[Chasqui]

Lots of people seem worried. I’m really not.

First, UCLA is returning 2 starting defensive players. Yikes.

Second as good as Nico May be, he didn’t wildly impress at Tennessee. He was an an amazing system that worked well for him. I don’t think he beats us. Especially in a new offense where he only is getting to work with the coaches for a few months.

I vote to replace the title of this post to “Are we worried about Wyoming”

[Charlie]

Well, in the Pac UCLA didn’t seem to be a team to worry about other than on the road in 2022. What I do remember is the Rose Bowl can be quite hot early in the season so I expect it to be. Like Utah, UCLA has a lot of new pieces to get working together. Who is more in sync will have an advantage. Very likely it will be hot so the rotations of 2s will be a factor. I like Utah being set with good experienced LBs and Safeties to bother UCLA, the defense will be fine if the UCLA WRs don’t go off and the QB does not run all around. When Utah is on offense the RBs and receivers are unknown, no reason to be confident or reason to be concerned. But if the Utah OL has their way with UCLA I like Utah’s chances. If Beck can game plan at this level than it is all good. Two years with awful QB luck should not give us overwhelming PTSD, let’s just see if solving that issue returns us to the last half decade trend. I’m thinking it does.

[BeachUte]

I was surprised to see Utah favored by nearly 7 points.

My concern is the offense taking time to jell. Opening up on the road vs any P4 team is a challenge when there is so much uncertainty on the offensive side of the ball. I would much rather flip the Cal Poly game with this one just so that Dampier has some real game experience at Utah under his belt.

But I guess it’ll be a good indicator game. If Utah does win, I think they might be in pretty good shape as I think UCLA is on, or close to the level of teams like WVU, Colorado, Cincinnati and Kansas… maybe BYU if they struggle a bit and that, coupled with wins over Cal Poly and Wyoming, puts Utah at no worse than 7, or 8 wins outside the real tough teams (and winning out at home gets them to something special).

But a loss? While it won’t upend the season at the start, it’ll likely leave me lacking confidence in Utah getting things turned around.

[USS Utah]

Regardless of the changes, Whitt will not change his basic offensive philosophy of establishing the run. There may be times when he will be happy going up tempo, but there will more than likely be times when he is going to want to chew up clock. Capable backs behind a solid O-line should be able to establish the run; add in a dual threat QB who ran in 19 TDs last season. If the QB can throw fewer interceptions and more TD passes, Utah could be very good.

[2008 National Champ]

what progressions? Baylor was playing deep and wide to prevent the big play. The first read – slant – was there and he hit it, multiple times. All credit in the world to him for making the throws but let’s not pretend he was buying time until his 5th read came open every play.

[BeachUte]

It’s just disingenuous to say BYU has not been good the last 15 years. Have they been great? No. But I think every Utah fan would take what BYU has done the last 15 years in a heart beat, especially if it was a generic outcome not at all attached to BYU (so, win percentage, top25 finishes and NCAA Tournament berths). Hell, we’d take what USU has done.

But beyond that, again it’s weird how everyone here has to fixate on BYU. BYU was only one of a handful of teams mentioned, including USU, and every reply I’ve dealt with has been about … BYU.

The point is: Utah basketball has done nothing to separate itself from those programs I mentioned. They’ve all excelled in one way or another beyond what Utah has been able to do consistently the last fifteen years. The fact Utah fans feel slighted by being included in this conference is baffling to me when Utah basketball has often struggled since 2000.

[Chasqui]

Still having nightmares about Charbonnet and Thompson-Robinson

[Chasqui]

Nate’s best game by far was the 4th quarter at Baylor when he took over for Barnes. He handles the progressions well, the problem was he isn’t very accurate throwing 15+ yards.

[Chasqui]

I don’t like him at receiver. I would love to see him at RB. Shotgun formation with him and dampier in the back. Both can run both can throw. You have to respect so many options there as a defense.

[ProudUte]

Being creative would be using Johnson as a decoy. I do not want to be predictable. I agree with you on that. However, using Johnson does not make us predictable IMO. Look at Vele in 2023. Look at what Weddle did for us. The ball does NOT and should not go to Johnson just because he is on the field.

[Author]

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