Next @ 
Washington State – Sat 9/29 – 4pm – Pac-12 TV
Moss stopped by KUTV and did an interview on Saturday. Nothing too exciting — pretty standard responses that you’d expect from a good team-guy. It’s a slow news week with the BYE, figured I’d post this in case anyone was interested. Good to hear that his ankle is feeling better. Hope he’s 100% on Saturday, we’ll need him.
https://kutv.com/sports/college/zack-moss-1-on-1-with-adam-mikulich-during-bye-week
after giving up an average of 39 points a game. Then I guess the Utes offense can come out and score 35 when only averaging 1 TD a game the last two games.
The Lions held Brady to 120 yards passing. Stunning! Can the Utes make the necessary changes to blow up on offense? I hope so.
I don’t follow the NFL, just the Utes. But I’m in Tampa with my best bud who lives here and we’re going to go to the Monday Night Football game tonight between the Bucanneers and the Steelers. Tailgating too. Good times. Should be fun to check out that stadium and watch some pros play football. Watch for me on TV. I’ll be the one in the Utes hat.
I’m actually in Tampa this week as well. I wish I was able to go to the game though.
Have fun! Send JuJu some good energy. I need a few fantasy points from him.
Have fun and be sure to treat the quarterbacks gently.
1. Stanford +6
2. ASU +4
3. Colorado +3
4. Cal +2
5. WSU +1
6. Washington -1
UCLA -1
8. OSU -2
USC -2
10. Oregon -3
Arizona -3
12. Utah -6
When trying to figure out our offensive woes, look no further. Take care of the ball and things will look much better. Each turnover against Washington happened on pretty promising drives. Dropped passes took points off the board. Give the team some stick’em and let’s go on a winning streak!
Beat me to posting this. But you’re absolutely correct. Note that these turnovers are not on Huntley (1 pick against UW going into halftime) but on fumbles. Hold on to the damn ball.
Turnover margin is sometimes exaggerated as well. Against NIU they were not exactly critical turnovers because the defense bailed them out. The one to end the half against UW probably meant 3 less points for Utah. I think the Covey against UW fumble lead to 7 for UW. Obviously against Weber State it was the only TD.
It also goes both ways. UW getting bailed out with a bad roughing the passer/targeting call on Fotu took away a Cody Barton interception and would have negated 7 points for UW.
Would’ve been a +1 for turnovers.
I still don’t understand that roughing the passer call. Much like Clay Matthews today you are wondering how to play the game. 250-300 lb “FULL GROWN” men can’t stop their momentum on a dime. It is stupid.
When you consider our two targeting calls in the UW game, and the two egregious no-calls in the WSU/USC game, it certainly paints a very bad picture for PAC12 officiating. But we all knew it sucked already. I just wish Larry Scott would step up and do something about it.
When he got hired he said he would do something about officiating. The reputation of the PAC has always been the worst. But I have Direct and still have to stream the PAC network so yeah. Scott is a dingus.
We should start chanting Scott you suck whenever the refs blow it, and they inevitably will.
I fully expect two players to be ejected on Saturday.
1. We’re coming off of a bye.
2. I believe we are going to see a run-heavy offensive game plan. If we don’t, I’m not sure Kyle lets Troy on the plane after the game.
One thing that gives me hope: Wazzu plays into our strength (pass defense). They don’t even pretend to have a running game. I think our secondary will feast.
They ran pretty effectively on USC. Also our pass defense is ok. I think we still shut down the rush really well.
They had two rushing TDs. 24 carries for 91 yards. Which is not great but good enough considering their passing numbers.
Huntley’s best game was supposedly vs Washington last year. Washington had recently lost to ASU, and just lost the North to Stanford the week prior.
1- What interest level did Washington even have playing that game?
2- if Washington was disinterested what other game by Huntley gives you hope he can be a successful P5 QB? UCLA???
I don’t see it. I think WAZZU mops the floor with Utah, and Whit switches to Shelley but not until the 4th quarter when the game is out of hand.
If the defense quits I owe you a Coke.
“You know, when you were a baby in your crib, your father looked down at you, he had but one hope – “Someday, my son will grow to be a man.” Well look at you now; you just got your asses whipped, by a bunch of goddamn nerds.
*Nerds*! Well, if I was you, I’d do something about it. I would get up and redeem myself in the eyes of my father, my Maker, and my *coach*!”
After reading this I’m predicting a blow out 😄
I don’t.
This is where we fans come to rant or rave about 18-22 year olds playing a game. It’s rather trivial in the grand scheme of things. Granted, it’s something that we’ve all decided is important to us, but it’s not something that these kids need to, or would benefit from reading. I would hope that they are focusing on their own lives: school, grades, relationships, and practice.
