Utah State at Utah Reaction

Just a couple of quick thoughts before I head to bed (I hate the Eastern Time Zone!).  Also, I should have stuck with my 4-point Utah win prediction...I threw a pre-game jinx on Utah State and I apologize to Aggies fans everywhere.  Both of you.

Vintage Utah
That game reminded me a lot about the 2008 Utes (without an elite defense).  They won a few games that season they had no business winning.  But they used the following formula to do it: capitalize on opponent mistakes, have a kicker that's not a head case and can make positive plays, have a punter that can flip field position, and take a risk when there's a sense of momentum change.  They won.  That was what Utah did in 2008 time and time again.

There was life in the stadium.  There was excitement in the air.  As my wife always says: the Utes are a much more fun team to watch than BYU.  They have big plays, there's a lot of emotion, and they always have a trick up their sleeve.

Trouble Ahead?
Yes, they had to rely on big plays.  Yes, they only had two possessions longer than 4 minutes (the last two of the game when they were TRYING to run clock).  That's not abnormal for hurry-up offenses, but Utah is not one of those.  Two of their scoring drives came after defensive penalties extended drives that would have been punts.  Those are issues.  Not to take anything away from Utah State, but that was not anything like the offensive lines the Utes will see down the road.  That was the smallest DL Utah will see as well, and the Utes averaged less than 4/carry.  Utah had three 3 and outs in the first half in 7 possessions (and would have had one more but for a penalty).  And this wasn't a game where Utah State just wanted it more, and so was able to hang with the Utes.  By all accounts, the Utes wanted this every bit as much as the Aggies after last season's loss that derailed the Utes' season.  Utah will get better.  These issues may not hold week after week.  But, again, no offense to Utah State, but there are 7 games that theoretically provide a bigger challenge on the schedule.  They host Oregon State, UCLA, Stanford, Arizona State and play road games at BYU, Arizona, USC, and Oregon.

Utah State not buried
Yes, if Utah has the long season that might be possible (but would have been definite with a loss tonight), then losing to a 5-7 team could hurt them.  However, they still have chances to prove their mettle against USC (on the road), San Jose State (road) BYU, Boise State, and potentially an MWC title game.  If they can successfully survive the grind and churn out 9-11 wins, I think any observer would have to say this new coach ain't half bad...and Chuckie Keeton is amazing.  On the flip side, these first 7 games are unlike any stretch of 7 games they've ever had in the history of their program.

I saw good things.  They did get a little outcoached late in the third quarter with the hurry up drive, onside kick, and another hurry-up drive.  But I think the highlight of the night for me was watching this firs-time head coach explain the rules to the Pac 12 officiating crew, who made a couple of Pac 12 officiating calls.  Still, Gary Anderson would have won that game.