Tuesday, September 28. 2010Red, Blue And Pigskin
The fourth week of the season says goodbye to September with another loss for BYU, and the end to the first half of the Utah home schedule. Utah has shown that it used it's scrimmage season to improve upon first week issues. Meanwhile BYU actually showed some improvement for the first time this season. BYU is looking at the end of an unusually tough (for them) non conference schedule, while Utah is preparing for their toughest foe of the early season.
Effective Scrimmaging
Unfortunately with a schedule against teams the likes Utah has faced so far this year, it's hard to decipher what about a team is real, and what is just a result of the easy opponents. After Utah's dominating, yet close, victory over Pitt to begin the season, there were a number of areas where the Utes had issues to be resolved. Ball security, special teams, Jordan Wynn's thumb, Shaky Smithson, slow starts and penalties were major issues for the Utes. The one nice thing about an easy early schedule is the chance to fix issues against inferior opponents. Week 2 saw a decrease in penalties, and the redemption of Shaky Smithson. Fumbles, and blocked punts were still an issue. Week 3 saw Shaky become a legitimate return threat, penalties were at an acceptable level, and the Utes managed not to block a punt. Ball security however was an issue as the Utes fumbled 4 times, losing three. Week 4 saw the Utes play almost a perfect game versus San Jose State. Jordan Wynn was back at QB, and led the Utes to an opening drive TD for the first time all year. In his return to action Wynn was solid going 14 of 18 for 124 yards and 2 TD's. The defense was absolutely dominating, limiting the Spartans to 172 total yards (3 less yards than Alabama held them to in week 1). There were 2 blocked punts, one by each team in the game. However both blocked punts were good for Utah. In an attempt to keep the ball away from Shaky Smithson, the Spartans used their QB to attempt a rugby style punt. Only the punt bounced off of one of his lineman's head, and was picked up by Utah for a TD. On the very next drive, the Utes blocked the punt to set up Utah with another short field. Utah went the entire game without a turnover, a sack, and almost the entire game without a penalty. The only penalty for Utah was a false start, by the second string offensive line with about 2 minutes to go in the game. The only reason this game wasn't a shutout, was the Utes allowing a 71 yard kickoff return which gave the Spartans the ball at the Utah 20 yardline. The Utes did give up 17 yards on the drive, but eventually forced a field goal. That long kickoff return, and the the false start penalty, were the only real blemishes the Utes had. Now the Utes prepare to face their toughest foe of this early season..... ... themselves. Bye Week That's right, the Utes opponent this week isn't another team. The Utes must face themselves. The challenges for the Utes will be to fight off laziness. To fight off the urge to think they are better than they are. The tough thing for the Utes is that having such a good game, and blowing out their opponent 56-3, means the Utes now have 2 weeks before their next game. Two weeks thinking of what they did right. Two weeks of reading their own press clippings. It's up to the Coaches to remind them that they have only played 4 teams with a combined record of 3-9, and one of those wins was because two of those teams played each other. It's up to the coaches to remind them that they face a brutal November. It's up to the coaches to remind them their next opponent is from an AQ Conference, and is only their second road game of the seasons. It's up to the coaches to find the things they've been doing wrong, and make them focus on that as opposed to what has been right. Fortunately this isn't anything new for Utah. over the last 7 years, the Utes are 7-0 coming off of byes. This will be the third time they were undefeated during the bye. Add in the Utes 9 game bowl winning streak, and it shows that Utah is really good when given extra time to prepare. The good news is that Coach Whittingham, who's been around for all 7 years, and all 9 bowl wins, is 5-0 after bye weeks as Head Coach. The Bad news is there is no Utes football next week. View From The Red Zone Not a whole lot to point out from this game. Only two thoughts. First a repeat of a thought from a couple weeks ago, about how Terrance Cain just is not trusted by the crowd. As Cain entered the game in the third quarter, and promptly proceeded to overthrow a WR, Mad Giggler leaned over to me and said "Here comes the obligatory Terrance Cain Field Goal Drive." Have to say, I thought the same thing. Secondly, ABC Red Zone is a weekly recap show that shows highlights of the game. About halfway through they have a Fan of the Game segment. This week, yours truly was that fan. I gave a quick interview, in which they interspersed clips of me cheering on the Utes throughout the game. The show aired Sunday at 10:30 on ABC. If you missed it I believe it is being replayed tonight at 9 p.m. on The Mtn. A New Low For the first time in Bronco Mendenhall's head coaching career, the BYU Cougars have lost three consecutive games. The Nevada Wolf Pack ended BYU's non conference schedule by handing the cougars their third consecutive loss 27-13. Unlike the previous two losses though, this one wasn't all bad for BYU. Unlike against Air Force, and Florida State where they were ran over on their way to an embarassing defeat, this one was more of a case, of BYU just wasn't as good as their opponent. Sure the Wolf Pack had 172 yards in the first quarter alone, on their way to 439 yards