Thoughts after Laramie

Well, after seeing Utah in person I have come to a few conclusions:

1) Wyoming is VERY bad. They dropped easy passes. They made bad passes. They tried to fight for extra yards when they weren't there, leading to fumbles. Their special teams is poor: they can't block when they have to punt and they can't catch when their opponent punts. Their pass defense was leaving people wide open all day, but Utah couldn't take advantage.
2) Utah's pass offense is horrible. They had receivers running open all day and BJ could not hit them. I would say it was a windy day, but there were only one or two horrible passes he made that were impacted by the wind. Also, it was not windy in the first half. I was not alone, I overheard many Ute fans complaining about his inability to make good decisions and good passes. Many fans were calling for backup QB Corbin Louks. I don't blame them, while he didn't throw but one time the whole game, when he was in the game, the ball moved.
3) Utah's offense is a lot of smoke and mirrors, but mostly smoke. I could look at personnel and formation and predict the play correctly 75% of the time. If I can do that, it shouldn't be that hard for a defensive coordinator. The offense had one, maybe two, good-looking drives the entire game. On a side note, Wyoming had about the same number. Again, there were fans who expressed their displeasure in offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig. I said after last year, IF Utah had a chance to go undefeated, it would depend on the firing of Ludwig and the hiring of someone else. That didn't happen. The offense is not good enough to carry them through a game or to keep them in a game where their defense doesn't play well.
4) Utah's defense is outstanding. They capitalized on nearly every Wyoming mistake. They forced Wyoming into mistakes. Their gameplan was perfect: stack the box and play man on the outside. They wanted to make Wyoming beat them through the air, and they couldn't. They didn't completely stymie the run, but part of that was the 44 carries Wyoming had. With that many rushes, they are going to break 5 or 6 of them, which they did. The defense stepped up every time it needed to, excepting the ONE touchdown pass by Wyoming.
5) Utah needs to find a punt returner who can catch the ball, or at least make good decisions. They put a couple of different guys back there and they took a lot of unnecessary risks. I was nervous with each punt, and I wasn't even cheering for the Utes. Or they could just rush 11 every time instead. That might be more effective.

I became more convinced that Utah cannot survive through the next 4 games without a loss. If Colorado State doesn't steal one this weekend, then New Mexico will November 1st. If New Mexico falls short, TCU will get them on the following Thursday. If TCU doesn't, well, I guess they will survive (and I will stand corrected) because San Diego State doesn't have a chance!