What if’s

[Brichaute49]

I have never really posted on this site before but have been part of it for some time now. As I view the other boards I belong to, this one seems to, for the most part follow my trend of thinking. Anyway that put aside; I know you can’t go back and really saw what if this happened or that happened it would change the outcome of a game. But I want to throw a couple of things out there because I see a lot of ‘this is the coaches fault’, etc.  

First is the targeting call…for those of you naysayers out there, yes it was targeting. I said it the instant it happened that they would review that and call it. Now that isn’t to say they may have missed a couple towards their players. But that is another ‘what if’. So let’s say they don’t call the targeting. So it is then 3-0 ASU.  Even so, it was only 7-0 as they did score 

second is the missed catch by Dixon on the 2 yard line. After Huntley had broken containment and somehow got that pass off. Needless to say that should have been caught. We probably go in and score. So now it’s either 7-3 us or tied 7-7. But the fluky bounce and their guy getting the interception just fueled the already ferocious momentum they already had. Then they go down and score so we are already down 14-0. Too big of a hole to climb out of on this particular day. 

Nevertheless, we hung in there and began to make a game out of it. 

Then there is the Huntley injury. Wow what a blow as we were driving the ball and I can’t remember at that point if it was 21-17 them or what. Anyway if Huntley doesn’t go down we maybe score instead of having to settle for 3. 

Anyway we can play what if all day long but on any of the boards I haven’t seen anything mentioned of the Dixon drop that probably would have changed the complexity of the game. 

Also not sure why, when our O line was opening up holes I could have run through in the first half, why they all of a sudden abandon that. That I will put on the coaching but I wasn’t there in the booth and seeing what he was seeing

so here’s the bottom line…we got beat on a day when our defense for some strange reason didn’t show up. Our offense kept us in the game until Huntley went down. And happened to catch ASU on a day when they could do no wrong. Unfortunately, that’s sports. You win some and you lose some. Now we have to pick ourselves up and go forward. Starting with this weekend. We take care of business and hope ASU gets tripped up somewhere. 

[EagleMountainUte]

When Huntley tried to score the TD before the half it also reminded me of the end to the half of Washington game. He didn’t play for the first down despite ASU leaving Covey alone in the slot. Hell maybe even Covey breaks a few tackles and goes in. In fact the lack of targets to Covey in the first half was weird as hell. 

[GameForAnyFuss]

This is an issue I mentioned after a past game that is still cropping up: Low-percentage plays in situations where you need a high-percentage one. I’m talking about 3rd and short or 3rd and goal situations. Nothing frustrates me more than an endzone fade on 3rd and goal, or going long on 3rd and short. 

I’m not opposed to doing low-percentage things all the time – you gotta keep defenses honest. But do them in situations where you can absorb the high likelihood of failure. If we want to throw the bomb every time we have 2nd and 3, I’m all for it. But doing it on 3rd and 3 is absolutely maddening to me. 

[UtMtBiker]

Could be that Covey can’t hold onto the ball. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t leading the p12 in fumbles.  

[ladyinred]

He has had a lot of fumbles, but in most games, he does something dazzling to make up for it almost immediately afterwards. This game, not so much. I knew he was going to muff the punt when I saw it still in the air. I was thinking the sun had to be in his eyes. He can redeem himself against Oregon. 

[Stone]

Agreed. Small things that have nothing to do with the overall schemes or strategy can have an outsized impact. The drop by Dixon on the 2 yard line is essentially a 14 point swing and huge momentum shift (not as bad as, but reminiscent of the Clay KR return fiasco). And yes, the targeting was a 4 point swing and a momentum killer – the targeting was unnecessary (the pass way high and would not have been caught anyway) and the defense had some energy running off the field (until the flag was called) after a solid stop in the red zone. Those two small items had an outsized impact on the score and momentum — yet despite that, Utah still recovered and was able to briefly take the lead.

I find it ridiculous that so many instantly call the coaches idiots after that loss. Those are the same coaches that got us a 4-game win streak and had everybody talking Rose Bowl and what-ifs on a playoff berth. Other teams have talent and sometimes the breaks don’t go our way. Some fans get frustrated that our O-line can’t always provide perfect protection, but fail to acknowledge that we do not have a monopoly on talent — other teams also have talented D lineman that can get pressure.

The team did not play well on Saturday. But a few minor unforced, unusual errors had an outsized impact in the early going and Utah was not strong enough to fully overcome them. Huntley had some great throws and some poor throws. There were dominant moments, but ASU has some great players, and ASU always seems to give Utah problems. Bottomline is that people need to not overreact — enjoy the ups, sorrow in the downs, but we don’t need to act like we are a CFP candidate when we go on a short win streak or act like the whole coaching staff needs to be fired when we lose a game to a competitive team. 

[Brichaute49]

Amen. I have been a Ute fan for a loooong time. Have spent a lot of down years, mediocre years and good years. The fact that we are in a P5 conf and get to watch good teams everyweek is a plus. We moarn the losses and celebrate the wins and most of all we compete every week. I’m excited for Oregon to come in here and see how we handle the adversity. Go Utes.