There are some terrific posters here. I am not one of them. But some folks here do have great insight or takes. At the same time, there is a reason that none of us are D-1 football coaches (except Onlyu?) Players should not look to fan sites for motivation. If they do, then I think that would point to a coaching deficiency. Or a lack of intrinsic motivation.
I love this team and I am grateful to them for putting it out there on Saturdays. Go Utes.
That quote went about 6’ over your head. It’s a joke and it’s from the movie revenge of the nerds. Jesus!
I know the reference.
^ this guy gets it ^
I just wish they hated the other PAC schools as much as I do.
Revenge of the Nerds is as old as the gray hairs on your ass. These kids have no idea what this is about and isn’t funny even if they did. The worst is that there are a host of overweight middle aged guys trying to fill the cavernous void by acting like they have something to do with football. Fine to talk to yourself and among the audience. Not fine to hope that you can somehow affect the team. You’re the audience, not in the cast. Thanks.
I accept it was a bad joke with bad delivery. I’ve never been good a teling jokes, that’s on me. Maybe I should’ve mentioned Coach Whittingham to repeat it in the locker room, but still a bad joke is a bad joke. My intention was truly joking around and not seriously having the team read the board. Nor do I think I would have any bearing on motivating the team with what I thought was an obvious joke, but whatever.
Sorry for trying to lighten the mood on utehub. It’s great to come to a fan site where one can interact with other Ute fans. It’s sad when fans eat their own over stupid things. Again, sorry my Revenge of the Nerds reference hurt your feelings. My delivery was way off. I hope my lame post didn’t cause you too much anger that you had to take it out on your wife and kids or hurt your hand typing a response.
Can we all move on from this horrid post and root for the Utes to win Saturday?
You bet we can. Sorry for not getting the reference, and tone can be hard to judge over the internet. My bad.
Go Utes!
Thanks for the reply. It’s humbling to know I’m not funny haha. I won’t quit my day job for standup.
Go Utes!
I hope Utah comes out looking sharp. The offense doesn’t even have to be prolific, as long as it’s serviceable we can get a W.
I think Stanford and Oregon are losses. Additionally, USC is starting to improve and ASU and Colorado look decent. I am thinking this is a must-win game if Utah expects to have a shot at winning the South.
It’s do or die time for KW. If he can’t win the South this year, I don’t think he’ll ever do it.
Wow I didn’t expect it to open even that low! I think the Utes surprise some people this week with a big win at Wazzu!
I’m optimistic too. Biggest thing is if offense can avoid the turnover bug. Utah is worst in the PAC-12 currently with a -6 TO margin. We’ve been so good at this stat last couple of years, hoping we can get back to that.
I think our offense struggled last week because Zack Moss wasn’t healthy, thus making Troy Taylor employ a very unsuccessful pass-happy offense to protect him from injury. Well, hopefully they have learned that they need to play to their strengths, and hopefully they improve dramatically. Also, I think WSU’s one-dimensional passing offense plays right into Utah’s hands because the Utes are dynamite against the pass. I think that they ran the ball against USC somewhat effectively because USC’s defense is just not that good. I predict a close Utah victory. Like, 27-20. I think Utah is hungry for a victory after their frustrating loss to Washington and Wazzu will be sad coming off of a game they probably should have won @ USC. I still believe in this team, and I think they come out with something to prove against the Cougars. Go Utes!
**Struggled two weeks in a row**
So reading the board I just realized something one of my old bosses used to say, “You’ve got to score!”
Do we really care if we rack up 1200 yards on offense if we fumble the ball, get stopped on 4th down, or throw a pick all after we’ve driven 98 yards to the 1 yard line? NO!!!!!!!
It ain’t about the stats it’s about putting the ball in the freaking end zone, FGs I could do without them.
Yes we’ve got great special teams and defense but would you rather have a Ray Guy winner, Lou Groza winner and the best defense in the nation, if we lose 7 games cause we can’t “Put the ball in the hole?”
Yards are lipstick on a pig, painting over the cracks in a load bearing wall, putting a bridge over a river running along the foundation of your house.
Yards and stats are for losers!!!!!!
That’s like saying you want to be rich but you don’t want to work for it. It’s hard to score a lot of points without racking up yardage and first downs.
Not really. He’s just saying he wants the payoff that comes with/from the hard work to be rich. Who wants to work hard and still be poor?
Teams that generate a lot of turnovers create short fields for their offense, which means they have opportunities to score points without racking up yardage and first downs.
Teams that get a lot of big plays or chunk yardage aren’t going to have as many first downs as teams that methodically drive down the field getting 3-5 yards per play.
Ultimately it comes down to the payoff. Who cares if your QB passes for 286 yards or your RBs rush for 123 yards if they can’t come through with TDs to go along with the yardage?
I agree with UtMtBiker.
