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Official UofU homer thread

fishonjazz said:
So reading these last few pages of posts from ute fans (i know its the homer thread and green gonna green so i should take it with a grain of salt) and listening to sports talk radio it would seems that the utes would be favorites to compete for a conference championship. Best D-line and O-line ever. Offensive coordinator consistency. Whitt sounding super pleased and optimistic in every interview. Finally going to have a passing game. Etc etc.
Then on the radio yesterday i heard an interview with a national writer ranking the pac12 teams. He had it:
1.stanford
2.UCLA
3.Oregon
4.washington
5.usc
6.washington state
7.Utah

So then I googled Ranking pac12 teams for 2016 season. Most lists are very similar. One had utah ahead of washington state in 6th place. One had utes at 8 with cal ahead of them.

Seems that most every publication has the top 4 teams all being from the north. Maybe utes being in the weaker south helps their chances?

https://pac-12.com/article/2016/07/14/stanford-chosen-win-pac-12-title-preseason-media-poll
https://pac-12.com/article/2016/07/...conference-football-2016-projections-rankings
https://247sports.com/Season/2016-Football/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=Pac-12
https://athlonsports.com/college-football/early-pac-12-football-predictions-2016
https://campusinsiders.com/news/post-spring-pac-12-football-rankings-2016-05-06-2016
This link: https://collegefootballnews.com/2016/pac-12-team-schedules-predictions Has the utes finishing 5th in the south. Only ahead of colorado.
This link is kind of a general preview for the conference:https://campusinsiders.com/news/pac-12-football-preview-2016-early-conference-lookahead-05-31-2016 and it has a category of players who deserve a bigger spotlight and players who are the best pro prospects. No utah players listed.

Seems like tons of hype for the utes right now locally. Is it deserved or is it just the usual pre-season homer hype that most every team has locally?


Where do the ute fans think that the utes should be ranked in the conference right now? Where do you think they will finish?
Click to expand...

You probably put too much stock in national media and rankings. Here's the bottom line: Utah is the type of program that is NEVER going to get picked to win the South until they actually do it.

Let me put it another way: If this EXACT Utah team currently had "UCLA" on the sides of their helmet, national projections would be much higher. I'm fine with it btw. I'm actually cringing at all of the local expectations. Utah seems to be at their best when they're playing with a chip on their shoulder.
 
fishonjazz said:
So reading these last few pages of posts from ute fans (i know its the homer thread and green gonna green so i should take it with a grain of salt) and listening to sports talk radio it would seems that the utes would be favorites to compete for a conference championship. Best D-line and O-line ever. Offensive coordinator consistency. Whitt sounding super pleased and optimistic in every interview. Finally going to have a passing game. Etc etc.
Then on the radio yesterday i heard an interview with a national writer ranking the pac12 teams. He had it:
1.stanford
2.UCLA
3.Oregon
4.washington
5.usc
6.washington state
7.Utah

So then I googled Ranking pac12 teams for 2016 season. Most lists are very similar. One had utah ahead of washington state in 6th place. One had utes at 8 with cal ahead of them.

Seems that most every publication has the top 4 teams all being from the north. Maybe utes being in the weaker south helps their chances?

https://pac-12.com/article/2016/07/14/stanford-chosen-win-pac-12-title-preseason-media-poll
https://pac-12.com/article/2016/07/...conference-football-2016-projections-rankings
https://247sports.com/Season/2016-Football/CompositeTeamRankings?Conference=Pac-12
https://athlonsports.com/college-football/early-pac-12-football-predictions-2016
https://campusinsiders.com/news/post-spring-pac-12-football-rankings-2016-05-06-2016
This link: https://collegefootballnews.com/2016/pac-12-team-schedules-predictions Has the utes finishing 5th in the south. Only ahead of colorado.
This link is kind of a general preview for the conference:https://campusinsiders.com/news/pac-12-football-preview-2016-early-conference-lookahead-05-31-2016 and it has a category of players who deserve a bigger spotlight and players who are the best pro prospects. No utah players listed.

Seems like tons of hype for the utes right now locally. Is it deserved or is it just the usual pre-season homer hype that most every team has locally?


Where do the ute fans think that the utes should be ranked in the conference right now? Where do you think they will finish?
Click to expand...

It boils down to this: If you are a national writer and don't give two craps about the PAC-12...how do you rank them?

