Cam is hurt and it is impossible to say whether he will heal well enough to get back out there.
His achievement of back to back PAC12 championships, however, are the all-time high mark for the program. So saying he has become Jordan Wynn is not reasonable. Jordan could sling it before the injuries but he didn’t accomplish anything close to what Cam has.
Cam may or may not be done but the man should be given his due for 2 incredible seasons- both of which ended in severe injuries.
“Don’t get me wrong. I’ll ALWAYS be an avid Ute fan… I’ll always be loyal, but with a closer eye on the things mentioned above.”
Same for me. I was thinking just now that there was a time when a tough Utah loss would ruin the day for me–and parts of following days. (Especially a loss to BYU.) Not anymore. Age, experience, and the scar tissue a long time fan acquires have left me still able to love the Utes, to cheer loudly for them, and also to take a loss as just some very talented young men falling short when trying to do something very difficult.
I agree about Cam and Whitt’s futures.
I just have to say that was the worst game I’ve travelled to in ages.
And AssU fans: I’m sorry your lives are so miserable that you can’t just enjoy a win like normal people do without being massive @$$#01es. You can all go eat a big bag of d###s.
Sounds like the Florida fans we encountered.
Which is why people in Arizona and Florida don’t get to go to the Good Place.
#TrashBags
Well, we missed the game. Way too late for us. We had a race to officiate that required an early morning.
I’ve read some of the write up from ESPN, CBS Sports, DNews. They all read like the team was unmotivated, flat, and with Cam hurting himself again, just riding it out.
One of the articles had me thinking about QB development. Seems our staff has not done that. Well we can see that over the last couple of years. Wilson has talent, but is he being developed? Dunno.
Anyway, it was a beautiful day today near Winston-Salem. Tomorrow will be also in Raleigh for our next race, so we have that going for us here.
We’ll have another chance to win again next week. Hopefully we do.
I did not get the sense that the team was flat or uninterested. As the game progressed and the Utes repeatedly failed to score TD’s when deep in ASU territory it seemed to take a toll. Cam was not sharp from the start and never seemed to have any velocity on his throws. The Int’s were the result of poor throws and not any spectacular plays by ASU. I thought the D was pretty good (despite too many missed tackles - Tao Johnson is not a good tackler) until Scattabo broke off those two long TD runs. Watching those runs from angles behind the Ute defense, you could see where Hall moved out of his gap responsibility and Scattebo found that gap and was gone. Before those, the Utes had held him in check. The offensive PI on Parks was so obvious and damaging. Cam missing a wide-open Singer on a crossing pattern that would likely have scored. The lesson in the past two games is that most close games comes down to 8-10 critical plays. The team that wins the majority of those plays wins the games. The 4 PAC 12 Championship Game years, the Utes won the majority of those plays. Against Arizona and ASU, they did not.
Cam was medically cleared or he would not have played. However, watching his throws, what did the coaches see in practice that led them to believe that he could move and make the throws necessary to win the game? What did they see during the game that made them continue to believe that he gave them the best chance?
After the knee injury, when it was obvious he couldn’t step into his throws (and INTs proved it), he should have been pulled. I think his first couple throws were just rusty and he probably could have done better as the game went along, but with the loss of his plant leg, the evidence was obvious to everyone not named Whitt and Ludwig.
Cam’s a warrior, so I think they gave him the call. That’s just my hunch. He’s won us a lot of games, so he got the benefit of the doubt.
Skattebo was definitely a key. Without those long runs, maybe we come out with a victory.
Cole Becker did his job, but we shouldn’t have to lean on him that much.
Definitely time for the captains & seniors to get the wagons circled and get some identity established.
At the halfway point, our best offensive player is clearly Micah Bernard, followed by Dorian Singer, IMO. Defensively probably Junior Tafuna, followed by…? A whole bunch of guys can step up and get their names in the conversation.
Who will?
That might be the theme of this week. Who’s ready to step up and be a difference maker?
Glad to see someone else noticing how well Singer is playing. He was open a bunch of times and got rewarded by throws at his ankles or into the seats.
We’ve seen some elite QB play, talent destined for the NFL.
Examples: Justin Herbert, CJ Stroud, Caleb Williams, Michael Penix. In the early PAC years, Sean Mannion of Oregon State. Cam Ward was maybe a half step below.
Back when Mac was coaching I asked his OC Craig Ver Steeg what the difference was between a Lance Rice and Jeff George, who he’d coached at Illinois. He pointed at a sign on a lamp post in the RES parking lot, and said “Jeff George can hit that sign from 50 yards away, 9 out of 10 times”.
Cam’s not that level of passer. He just isn’t. Maybe Cam could hit that sign 6 times out of 10, maybe 7.
But if he gets his timing down, gets into a groove, Cam can make big plays. We haven’t seen it yet, it’s been a frustrating year.
We’ve seen Wilson, what his potential is, but for him the game needs to slow down.
EDIT - I didn’t see the post in the other thread about Whitt’s remarks about the QB direction. lol. Time for the team to get behind Wilson. The frustrating ambiguity is resolved.
Go Utes! ! ! !