It’s Thursday of game week, and no one’s saying anything. There’s no story in the Trib or the DNews. Time to get going and leave the BYU hangover behind.
Here’s the history of this matchup:
And here’s one betting site’s analysis:
in 2007 Utah lost to UNLV 27-0. I think you can argue that was Utah’s worst performance under Coach Whittingham. Last Saturday wasn’t Utah’s worst performance, but I would put it in the top 10. Hopefully Whittingham and staff can bounce back like they did in 2007 where they went on to win their next 7 straight including games at TCU and Louisville.
this game sure seems like a barometer for how the rest of the season will go 
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I’d like to see Cam get some PT. Maybe a couple of series to start the second half, or get him in if things look stale or stalled. Not that Brewer played poor enough to get benched, but, let’s just see the guy with the 1’s against the 1’s.
That site has us with a 53% chance of beating the Aztecs, and BYU with a 62% chance of beating ASU.
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In our game those numbers seem to be a bet that Utah has serious problems. I think we’ll rally from last week and win by double digits. We have a lot of SoCal kids, football players are competitors and they’re resilient. (If we cough up that one, we do have serious problems.)
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I’ve only seen a few clips of ASU, but they pass the eyeball test on talent. LES will be rocking, but there’s no way they’ll match the intensity they brought against us + ASU has seen a lot of film on what BYU can do. I’d go with the Devils on that one.
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Huh? ASU is an undependable as anyone.I have no confidance in Herm and co. to do what I need them to do.
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I’d be OK with any kind of win vs the Aztecs - I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re still shaking off some of the crap from last Saturday. It’s a long season, maybe this team is still building upward, we’re pretty fortunate on the schedule in the first 4 games, then get a BYE. If the OL takes longer to gel, I don’t care. Just do it.
Or maybe we come out and hammer SDSU. We have some veterans, some leadership that needs to lead the young guys through the mire. I’ll think we’ll look better, but not where we need to be.
ASU vs BYU - heard a pretty knowledgeable beat reporter from Phoenix say the turmoil they’re experiencing from the scandal shouldn’t really impact game day coaching much. My take: Herm has a lot of NFL guys who can take the film and do what the Utah coaches really wish they could do in a rematch. BYU will probably have some new wrinkles, but they revealed a ton vs us.
Like many, I don’t care for the Devils for multiple reasons, but I think they’ll be the victors in Provo.
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So I just imagined that story in the Trib today where they talked to Nick Ford about OLine issues?
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Outstanding insight by Nick Ford. Cover Zeros, crazy changeups… BYU had a great gameplan to capitalize on the stadium atmosphere (noise) and our lack of experience and lack of cohesion.
It looked like we were keeping it simple, not trying to get too complex in adjusting to the different curveballs being thrown, up front.
I’m sure they’re doing a lot of whiteboard work, the scout team is throwing some crazy stuff their way.
I don’t know what SDSU will bring, but I’m sure we’ll see more exotic pressure up front, until we can make teams pay for Cover 0 pressure.
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If the Utes go into the game with a non aggressive offensive and defensive game plan trying not to lose, like they did against BYU, they will lose. Those types of effectively remove the emotion and intensity from the players.
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I didn’t see anything overly conservative in the offensive gameplan. We were moving well in the first quarter, but we turned the ball over twice. Then, we went for it on 4th and 2, which is an aggressive offensive move. I would like to see us get the ball to our TEs waaaaay more. Every time we threw to them, good things happened.
Maybe the defensive gameplan needed to be more aggressive. What we did sure didn’t work out.
Same here. I have no sense on what Utah will do, who - coaches or players - to look to for in leadership, or whether or not Utah is seriously overhyped or will be a juggernaut of stunning proportions this Saturday.
Odds of Utah being a juggernaut after being bottled up by BYU are not good.
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It’s SDSU’s Superbowl tomorrow. Blackout game:
“Aztec Football looks to move to 3-0 on the season and take down a second straight Pac-12 opponent this Saturday when Utah comes to Dignity Health Sports Park. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. and the game is a BLACKOUT game so be sure to wear your black Aztec gear!”
Heard Ronnie Mac on the radio, going into detail about the Aztec D.
They still run the 3-3-5 Rocky Long brought, bring pressure in the gaps. Combine that with Nick Ford’s interview of how the OL and blocking schemes struggled in Game 2, and it’s clear one of the story lines will be how our OL progresses.
I’ll be interested to see how AL decides to attack. Brewer is smart with decision making and accurate, I wonder if we’ll emphasize a short passing game to get the LBs on their heels, to allow the OL to get some success and continuity, and let the run game benefit from being the complimentary aspect.
The Aztecs will be intent on not letting Bernard run wild, so some play action early will give Brewer a little more time to get the air attack going. This is a game we should be trying to get their D off balance, then build from there. Withstand the barrage of energy as SDSU tries to replicate what happened last Saturday, punish them for taking chances.
My sense is there’s a whole bunch of guys ready to get the direction changed.
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Utes - 27
Aztecs - 20
I think the media feels pretty burned after (yet again) hyping Utah all summer as south-winning, “possibly like 2019” team. If I were them I’d be keeping my mouth shut too. Utah has a lot to prove on both sides of the ball vs SDSU.
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Last night I watched the BYU-Utah game again. The Utah defense was on the field a long time, but particularly in the first half, they did well actually. Utah’s offense lost a ton of momentum twice, once on Brewer’s first interception and then later on Thomas’ fumble. In both cases, Utah was on the move. Utah lost and lost proper. That is to say, no excuses. KW took the odds and lost on the 4th and 2 near the goal line. We’ve seen that gamble play out with the same results at a Cal game a few years back and at least one other game in recent history. Had Utah kicked a FG, the score would have been tied at that point. BYU maintained its intensity through the game and perhaps the lack of experience noted by Nick Ford for the OL spelled the difference. BYU’s creative blitz’s were not countered with short yardage sweeps, or end arounds. A fatiguing D in the 4thQ could not contain QB Hall, who along with their RB made great personal effort plays to keep Utah’s offense off of the field. I thought when Utah pulled the score to within 6 at the 8 or 9 minute mark left in the game, that the D would hold, Utah would get the ball back with 4 minutes on the clock, march down the field with at least one unsportsmanlike penalty, score a TD and with the extra point come away with a 24-23 victory, in classic fashion. BYU did not allow that to happen. Good for them.
But after watching the game last night, my sense of dread for today’s contest with SDSU eased some. I agree with @Ma-ake that the Utes have a lot of ground to make up for today, and I expect them to do that. Both teams today are built on tough physical Ds and on offense, the run game. SDSU is 49-2 when they rush for more than 200 yards. So expect smash mouth football; Lloyd and company have their work cut out for them this afternoon. SDSU’s first string QB is not expected to play, but the next guy up is actually very good. Yet if Brewer can be accurate in his passes and his receivers make catches, make his progression reads just a bit faster, and avoid another interception, Utah’s passing game could be the twisted key today.
Utah 21-SDSU 17.
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