Well, Stanford is awesome, they are #1. Oregon is Oregon, #2. I've heard a lot about Washington, they are #3. WSU has Leach and he makes me laugh #4. Oregon State sucked last year, #6. Cal #5.

In the south? USC is USC = #1. UCLA has Rosen = #2. Then there is this group that has been ok but I have no clue about = Arizona, ASU, Utah. We all know Colorado sucks so they are #6. Utah was good last year and Whitt is good so they are #3. ASU's coach is a dick so they are #5. That makes Arizona #4.

So, let's rank the teams:

Stanford - cause they are the new Oregon.
Oregon, because they are Oregon.
USC/UCLA/Washington - the LA schools are awesome and it seems like everyone is talking about Washington.
WSU/Utah - I know nothing about either team, but Whitt always wins games and Leach has a good QB.
ASU/Arizona/Cal - I know they don't suck as much as Colorado/OSU.
Colorado/OSU - they suck.

That is how national people rank the PAC-12.
 
Here is where the hype comes from: This is still football. Football is still a man's sport and is won and lost in the trenches.

Utah has a top 3 DL in the country. Utah runs a 4-2 front 7 half the time. The other half, they run a 5-1. So, LB isn't as big a concern.

Utah's OL is top 2-3 in the PAC-12. They have 4 returning starters and a 5 star 24 or 25 year old LT (and as much as BYU hates this, when it comes to the OL a 24-25+ year old OL is a HUGE advantage over a 20 year old OL).

Their secondary is ranked between top 10 and top 12, which puts their secondary as second or third best in the PAC-12.

Joe Williams averaged 133 yards per game when Booker went down.

Utah has a QB that was the #1 rated dual threat out of high school and was incredible last year in JC (and went undefeated as well) that works harder than just about anyone.

Utah has a question at LB'er and Whitt says that isn't a question anymore. We have two really solid options and a third option that has NFL potential if he can get his mind caught up. And this for a defense that runs 1-2 LB'ers.

The other question is at WR/QB. Can Williams not turn the ball over? All signs point to yes, and if that's the case he is better than Wilson.

Can our WR's catch the ball? Whitt says that Patrick is an NFL-level reciever. He has put Dres, Denham, Gordon, Clay into the NFL recently. He knows what he is talking about. So, at at least one position, Utah is better at WR.
 
Compared to last year for Utah:

QB seems to be better. Last year: 5. This year: 7.
RB is worse, but deeper. Last year: 10. This year: 8.
WR has more talent. Last year: 4. This year: 5 with potential up to 7 or 8.
TE last year was decimated with injuries. Last year: started out an 8. Ended up a 4. This year: 8.
OL last year: 7. This year: 8 or 9.
DL last year: 9. This year: 10
LB last year: 9. This year 5-7.
DB last year had issues. B-B was brand new. Domo missed a couple games. Allen was new. Last year: 7. This year: 9
S last year: 8. This year: 9 or 10 depending on how much Hansen kool-aid you drink.

We are better this year than last everywhere except RB and LB. And all Whitt does is send RB's to professional careers, so the benefit of the doubt goes to Whitt that there won't be a huge drop off.

LB'er is the only position that is taking a step back that probably can't come back forward. BUT, there are ways to hide that with a 5-1 front and moving Pita T to an outside/edge rusher LB and moving Hansen up to a LB (and Hansen will be a LB next year).
 
green said:
It boils down to this: If you are a national writer and don't give two craps about the PAC-12...how do you rank them?

Well, Stanford is awesome, they are #1. Oregon is Oregon, #2. I've heard a lot about Washington, they are #3. WSU has Leach and he makes me laugh #4. Oregon State sucked last year, #6. Cal #5.

In the south? USC is USC = #1. UCLA has Rosen = #2. Then there is this group that has been ok but I have no clue about = Arizona, ASU, Utah. We all know Colorado sucks so they are #6. Utah was good last year and Whitt is good so they are #3. ASU's coach is a dick so they are #5. That makes Arizona #4.

So, let's rank the teams:

Stanford - cause they are the new Oregon.
Oregon, because they are Oregon.
USC/UCLA/Washington - the LA schools are awesome and it seems like everyone is talking about Washington.
WSU/Utah - I know nothing about either team, but Whitt always wins games and Leach has a good QB.
ASU/Arizona/Cal - I know they don't suck as much as Colorado/OSU.
Colorado/OSU - they suck.

That is how national people rank the PAC-12.
Click to expand...
Just want to add that I posted quite a few links of rankings.

