Why shouldn’t we have expected to beat UW?

[UteThunder]

I thought we would win that game. We all should have. We returned nearly everyone from a team that nearly beat them in Seattle last year. We had stability at the QB and OC spots. The game was at home.

Pre-season, there was absolutely no reason to think Utah shouldn’t beat Washington.

Spare me this “they were a top 10 team, who really expected us to win?” nonsense.

The expectation should have been, and was for me, that we were going to beat Washington. I didn’t think it was a guarantee, but I thought we had a better chance than what we showed.

[utefansince79]

take away several tough plays, interception late in the first half while we are in field goal range, 2 catch and fumbles on what would have been first downs), dropped pass in the end zone, fumble on a sure pick-six,  (won’t mention guys in stripes except to note that sometimes we get calls, like in Seattle a few years ago, sometimes we don’t)  and it’s possibly a win for the Utes.

 

 

[EagleMountainUte]

Poppinga the game basically?

[Stone]

I totally get that there are thousands of “what ifs” in every game, and it is hard to say one change in a small thing would impact everything thereafter, but I think the point of @utefansince79 is that if a few little things had broken Utah’s way, the situation would not have looked so dire. It is one thing to say “Utah essentially won the game because it only lost because of a few errors” or to say “if Utah’s QB were as good as Tom Brady, things would have gone differently” and quite another to say “if a receiver had caught a ball that hit his hands, he would have scored a touchdown.” UW is good, but Utah was not outmatched. Utah shot itself in the foot with very simple errors, and there were some iffy calls that went against Utah that resulted in big shifts in the game. Doesn’t mean Utah would have won, but the perception might have been very different but for a few simple errors/penalties.

If you watch Hans Olson’s analysis of the game, he points to very small things that had a huge impact (on both offense and defense). For example, UW’s first touchdown was a result of a poor angle by Blair. An similar play later in the game, Blair took a better angle and the play resulted in a small loss of yards. A very small change results in a very different outcome. Doesn’t mean Utah deserves to win, just means small (and VERY correctable) things make a very big difference.

[EagleMountainUte]

So game of “inches” isn’t a cliche?  

[EagleMountainUte]

“Top ten team” from the same people saying Utah’s offense overlooked Weber and NIU for the “top ten team”.  Let’s just call it the Triple T from now on. Utah lost to the Trip T at home they were not favored despite prepping for pretty much five weeks for the Triple T.

IF Utah loses… to Wazzu it is going to be well Mike Leach is a tough matchup for Utah from those same people. Despite the secondary being the bestest ever. 

[UtMtBiker]

We shouldn’t expected to beat them because they have a better QB, a better coach, and better recruiting.  So, having our consistantly mediocre QB and OC back means we should win?  

Having a bunch of players back who lost the last 2 games to them just means they have been proven less talented then the other team. So whats the logic here? Third time is the charm? 

The peaseason is one thing, but after the first 2 weeks you would have had to been a flat idiot to bet anything of value on the Utes in that game.  Washington goes toe to toe with an SEC powerhouse and Utah s**ts the bed against a G5.  Why should we have expected to win that game?  

I don’t think we should have won but I agree we could have showed better.  Take the FG at half and take the FG in the fourth with 11:30 left to play and we’re looking at an 8 point game down the stretch.  Hell, if we keep the INT that was taken by a poor targeting call we might have lost 13-14 and it would have been very close just like the last 2 years.  

 

[UteThunder]

All off-season and even through the first two weeks of this season, Huntley and Taylor were anything but “consistantly mediocre.” According to some around here, Browning was an overhyped bum and Huntley was one of the best QBs in the Pac-12.

[AlohaUte]

We definitely should have expected it. In fact, and this may be zoobish of me, but I argue we beat ourselves in that game. We had every opportunity to win it and the offense couldn’t take advantage. The defense did everything it needed to win it. We have a great team, the offense just needs to put it together. I think they will…or at least, it can’t get worse.

[Puget Ute]

I believe we have a shot to win every game. 

[noneyadb]

Whitt will never coach another game the way he attacked UW in 2017. Whitt put everything on the table to try and get that 6th Win. Wonder if he benched Huntley vs Colorado to ensure a bowl game?

[UtMtBiker]

Some of that was coaching.  We had 6 points (2FG) sitting in our lap and the coaches decided to go for TD’s and we got 0.  

[EagleMountainUte]

I almost believe a FG wasn’t attempted because they didn’t want three games in a row with a block. 

[UtMtBiker]

Sheesh…that’s what it looked like.  

[EagleMountainUte]

BUT I will say I preferred them going for touchdowns. Losing by 11 or 8 isn’t any different than 14. Even though 14 makes it seem like a blowout at home I guess.