total. Yes, that makes the third consecutive game that BYU gave up 400 or more yards. There is also the fact that until the final minutes of the game BYU couldn't really move the ball. Their first TD came on a short field thanks to a bogus fumble call. After the first drive of the second half, it really looked like another blowout was inevitable. It never came. In the second half BYU became the first team to prevent Nevada from scoring a TD in a quarter. While it's true that BYU struggled to stop Nevada, unlike the last two games, BYU didn't get beat by the big play. This is a defense that is young, and not very good, but for one week, at least, they weren't disastrous. On the offensive side of the ball, the Cougars may have finally found the guy that their offense will revolve around. RB J.J. Di Luigi has become the focal point of the offense. For most of the game QB Jake Heaps rarely looked to throw the ball downfield. Instead the Cougars relied on a short passing game. Di Luigi has benefited from this. Even before this week, he had started to solidify himself as Heaps safety net. Di Luigi caught 8 passes for 56 yards. He also ran it 16 times for another 67 yards. Di Luigi is currently averaging a 6.3 yards per carry average. It's becoming clear, that as Heaps struggles through learning the D-1 game, Di Luigi is becoming the focal point of the offense. As long as he doesn't renew his fumbling issues. Indefensible Act, Great Sentiment I'm going to climb on a soapbox for a moment. I realize that football is a rough sport, and injuries are a part of the game. I realize that fluke accidents happen, or situation occur that cause serious injuries. Nevada OL John Bender's dirty, cheap block on Romney Fuga in the second quarter, was not a fluke. It was a cheap shot. The Wolf Pack had set up a screen pass. Fuga was trying to make a move to get into position to tackle the ball carrier when Bradley cut his knees out from under him. Fuga ended up with a torn ACL, and is now out for the season. What makes the play completely indefensible by Bradley is the fact that he dove at the back/side of Fuga's knees. He did not have to. He could have made a standing block, instead he led with his shoulder and dove directly at the knees of a player who didn't even know he was there. I don't know Bradley. I don't know what kind of person he is. I don't know if he had the intent to injure Fuga. I do however know that it was a stupid play by him. A cheap play and a very dirty hit. It was one of the dirtiest hits I have ever seen playing football. Just because none of the officials saw it doesn't make it any less so. Anybody who's ever played football at any level know that you don't go for the knees, especially when the player doesn't know you are there. Here's hoping for a good recovery for Fuga so that he can return next year. In the second half, Fuga's teammate, Vic So'oto came out wearing Fuga's jersey. It was a great sentiment, and a nice show of support to his teammate. It's also something that would never have been allowed in the NFL. Only in college football would a player be allowed a jersey switch mid game like this. So'oto did record an interception in the second half wearing Fuga's jersey. A Slight Break in the Schedule BYU has played a very difficult schedule so far. A weak Washington team to start the season was followed by a game against the Air Force Falcons on September 11th. Then a game across the country in Tallahassee for Florida State. Finally last week against the now 25th ranked Nevada Wolf Pack. Coming into the season I was high on Utah State, and figured this could be a trap game. The last 6 quarters of football by the Aggies are leaving that less likely. While not the foregone conclusion of years past, this trip to Logan for the Cougars could be just what they need. A victory could help the Cougars, not just in the standing, but from a mental position. The Cougars are a young team. A Team that hasn't felt the success of past years. Losing can have a negative effect. This will be a good game, unlike the past few years. The Aggies are very much improved. For the first time in years, they won't be completely outmatched by the Cougars. But they are also in the middle of a slide. This will come down to whichever coach can play the mental game better. This game can be a turning point for whoever wins it. Whoever loses it though faces a tough game the following week, and the down momentum could turn into a landslide. Sending Out My Thanks Even though CSU finally won for the first time in 12 games, and UNLV got it's first victory this season over New Mexico, I would like to really thank UNLV, Colorado State, and New Mexico for being 3 of the worst teams in the nation, and proving why the MWC was never going to get an Automatic Qualifying spot. In doing so, they are proving why Utah absolutely had to take the invitation to the Pac-12 instead of gambling on the MWC. Game of the Week This week the Air Force Falcons matchup with the Navy Midshipmen. If you want to watch a pretty fun game, that will end rather quickly, this is the game to watch. The game will go quickly because both of these teams rely heavily on the run, and both are pretty disciplined. It'll be on Versus Saturday at 2 p.m., and I recommend it if you want to watch a good football game. Programming Note It has been announced that Utah's game against Iowa State on the 9th will be played at 5 p.m. MST. It will also be on TV on the Fox College Sports Channel. It may regionally be picked up by Fox Sports Utah. If not, check your local listings for Fox College Sports (617/623 on Direct TV). Trackbacks
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