I would bet that at least one of them is someone who follows and writes about the pac 12 in particular and maybe exclusively.

(Looks like the first link is to pac12.com?)
 
green said:
Here is where the hype comes from: This is still football. Football is still a man's sport and is won and lost in the trenches.

Utah has a top 3 DL in the country. Utah runs a 4-2 front 7 half the time. The other half, they run a 5-1. So, LB isn't as big a concern.

Utah's OL is top 2-3 in the PAC-12. They have 4 returning starters and a 5 star 24 or 25 year old LT (and as much as BYU hates this, when it comes to the OL a 24-25+ year old OL is a HUGE advantage over a 20 year old OL).

Their secondary is ranked between top 10 and top 12, which puts their secondary as second or third best in the PAC-12.

Joe Williams averaged 133 yards per game when Booker went down.

Utah has a QB that was the #1 rated dual threat out of high school and was incredible last year in JC (and went undefeated as well) that works harder than just about anyone.

Utah has a question at LB'er and Whitt says that isn't a question anymore. We have two really solid options and a third option that has NFL potential if he can get his mind caught up. And this for a defense that runs 1-2 LB'ers.

The other question is at WR/QB. Can Williams not turn the ball over? All signs point to yes, and if that's the case he is better than Wilson.

Can our WR's catch the ball? Whitt says that Patrick is an NFL-level reciever. He has put Dres, Denham, Gordon, Clay into the NFL recently. He knows what he is talking about. So, at at least one position, Utah is better at WR.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't some of these writers that I linked to know this info? I mean it's kind of a part of their job right? I wouldn't think it would be hard to look up the info that you just posted in this day and age of technology right?

Is there a small chance that ute fans may have a tendency to over rate their team a little bit on occasion?
I know byu fans get mocked for over rating their team quite often. Doesn't seem unreasonable, impossible, or unlikely to me.
 
fishonjazz said:
Wouldn't some of these writers that I linked to know this info? I mean it's kind of a part of their job right? I wouldn't think it would be hard to look up the info that you just posted in this day and age of technology right?

Is there a small chance that ute fans may have a tendency to over rate their team a little bit on occasion?
I know byu fans get mocked for over rating their team quite often. Doesn't seem unreasonable, impossible, or unlikely to me.
Click to expand...

Sure, Ute fans can over-rate their team. We all do. Every team thinks they are better than they are right now.

Don't underestimate how lazy these writers are. They make $30,000-45,000 a year on average. Not exactly the type of income that motivates you to put in hours of research when the simple reality is that Stanford, Oregon, USC or UCLA will win the PAC-12 95% of the time.

Who cares if Utah wins it? So you were wrong once in ten years. Not worth the effort.

I think a lot of your links back up my description of the lazy writers.
 
green said:
Sure, Ute fans can over-rate their team. We all do. Every team thinks they are better than they are right now.

Don't underestimate how lazy these writers are. They make $30,000-45,000 a year on average. Not exactly the type of income that motivates you to put in hours of research when the simple reality is that Stanford, Oregon, USC or UCLA will win the PAC-12 95% of the time.

Who cares if Utah wins it? So you were wrong once in ten years. Not worth the effort.

I think a lot of your links back up my description of the lazy writers.
Click to expand...
Good response/post
 
fishonjazz said:
Wouldn't some of these writers that I linked to know this info? I mean it's kind of a part of their job right? I wouldn't think it would be hard to look up the info that you just posted in this day and age of technology right?

Is there a small chance that ute fans may have a tendency to over rate their team a little bit on occasion?
I know byu fans get mocked for over rating their team quite often. Doesn't seem unreasonable, impossible, or unlikely to me.
Click to expand...

Two factors here: I think since the McBride era, Ute fans as a whole tend to be a bit more pessimistic. Almost like a "it's only a matter of time til the wheels fall off" type of mentality.

Couple that with the fact that when Ute fans seem overly confident (this offseason for instance) they usually get a pass because BYU fan is even more over confident. I'm a fan of a few different teams in different sports and I've never seen a fan base so over the top in their predictions. Fish, obviously you're an exception to this rule, but every year we hear the same things out of Cougar camp. "Things are different this year in camp", "This staff has made changes that are going to put us over the top" etc. We've got BYU fans in droves predicting 8+ wins for this squad. I think your ceiling this year is 7. I guess we'll see who's right soon enough.
 
