Sadly I see ByU on our schedule. Can’t we have every other year off?
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Unfortunately, byu-provo will be the only team that is on our schedule EVERY year.
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The Big-12 established four protected rivalries that will be played every year. They are the Holy War, UA/ASU, KU/KSU and Baylor/TCU. The level of interest, both locally and nationally is too high to not make them annual events.
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I am not going to begin to forecast how I think the season will go down. I learned my lesson last season when I sincerely thought this team was playoff bound. I do believe that we will see a turnaround, but that hinges on how well Dampier can adapt to P4 play, how well the new coordinators can implement their systems, and whether this team can finally avoid the injury bug.
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Well with the way things go, I’m sure we’ll be in different conferences within a couple years.
Doesn’t mean we’ll be P2 or whatever. Just that nothing is stable in college sports and we’re in a terribly misfit conference situation right now.
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Since Spring Football starts in a week, I thought I would reflect back on 2024.
I know the Utah defense was placed in a difficult situation in almost every game last year and that overall, they had good stats, but in looking back at the season, the defense gave up some late scores that changed the outcome of games. If the Utes are going to rebound in 2025, not only will they need much better offensive production (which should help the D), but they will also need better D late in the game.
OSU: After increasing their lead to 22-3 with 6:21 left in the 4th qtr, the defense gave up two TD’s in 4 minutes to cut the lead to 22-19 and cause the Utes to recover an onside kick to preserve the win.
Arizona: The Utes scored a TD to cut the Arizona lead to 16-10 with 11:54 left in the 4th quarter. On the next drive, Arizona scored a TD to increase the lead to 23-10 with 8:13 remaining, to preserve the win.
ASU: The Utes take the lead 16-13 with 3:19 left in the 3rd qtr. The Utes then gave up a 50 yard TD run to Skattebo to push ASU to a 20-16 lead. The Utes kick a FG with 5:42 remaining to make it 19-20 ASU. The Utes then give up a 47 yard TD run by Skattebo with 2:41 remaining in the game to secure the win.
Houston: Utes up 14-7 and Houston scores a TD with 8:29 in the 4th to tie the game and then allows Houston to drive 29 yards and kick a 43 yard FG with time expiring to secure the win.
BYU: We know what happened. 65 yard drive and 44 yard FG with time running out and BYU wins 22-21.
Iowa St.: After the Utes took the lead 28-24 with 5:51 left in the game. The defense allows a 10 play, 75 yard drive that ends with TD with 1:31 remaining giving ISU a 31-28 victory.
UCF: Although it didn’t change the outcome, the Ute defense gave up a 14 play 75 yard TD with 19 seconds remaining in the game.
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I hate to be Zoobish and play the what-if game, but Utah honestly could easily have been 9-3 or 10-2 last season had a few plays gone their way. But, of course, it wasn’t all about bad calls or unlucky bounces. This is a good analysis that shows the defense, which played very well most of the time, wet the bed late in games.
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Scalley and the D should be motivated to do better. Nobody knows better than Morgan that the defensive breakdowns were masked by the offensive issues and a spectacularly bad QB situation.
The motivation for the whole team for this year should be redemption.
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Speaking of Zoobs, regardless of the late penalty, if Calhoun doesn’t let the ball slip through his hands, it’s an interception and game over, extra win (7-5). And yes, a few plays here and there, but really it was if we could have averaged just another TD a game on offense (which also keeps our defense off the field and fresher), we win a few more games - to your point, 9-3, 10-2. But it was what it was. Clean it up and get better and manage injuries better and we’ll be ok in 2025.
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I hope it really is as simple as this. I’m reasonably confident that offense will be better this year. Easier reads, a year more of experience for Wilson, and Dampier with experience in the offense. I hope that the O-line can do a good job of blocking. That will, obviously, help the passing and run games.
I’m not too concerned about the defense. I think Scalley will right that ship. If the offense can help then things will be pretty good again on the defense.
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Having an offense that can stay on the field longer solves a lot of the issues with the defense last year especially late in the game. An offense that can sustain drives keeps the defense off the field and they are not as tired late in the game.
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The one and only game Utah didn’t have a shot at winning was the CU game. The Buffs played well that day, and Utah’s defense struggled. Crazily, it was the offense that didn’t do all that bad. Otherwise, Utah was in every loss. Now, had Utah played ASU in November, it’s possible the Sun Devils would have run Utah off the field, as ASU got a lot better later in the year.
I said this at this time last year, but there’s no way Utah could endure an injury-plagued season like last season again, right? And now it has happened two years in a row. Utah is due for some good fortune or at least a lack of bad fortune.
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Of course Singer would get denied.
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Eh, his case was really weak - trying to argue that playing 5 games should not count (4 is the limit to count as a RS - regular or medical). Not the same as the juco stuff and all the other covid year, medical redshirts, etc. that gave Rising 7 years.
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Fun watch.
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This guy posts some good interviews. Hope this link works.
Atuia - https://x.com/elijahgmurray/status/1903247711287251183
Ellis - https://x.com/elijahgmurray/status/1903256160498827492
Swan - https://x.com/elijahgmurray/status/1903252351043109151
Simon - https://x.com/elijahgmurray/status/1903195995095306675
Shah - https://x.com/elijahgmurray/status/1903184324507435026
Scalley - https://x.com/elijahgmurray/status/1903172341217235126
Beck - https://x.com/elijahgmurray/status/1903166834179969242
Harding - https://x.com/elijahgmurray/status/1903258455810642134
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Lord I hope that is a 4/1 joke.
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Oh duh, I forgot it’s 4/1
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