[Jeremy]

I’m a little nervous about the running game also. Anybody hearing any buzz on Racine Guiloory? I saw his highlights on youtube and he is electric. Not to mention every blue blood in college football recruited him. Seems like he should get some playing time with how talented he is. Also I like Bird Ficklin. He’s impressed me a lot. I’m hoping he beats out Isaac for the back up. I’m still very skeptical of Isaac Wilson. I don’t want him to block other better players from playing time just cause he’s got a local name.

[silverliningsurfer]

DD being a legit run threat at the QB position should take some pressure off of the RBs, but I agree that the position group is unproven as it stands.

The defense doesn’t have a ton of high-key names like they have in the past, but I trust the coaching staff to keep us respectable and competitive, especially considering this conference doesn’t play defense

[silverliningsurfer]

Last year’s record aside, I still have a difficult time taking this conference seriously. Without evidence of us taking care of business, we could easily be in the 8-4 range with some random, seemingly uncharacteristic losses. That’s just how the B12 will be perceived until a program or two emerges on top of the food chain.

That being said, now that the Rising era is officially over, if you believe in what the program has been building over the last ~12 years of P5/4 play, there is no reason we should not be one of the top teams in this conference and should be able to separate ourselves from the competition. Not that every other program is vastly inferior, but we should be competing for CCGs on a semi-annual basis if you believe in the trajectory we’ve been on.

There are a few frisky away games, like WV and Kansas, and BYU games are always a rock fight, but the toughest conference games of ASU, KSU, and TTU are all at home. I firmly believe Rice-Eccles is one of the toughest places to play in the conference, especially at night. If the team gives the crowd something to cheer for and invest in, we should have an edge in those games.

TL;DR I see 9-3 or 10-2 with a few hiccup losses.

[ALUF]

I’d rank the games as far as easiest to toughest as

Cal poly
Cincy
Colorado
@wyoming
@ucla
@west virginia
Arizona state
Kansas state
Texas tech
@byu-p
@kansas
@baylor

I do think 9-3 with losses to Kansas, Baylor and west Virginia

[BeachUte]

I’ve rarely gone into a season where I’ve thought Utah had a sure-loss, even during some of the lean years. I think I’d have to go back to the pre-McBride days where Utah was playing bodybag games vs the likes of Nebraska where I thought prior to the season they had no chance in hell of winning that game (and yeah, they never did lol). I’ve had some moments in season where Utah is entering a game that I feel they have little shot, if any, of winning (like the last time was 2013 vs Oregon in Eugene… and even then, I think I still thought it was possible they could do the unthinkable and pull an upset lol) but not prior to the season. Utah can win every game on their schedule. They won’t, of course.

So, the question isn’t who’s the sure-loss but how many losses because we will have multiple losses. I can almost guarantee it.

[2008 National Champ]

If you go the opposite way: which games do you give Utah an 85% or greater chance of winning? Cal Poly

[Yergensen]

These generalizations of Utah dline or rb is always solid isn’t absolutely true.

RB was a problem last year. We had nobody behind MB. I don’t see how that’s any different this year. We have nobody behind Parker. We can’t have Parker go down and Rogers as a featured back. It’s a far ways off from JJ or MB being next man up.

RB is a concern this year.

[wally]

LOL! The “Holy War” is one of the best rivalries in all of college athletics…. BECAUSE religion is at play. There is nothing else like it, and that is why it fascinates people outside of its influence and generates the interest it does. I am of the COJCOLDS religious persuasion, and frankly, we need to be a little thicker-skinned and able to take some shots without wilting. If someone is overly obnoxious about the religious aspect, that only makes them look like an asshole, and I just ignore them.

Sorry to dissent on this, but not to even acknowledge the religious undertones of Utah sports is like ignoring the “elephant in the room.”

[Yngve]

Plus, this would force MS to find a new special teams coordinator. Win-win-win!

[AZUTE]

Sources makes it sound like I have some super secret contact deep in the athletic program. It’s not that cool just some contacts who know somebody and somebody knows somebody else but they are fairly connected and mostly reliable. Very 3rd or 4th party

[Author]

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