Boise State 26, Utah 3

Offensive Play
Well, the result wasn't too surprising.  Going into the game, even if they had a healthy Jordan Wynn, I just had a hard time seeing how Utah was going to put up points against this Boise State defense.  Utah has gone away from their power-running game the past month, and to try to outspeed Boise State on the perimeter is impossible for almost all non-SEC teams.

The bad news for Utah fans: they lose their 3 best RBs (Eddie Wide III and Matt Asiata graduate and Sausin Shakerin had a career-ending injury), 2 of their 3 best WRs (Jereme Brooks and Shaky Smithson), their backup QB (Terrance Cain), 2 of their starting OL (Caleb Schlauderoff and Zane Taylor), their K (Joe Phillips), and their All-American PR/KR (Shaky Smithson).  They will not see any defenses as good as the Broncos, but they only put up 17 at home against BYU and 3 on the road against Notre Dame: they will see better defenses than that.  Where will the points come from next season?  Can DeVonte Christopher carry the load without a Jereme Brooks, and without any real threat of a running game, to take some of the heat off of him?

Does anybody have confidence in Utah's offense being able to put up the 28 points/game they will need to win the Pac 12 South?  With Dave Schramm and Aaron Roderick running the offense and Brian Johnson coaching the QBs (he was not a great QB as a player, and he hasn't received any coaching since he graduated: what wisdom can he really impart to Jordan Wynn)?

Last Line of Defense
Well, to say that Utah "stopped" Boise State would be an overstatement.  Yes, Boise State only scored 26 points.  But they amassed over 500 yards and controlled the clock in the middle part of the game.  Boise State also dropped two wide open TDs, and both of those drives ended with field goals (6 points instead of 14).  They did play well enough to give Utah a chance in the game.  Boise State has a better offense than at least 9 of the 11 other Pac 12 schools.  That gives Utah some hope going into next season: if the defense can hold it together until the offense figures out how to move the ball, they will have a chance in a weak Pac 12 South.

The biggest problem going into 2011, and the Pac 12, is the secondary: last year they could survive losing two great players in the secondary because they had two great back-ups/nickelbacks.  This offseason they lose Lamar Chapman and Justin Taplin-Ross.  They also lose arguably their best cover LB Chad Manis.  And their best pass-rushing DL Christian Cox.  If they cannot cover or get pressure, it won't matter how good that front 7 is against the run, especially in a mostly pass-happy Pac 12.

I certainly have a lot more faith in Kalane Sitake running the show on defense.  Plus K-Whit is a defensive-minded guy and he will put a decent product on the defensive side.  But I worry about a pass defense that figures to be worse than this year's version that got torched for over 300 yards tonight, 228 yards to a freshman QB with 1 good pass catching threat against BYU, and 528 yards and 4 TDs against SDSU.  Those were the last 3 games of the season.  The athletes and experience in the Pac 12 will blow BYU's out of the water, and the size and skill of the Pac 12 will blow SDSU's out of the water.

Boise State is a great team.  They dominated the game, particularly when Utah had the ball.  It is a shame they were not given a better bowl test after such a phenomenal run these past 3 seasons.  But, then again, this was SUPPOSED to be a test...I will talk a little bit more about Boise State's future in a post-yet-to-come (after all of this season's games have been played), where I will look at all of the potential non-AQ 2011 BCS busters.  For BYU fans, it is a good chance to size up the competition.  For those who saw the game tonight: they were probably looking at BYU's biggest threat, though the Broncos do have to travel to Fort Worth next season to take on TCU...