-start recruit.  Georgia had nine on defense last season.  We do amazing considering what we have.  I hoped at one point that somehow we could become like Nebraska was in the 90s.  But, to be that we need more top recruits.  Now with NIL, I doubt we can ever get a five-star recruit and four-star guys will likely become more difficult.

I want to be nationally relevant, but …  I have come to accept who we are.  We are a great team considering the circumstances.  I will enjoy that.

Go Utes!!!

[dystopiamembrane]

Amen. Go, Utes.

[Ghost of the HEB]

[Ghost of the HEB]

While I agree with the sentiment, I don’t see Tennessee as a could be worse example. They’re an SEC school with one of those bottomless NIL collectives, so they’ll be fine with or without CFP/NY6. We’re a program that has to strike while the iron’s hot to position us in best possible place with uncertain realignment landscape. Hurts when we don’t.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

FWIW, James Aiono was a 5-star recruit.  And he’d signed with us a year before the Pac-10 had even considered expanding.

But to your point, yes, NIL is really hurting Utah football.  So until some regulations can be put in place (e.g. an NIL team cap), that’s not going change.

[BD]

And Lander Barton is a On3 5-star recruit. But, yes, a consensus (all recruiting sites) 5-star recruit Utah has never had.

[Tony (admin)]

We certainly aren’t who we aren’t. 

[RoboUte]

We are who we thought we were

[rbmw263]

anytime someone says “it is what it is” all i can think is “when is it what it isnt”

[stbone]

The frustrating part of this game, is that this is one of the first big games that we DIDN’T loose because of the talent differential. Maybe UO has better recruits, but our talent matched up with theirs incredibly well. We didn’t loose because we were outclassed, but because key positions didn’t execute.

While, lots of this loss is on Rising, even given his bad game, in the crucial moment at the end of the game, he put the ball in positions in which receivers should have made plays. The drops on 3rd and 4th down were brutal.

[utefansince79]

Just a game where a number of mistakes were made by a number of individuals and we still played within 3 points on the road against an opponent that has been on the verge of going to the college football playoffs themselves the last 2 non-covid seasons until running into the Sun Devils in 2019 and us in 2021.

 

 

 

[stbone]

That is the amazing part. The team has progressed to a point where we almost win games against top-tier teams when we have bad days. I am glad to see the team progress, but disappointed at the lost opportunity.

[Onlyu]

I would argue we ARE nationally relevant and have been for a while now. Are we blue blood relevant OR will we ever be? I don’t believe so. Can we put together a CFP run (especially when it goes to 12)? Absolutely. We have been ranked in the all time CFP rankings behind this list of teams:

T1. Alabama
Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Oklahoma
5. Notre Dame
6. Georgia

That’s it. Fox and ESPN talk about our games every week during their show so say what you want but every college football fan knows Utah football, knows we’re capable and can play with anyone.

Can we take another step and win these games, can we recruit and attract portal guys in the NIL world? Yet to be seen.

There will be another major realignment in college football closer to the ACC GOR expire so still a lot to happen between now and then.

We played well enough in 1 of 4 big games this year. Fell behind in each one…plenty of frustration around the results but if you step away from the disappointment we’re right there…just need to find a way to take another step, if possible.

[Tony (admin)]

Seems the one deciding talent differential that was the reason we lost was at QB. 

[Onlyu]

Cam played his worst game in his two years here and he did it at the worst time.
The O-line was terrible in the first half. Bills has been fantastic all year and he struggled early, Moko was bad, Maile took time to get back into the swing of things and then Cam just played like s**t.

BUT Cam has been an excellent QB for us. He’s ranked 9th in the NCAA after that outing Sat night but overall the kid has led us to a ton of wins.

The result sucks…should have been different and we can say the same about Florida and probably UCLA as well but losing sight of the success this program has had for 4 or 5 seasons in a row because we’re all p**sed is an over reaction.

[Tony (admin)]

One game. Bad timing to have that bad game, yes. But it definitely does not take away all the wins and accomplishments Cam and the team have had under his leadership.

[Charlie]

We may need to shake loose of the plans we had in the days of the BCS. Then we needed to go undefeated to be noticed in the rankings. No longer the case. Currently, outside of half a dozen blue-chip teams a P5 team goes undefeated once a half a decade. In the Pac, finishing ranked most years, playing in the CCG often, and consistently finishing in the top third of the conference is awesome noted by how few teams that includes. We want to reach the playoffs sure, but along the way we need to enjoy the ride. All but about 12 teams would love to trade places with us which is something worth enjoying.

[Stone]

This post is underrated. It is spot on. We are very fortunate to be in the conversation nearly every year. Road wins are very difficult for every team!

As pointed out, it is extremely rare for any team to go undefeated. Getting to the 4-team playoff is nearly impossible for all but a handful of teams. Most every college fan in the country would gladly trade places with us in terms of success. I love being a Utah fan lately. 

[belli1976]

OnlyU – thank for being the voice of reason. I have wanted to say similars words, but without the respective you have on here, most likely they would have fallen on deaf ears. Being in the stands for the game was fun but frustrating.

[ProudUte]

I agree Cam had the worst game of his career on Saturday.  Bad timing!  But, I also agree Cam has been an excellent QB for our team.  I am glad he is a Ute!!!

 

[noneyadb]

Cam has been trending downward in accuracy since USC game. His spiral isn’t right, his deep throws are not consistent. I question why Whitt and Ludwig knowing he wasn’t playing great during Arizona and Stanford didn’t at least bring Johnson in during the 4th Qtr and see what he could do. The Wazzu game clearly indicated Barnes is not the #2 QB. Why not test Johnson?