I actually agree with everything you touched on, but the problem is that BYU fans have been telling us Utah fans for years that they don't rebuild down in Happy Valley, they simply reload. Problem is, you can't have it both ways. If this BYU program is where most Cougar fans say it is, they should be able to handle Jake Locker and Washington. Period.
I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek when I said I'm certainly picking BYU to win. In reality, I don't know enough about Washington to make much of an educated guess on the issue. However, if Washington leaves Provo with a win, I think it has more to do with BYU being in store for a mediocre season than it does Washington being great.
With a Washington loss and road games remaining @Florida State, TCU, and Utah, that would put BYU in a pretty daunting hole to begin the season.
Some fans are dumb. Those BYU homers who said that were completely wrong. So I can understand you there.
In a way, every team in college "rebuilds" every year. Maybe for teams like Florida or BYU, the rebuilding project is much larger since they lost players that had been such big parts of their programs for such a long time.
But IMHO, I think BYU is in a much bigger "rebuilding" year than in years past. They lost their entire offense from the past 2-3 years and with no proven replacement right now. I have no clue who the tight ends are. I'm unsure about Jacobson (and I'm not a fan of Chambers). And I don't know too much about their running backs.
Basically, the only thing I know is that their offensive line is big and slow (I did hear good news that Reynolds has lost some weight to be better able to protect the QB in passing situations). And their linebackers and safeties are solid. I'm a big fan of Penalton and Rich. Those guys are studs.
One thing that just amazes me is the change in recruiting that has taken place in such a short amount of time. I often remember the McBride teams being pretty talented but basically even with BYU. Even Urban Meyer's Utah teams didn't have
that much of an athletic or size edge against BYU. But today, it's unreal how much team speed and size Utah has. Zane Taylor is an offensive lineman with a 6-pack (the good kind). That defensive line creates so much pressure on the QB it's silly. Those WRs and DBs look like NFL caliber players. Quite honestly, Utah looks like a top tier Pac-10 school talent-wise.
The pressure Utah puts on the perimeter, both offensively and defensively is the key to their success IMO. Not many teams have WRs that can beat Utah's secondary, and not many secondaries can cover Utah's WRs without leaving themselves incredibly vulnerable to the run.
I would be surprised if Utah loses to TCU in SLC this year. If Wynn can stop dancing and deliver strikes, this Utah team even with a sophomore QB has a chance to be special and play in another BCS bowl. Just look @ their schedule. All tough games are at home. Meanwhile, both TCU and BYU have to go out on the road.