6pm Fox
YES!!! Much better time than noon
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That works nicely.
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Assuming both teams win this weekend, I think that could be the rowdiest RES has ever been.
Can’t wait.
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Seems like we need to score a lot of points. USC defense isn’t great but ours isn’t either. We don’t necessarily need chunk plays if we are moving the chains to control time of possession, but we do need TDs and sometimes it’s better to get those on explosive plays. We can’t stall and not convert 3rd downs.
In defense, other than trying to keep their offense off the field, Oregon St. and Wash St. have shown we have to disrupt their backfield. Stunts, blitz, but it has to be quick or they will burn us with their weapons.
Special teams: just be normal. No TO. No bug returns. Nothing fancy. Just boring.
And we have to protect the ball. Maybe take a chance on a pressured Caleb Williams throw.
Winnable at home but we need big improvements in DL and LB play.
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We need a kicker to just kick it through the endzone. We got lit up on returns, and their return guys are even faster than UCLA’s.
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IIRC, didn’t Mitch do some KOs?
I don’t want to mess up the punter, who has been solid, but we need to find somebody.
Redding has had a couple in the EZ, but has been mostly a miss - though the kid can make tackles. (Never a good sign, but a helluva lot better than I could do. He takes the weight training seriously)
Noyes can hit line drives, but they have a high chance of going out of bounds.
The punter, though not a guy who hits the big booming punts, has had some success with pinning teams inside their 20. Kickoffs have been too much of an adventure. If you are going to kick it short of the endzone, the kick need to have some seriously ridiculous hang time to pin the opposition inside their 20 (if they decide to try a run back). Short, flat kicks let the opposition have a chance at a return. Noyes kicked too many of those yesterday, and we ended up giving up too many short fields. I don’t know where we find the next Matt Gay and Mitch Wishnowsky…ok I would settle for the next Louie Sakoda and Tom Hackett. We need that skill back.
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I am quite worried about this game. I think the effort will be there. I just don’t think Utah has the personnel to stop this USC offense. And the USC defense isn’t stellar. But it isn’t bad.
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Back when Utah made the jump to the PAC, USC (with a long tradition of high level play) as well as Oregon and Stanford (strong right at that time) looked to be formidable opponents and we knew Utah had to raise their level to compete at a higher level of competition than we had faced in the MWC.
Utah has grown stronger over the years and had success against all conference foes. USC has by their standards had a decade of mediocrity and seems to be turning it around again this season (as does UCLA). Going to be a great challenge this Saturday but I feel our team is up to it. Will be there as loud and proud a Ute fan that I can be. Maybe USC is too much this year, but I’ll be behind our team no matter what the outcome.
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I am going to assume that we lose this one. So, given that, I’m going to enjoy the day, visit with tailgating friends, and watch the game. That will make for a nice day win or lose.
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We looked pretty bad last Saturday, for sure, but I’ve seen gaping holes get addressed quickly through scheme and technique adjustments… and a different opponent.
Early in the PAC days we played at the Seahawks stadium against UW. From the endzone you could see massive holes being blown open in our DL when Star Lotulelei was here. The next week it was pretty different.
Every game is its own story, I wouldn’t get too concerned until we see the same issue 2-3 games in a row.
There’s an amazing amount of stuff that can be fixed through scheme & play calling, if the guys are bought in and playing hard. For example, if we had to play UCLA again, no way we do a jail-break blitz like the screen play they had that went 70 yards for a TD. But our experience with DTR for 4 years was to pressure the dude, and until Saturday they hadn’t really faced a really good D.
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I for one cherish every game I attend with my 89-year old father as there aren’t that many years left he’ll be able to go with me.
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So will your pick be 11-3, Southern Cal?
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I’ll be taking a nice bike ride up to the lot early to say hi and burn some calories prior to the feast. It will be a good day.
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Maybe.
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Hey Newbomb - how in the world did Jordan know the answer to the liquid soap question?
I detect very high levels of collusion, or espionage, maybe hacking.
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I’m going with collusion.
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Is this the game we see the TJAL helmets? Has to be, right?