Autuia is staying on as RB coach
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Todayâs Bagley offering
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So Lomu has declared for the NFL draft, and who can blame him. His announcement doesnât say anything about playing in the LV Bowl or not. Anyone have any insight? The selfish part of me hopes for few, if any, opt-outs just to honor Coach Whitt.
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I thought I saw Lomu and Fano had opted out of the bowl to prep for the draft.
The other 3 (Kump, Mokofisi, Tanoa) are out of eligibility but hopefully they play. Have to rebuild the entire line next year - some got some reps this year and hopefully Obot and Benjamin can step in and be solid as FR. Maybe a transfer or 2 as well to start of provide depth.
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I havenât seen anything definitive on anybody, but maybe I just missed it.
As an aside, this is something Iâd have written into NIL deals. You opt out because youâre focused on your next, unknown as of yet, employer, thereâs a substantial financial penalty. Itâs part of my, âYou want to be a pro, hereâs part of how that works,â philosophy.
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I think thatâs fine, but the school or someone paying NIL should provide an injury insurance policy for the bowl game (maybe a smaller policy for top guys for the whole season). I donât think there should be a substantial penalty. They were offered NIL for the season, not post-season. But if they were âpenalizedâ, it shouldnât be more than 1/13th of the offer. Or keep it separate for a post-season âbonusâ. Bowls should rev share with players (I think there is some incentive now?) and if they donât play, they donât get it.
Players will play in CFP for a chance for a title. But most bowl games are less than exhibitions now. The risk-reward doesnât play out anymore just for suiting up one more time. Itâs why the NLF pro-bowl was a severely degraded product and they had to change it up.
I read the LA Bowl is going to stop after this year. ESPN props up/owns most of the bowls, the âlowerâ ones are poorly attended but itâs just to have something to put on TV. Teams are opting out of playing (ND, Iowa St., KSU, then a bunch of 5-7 teams that had moved on and didnât want to play in the Birmingham Bowl). Unless something changes soon, I donât see how they will keep most bowls going.
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No doubt the former glut of meaningless bowls has made them less enticing. The only reason weâve chosen to go to LV is because itâs Whittâs last game. If not, we would have had plenty of fun watching it next to the wet bar in our basement.
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Well weâre not far away from the dawn of the new football season and a new coaching era. And I was just thinking about how some of us gathered together for a breakfast not long before that first game. I thought I would float a feeler out there to see if anybody would be interested in trying to do that again this year?
It seemed like we all enjoyed getting together at the other place, because it has such a nice big breakfast option, but I suppose Iâm open to gathering at that small IHOP on 400 South too. Because who doesnât like waffles?
Itâs pretty much the only thing left in that entire part of the city since the village inn got taken out and we lost these restaurant like 30 years ago. Anyway speak up if anybodyâs interested in maybe trying to do another morning breakfast or something.
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I donât think we have a choice, Kosh. Iâm not messing with tradition, pretty sure you donât want to, either.
Saturday before the first game?
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Masked by the 11 wins last year was a DL in need of serious work.
Karson Kaufusi (6-6 / 305) is a promising Soph, along with Pupu Sepulona, who was a 2 time POY in Hawaii in hoops, has bulked up to 6-2 / 298, came here at just 245.
Transfers expected to make an impact are SO Lucas Samsula 6-4 / 306 and SO Jereh Moe 6-0 / 280.
The WYO O-line was really impressed with Samsula as a FR, his strength, quickness and technique got the attention of their seniors. IIRC, our game at Laramie was a frustration getting the offense going. Samsula might have played a factor, and gave us a look at a promising DT.
Dilan Battle is another transfer SO at 6-2 / 320, from LSU, along with SR Jamal Wallace 6-3 / 320 from Tennessee.
Taniela Pepa is yet another Soph, bulked up to 297 at 6-1. (Yes, younger brother of Simonte)
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If it ainât broke donât fix it?
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Iâm in!
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Perfect as far as Iâm concerned.
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Okay when I get on to my computer and itâs a little bit easier to manipulate this message board I will go ahead and start up a brand new thread so that we can start tracking who is interested who can come and pinning down if we are okay returning to the same place as last year.
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Just edit the old thread
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Ethan Day, the transfer DE from North Texas, is another one to watch. He had a huge season last year as a leader on a really, really good team.
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End of July⌠here it comes, fellow Utes!
First four games:
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Idaho - first games are often ragged, I expect this one to follow that pattern. Too much new in the coaches and schemes, talent lost (especially OL), but I think weâll get a glimpse of the Scalley era and come away largely satisfied.
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Arkansas - weâll need that biggest jump between Game 1 and Game 2 to match up to a much more talented team. Most predictions have Arkansas in the 4-6 win range, so this will be a pivotal game for Scalleyâs '26 Utes.
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Utah State - things have changed a lot in college football since Broncoâs Roger Reid impersonation at BYU, but heâll have his team prepped and hungry.
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@Iowa State - our culture will go a long way toward this one being a âWâ or a setback. Iâm excited to see how we are after 4 straight games.
3-1 wouldnât be the worst, 2-2 would be a challenge, 4-0 would have Ute fans feeling really good going into a BYE. Not âundefeated seasonâ good, but moving forward from the fiasco in December, in the same way Whitt wiped the long shadow of Urban after the Sugar Bowl.
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Arkansas is the one where I have no idea what to expect. The common refrain is that theyâre bad, but of course theyâre in the $EC hence full of 5-star talent. Might be a good barometer for this Utah team.
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I would probably be very interested in trying to attend the Idaho game assuming the weather is not hellishly hot. But unfortunately our Mount hopelessly compromised athletic department has insured Iâll never be able to attend another game again. I just canât justify that kind of money for one event
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