Utah Football 2024

Football
41

Uh-oh. Pre-season hype. Stay away from the Kool-Aid, guys!

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42

I am excited to see how we fare out of the gates in Stillwater.

43

I feel this idea gets repeated so often that it makes a statement like this mostly untrue, no?

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44

Donā€™t know. Some sports pundits just love to praise us as the dark horse that only those pundits can see.

45

I think it might be due to the fact that the vast majority of Americans have zero interest in Utah, the State, the people, the educational facilities, etc. We are a very insular fan base. It is rare to find someone who is a Utah fan without some connection to the school. It appears to our fanbase that we are a national product because of our success on the field, but we are not.

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46

Outside of a small handful of schools, you described every program.

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47

Most programs have not had the success on the field that I mentioned.

48

Going to be honest, I donā€™t believe this statement. Utah gets respect.

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49

Utah is the least overlooked program when it comes to assembling lists of overlooked programs.

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50

New policy idea, if you overlook Utah, your logo ends up on the urinal cakes. :joy::wink:

#GoodOldFashionedHate

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51

2024 games from most likely win to least.

  1. SUU. Fold up the tents if the Utes lose this.
  2. @ USU. The Utes have lost in Logan before, the last time it happened the Utes ended up 5-7.
  3. Baylor. 3-9 2023 Baylor at RES.
  4. @ ASU. Utes on the road on Friday night after a BYE.
  5. @ Houston. An extra day of prep for a visit to Houston.
  6. BYU. Rivalry games always difficult. Both teams come off byes. I was going to put this at 7.
  7. TCU. At home but TCU is coming off a bye, so that is why this TCU is 7 and BYU 6.
  8. @CU. Utes come off BYU game. Sanders is very good. Prime for an upset?
  9. ISU. ISU is a team that returns a good QB and supporting cast.
  10. @ UCF. UCF is good. Travel across country for a Friday night contest. This could turn out as the most difficult game of the season.
  11. Arizona. QB and WR torched us a year ago. UA coming off a bye and Utes off a roadie at OK.St. This game and the UCF game are the least favorable from a scheduling standpoint.
  12. @ OkSt. First real Big 12 game, on road and against a top tier opponent.

8-4 or below: 10%
9-3: 25%
10-2: 30%
11-1: 25%
12-0: 10%

What gives me confidence is that the Utes went 8-4 in 2023 with average at best QB play. What causes me concern is 2 new safeties and that the Utes only beat two teams with winning records and were not competitive against Oregon and Arizona.

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52

Thank you for this analysis. good stuff

53

So two teams have byes before playing us when we donā€™t have a bye? And we also have two byes but one (BYU) they are coming off a bye as well?

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54

Good list but Iā€™d probably have Zona at about 5. New coach, new systemā€¦ key departures everywhere, especially on D where there are significant questions. Every serious analyst Iā€™ve seen rates them pretty low. If Cam, Kuithe and co canā€™t roll over them at RES then I fear weā€™ll be in for a long season.

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55

May be an image of 2 people and text that says 'Aė¦¬ė‚“ź³  Just a reminder: your sports team's failures are a direct reflection of your personality defects'

12 Likes
56

Valid points. Arizona having a bye and Utah coming off a road game at OkSt factored significantly in my thinking.

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57

I must be schizophrenic. This week my team Real Madrid scored 2 goals in the last minute to advance to the Champions League Finals. On Friday, the 3 games I was interested in, Utah Softball and Baseball and the Padres vs Dodgers, my teams all win, 2 in dramatica fashion. Yesterday all 3 get beat plus Real SLC gives up a goal in the last minute to end in a draw. Fortunately, I have the memory of a goldfish.

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58

If Tao Johnson stays healthy heā€™s an all-league talent at FS - 6-1 /196, rangey, track speed, tracks the ball well. He played a surprising number of snaps last year with Bishop & Vaki as the starters, both NFL draftees. Guys donā€™t get snaps at safety at Utah unless they know the position, one of the most difficult to master. Tao was a factor in Vaki getting drafted for his versatility, supplying the depth at S to make it possible. (Smith Snowden also got a few snaps, but I couldnā€™t tell if it was a package. Heā€™s put together but a little undersized for S.)

SS is a little more of an unknown. Bishop made everyone forget Nate Richie went on a mission, was far more of an elite athlete than anyone knew. Richie was definitely coming back up to speed last year, looked out of position a few times. Johnathan Hall is listed at 215, really looks like an athletic LB. If he drove by Wendyā€™s 3 times a week heā€™d probably be closer to 230.

Just as Tao Johnson came out of nowhere to play significant snaps on the back end, it will be interesting to see who else appears in fall camp. Alakaā€™i Gilman 5-10 / 194 is the latest in a long series of transfers from Stanford, and Jeilani Davis is a highly touted 6-0 / 202 FR from LA.

8 Likes
59

With Utah getting Rising AND Kuithe back this year, I like their chances against basically anybody

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60

AND we picked up a former 5-star QB from the portal. I like our chances, also!

1 Like