Guy Holliday on Tim Patrick:

On Tim Patrick: "He is really explosive to be as big, tall and long as he is. That's a quality that's really unusual to have. Normally it's hard for guys with a lot of length to beat press coverage because of their long strides but he has such a quick twitch so he's able to get off of press coverage. He's embraced the physical aspect of the game, as far as being physical at the point of contact, which is something that I truly believe in. Considering the guys who I've had over the last four or five years, he possesses a more complete package than what I've had. He's really quick twitched for being so big."
Click to expand...

Man, I'm getting excited.
 
I was riding my bike past the UofU after playing some disk golf up there and noticed the new sign which I haven't noticed driving by daily for some reason. It looks very nice. It is really a pretty stadium and location. Shame its wasted. Ill have to pick up some tickets for the Oregon game. Should be a good game, I hope our quarterback doesn't play with a broken throwing hand again and we should get the win/ back to normal.
 
Just saw this post Oregon Coach Helfrich made right after posting because I was curious if Prukop had locked up the QB spot. This quote relates pretty well on this board.

Mark Helfrich wants to decide Oregon's starting quarterback by Aug. 26 (seven more practices). Graduate transfer Dakota Prukop is in the lead but "it's not some huge chasm between him and everybody else." Helfrich sees Prukop settling down and "playing point guard" with so much talent around him, rather than trying to make every heroic play. Helfrich has talked to the quarterbacks about being like John Stockton and distributing to Karl Malone and Jeff Hornacek. "Of course, I have to explain who all those guys are," Helfrich said.
Click to expand...
 
green said:
Guy Holliday on Tim Patrick:



Man, I'm getting excited.
Click to expand...
I like Patrick. Think he will be a good one.

Cbb has the physical gifts too. Could make a great receiving core.
 
green said:
Brandon Cox is transferring. Our QB depth is scary thin.
Click to expand...

On one hand it sucks (because of depth), on the other hand it's nice to see that true freshman Tyler Huntley firmly earned the #2 spot. IMO, if Williams goes down and Huntley becomes your starter, you immediately bring Chase Hansen over as your #2 QB. We've got some decent Safety depth and I'm not super excited to go back to the days when we see a walk-on getting meaningful snaps at QB.
 
jazzman12 said:
On one hand it sucks (because of depth), on the other hand it's nice to see that true freshman Tyler Huntley firmly earned the #2 spot. IMO, if Williams goes down and Huntley becomes your starter, you immediately bring Chase Hansen over as your #2 QB. We've got some decent Safety depth and I'm not super excited to go back to the days when we see a walk-on getting meaningful snaps at QB.
Click to expand...

Yeah, at the end of the day, it's really not a big deal at all. You have Chase Hansen and Jason Thompson on your team. Thompson played QB for three years at the college level, I do believe. So, Utah will be fine. I'm happy for Cox. He will get a chance to go play.

I was wondering if he'd stay because I was told that he was doing his master's degree and would finish it up in Nov 2017. So I wondered if that would be enough for him to stay. But I guess not.

It will be fun to watch him play. He is a lot better than he gets credit for.
 
Bill Riley was told by the PAC-12 Network guys that Washington and Utah were the best looking teams they saw while doing their training camp tour.
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
That's cute.

Meanwhile, Dak.
Click to expand...
Don't put too much stock in that, or well at least the game against MIA. As a fan of MIA, I can't ever remember seeing a defense as bad as theirs (in MIA history) and this is coming from my memory of the team that only won 1 game.

This is a Ute thread though so I will digress.


As far as Fish's question; yes in this the Ute homer thread there probably has been some over excited/zealous predictions or hopes but pretty sure any and every team before the season starts has this to some degree because right now every team is undefeated and has that all powerful "hope". So with that said, as you also mentioned the national media is picking the U to finish 3rd in the South (for the most part) which is fine as they should have to prove it before they can be picked to win it and that is what I'm sure the coaching staff will be focusing to show the players as motivation. As for at he local media other then hearing a few of coach Whitt's interviews, I have honestly heard close to nothing but that is probably more to do with the time I drive to and from work, all I hear is about some other teams that I'm unsure as to why they even cover but whatever I turn the station and check back every 1-2min so I can hear them tease that they will talk about or play interviews from the Utes but by the time they do I'm almost always out of the car by then.

So I then try to find time to read articles and go to Ute sites that link some of the videos, highlights from spring and fall camps, interviews and articles (you know similar to why we all come here to JF).
 
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