Scoring results in wins it is more important. Sometimes yards don’t tell the story of the game at all. Stanford’s punter pinned Oregon back a lot and credit to Oregon they drove the field and scored. They also turned over the ball at key moments and lost the game. So who gives a s**t about yards and QBR if you don’t score. It really is just a good measurement about some of the things you might be doing right. Utah historically has been horrible in the redzone so what if you get in there if you can’t score??
Yards and first downs are poor predictors of winning. Turnovers and explosive plays are much better stats for predicting wins, and this offense sucks at both. Selectively looking at stats that are poorly correlated with winning while ignoring more important metrics is putting lipstick on a pig.
I view it as more like, I don’t want to work 60 hours a week but get a reduced paycheck. (Stats and yards with no pay day.)
I don’t care if we hold the ball 50 minutes of the game, rack up 1200 yards if we give up five pick sixes returned 99 yards for a TD and lose.
What matters at the end of the game is if you put up more points than your opponent. Not whether you had twice as many yards or completed 100% of your passes. I want to see TDs, I don’t care how they come, I don’t care if it only takes 30 seconds each and are the result of fumble recoveries on the opponents 1 yard line.
I’m not bagging on Pita Tonga, in fact kudos to him. What I’m bagging on is the offense had a TD handed to them and squandered it. I’d rather score TDs on 100% of our red zone trips than lead the league or nation in yardage.
Maybe I’m in the minority but I’ve realized in my life, the more money I make the easier my job has been. As a teenager making minimum wage I did construction, manual labor and worked late hours and long days. My last three jobs I’ve made a ton more money and never really broke a sweat. Sure I had to know more to do the job but I don’t work harder.
I don’t play the lottery because that is what you were talking about, get rich quick, money for nothing. NO, I want TDs as a result of honest to goodness offensive effectiveness. END RESULTS are what I want.
Leading the nation in Rebounds for basketball but shooting a terrible fg%. Same thing.
Better than working for it and not getting rich.
USU won their game last week by a score of something like 72-12. They only had about 290 yds passing and 330 yds rushing. IMpressive numbers, but that is still a hell of a lot of points scored on relatively few yards (the Aggies gained one fumble, one INT, and had one PRTD).
That is a complete team win. Stanford team won that game last night.
I hate to say it, but after watching the games this weekend – I think Utah will be lucky to win 2-3 more games this season. Things can change as they did after the 27-0 loss to UNLV in 2007. I thought we were in for a 3-9 season that year, but we bounced back. If it wasn’t because of our defense, I am not sure we could win another game this year.
I hope that something changes and we find a groove and the offense improves. But, our offense has shown nothing. When you can only score 2 touchdowns in your last 30 possessions – there is a huge problem. Can it be fixed? We have seen it before, so I hope it can. But, I don’t believe there is any reason to be too optimistic until we see this offense move the ball.
I hope to be proved wrong this weekend. I would like to see these guys move the ball, get over 400 yards offense and at least 30 points.
Go Utes!!!
I also watch way too much football yesterday. From what I saw, UW is maybe the third or fourth best team in the N. division….. not looking good for the Utes
I know the Utes will win again this year but based on what I saw yesterday, I really can’t find a win.
Yes, I feel the same.
I know UCLA is very bad, but they are young and you would assume to see some improvement.
Arizona looks to be getting better.
UW did not impress me last night. They won, but didn’t pass or run effectively against ASU. But, they beat us at home.
We play ASU on the road and they seem to have a defense. They may hold us scoreless.
I don’t see any way (right now) that we could beat Stanford or Oregon.
We need to score points to beat WSU because they will score a bunch. That is scary.
CU didn’t play yesterday, but from what I have seen – they are a better overall team than our Utes.
NIU got blasted by a poor FSU offense yesterday. That says a lot about our offense.
I really hate to say this, but BYU is playing better football than we are. We have better athletes, but that isn’t enough.
So, where do the wins come from. Like PM said, I am sure we will win again. I am just not sure when.
I drank the Kool-Aid. I was very hopeful. If it was just one bad game – I would say, crap happens. But, this offense has done nothing to impress.
No one wants the Utes to win more than me. But, please tell me that I am wrong and that this offense will produce. What do you see that I don’t. I really want to believe in this offense.
Agreed. As of now, I feel the only way Utah can win another game is to hold the other team to 14 points or less – that’s a real tough ask for the Ute defense.
Shut it down. Only teams that will improve is everyone but Utah. We suck and suck so bad we should just call ourselves the Oregon State of the South.
Sometimes I’m left scratching my head about what it is you are proud of.
Congrats to jamarcus24 who won this past week’s Pac-12 Pick Em contest in a 4-way tiebreaker. Week 5 is NOW OPEN for entries. This week’s winner will collect an awesome Ute blanked from sponsor Minky Couture.
Congrats Jamarcus!
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