College Football 2023: Week 0 Predictions 🏈​

-The scrimmage was a big step forward for the offense, since the defense got the better of last week’s scrimmage.

-The 1s were “thud” so they weren’t live. This was due to the team being pretty beat up right now. The 2s and 3s were live.

-The offense had better execution. Threw it better, ran it better and pass protected better. Far less penalties and not really any glaring errors.

-Nate Johnson has closed the gap on Bryson Barnes. It’s a dead heat. It's a day by day thing right now, as Whittingham says Rising is progressing through practice. The OL is sorted out and set, as the depth chart should come out on Thursday.

-Rising has continued to set the bar and be the leader of all leaders. It’s been big to have him involved, regardless of any limited capacity.

The decision on Rising will come down to the wire. For game 1, Whittingham is still referring to him as plan A.

-They’re slowly but surely getting healthier, but the defense is going to have to tap into that depth a little for Florida.

-The RBs are looking good, healthy, and working hard. He acknowledged to no surprise that Ja’Quinden Jackson is the lead back.

-Spencer Fano is mature beyond his years. Light on his feet, athletic, with a high football IQ. Being here in the spring was huge for him. Whittingham compared him to Jordan Gross.

-Smith Snowden is already in the two-deep.

-The WR room looks much deeper and more prepared, but Whittingham wants to see it continue when the bright lights and pressure are on.

-The personnel is what stands out about Florida. The SEC sets the bar with NFL talent and Florida has a lot of it.

Let's discuss a young and promising safety in Johnathan Hall:

Will Parks take the next step and become a consistent big post that this season?

Let's talk about true freshman linebacker, Owen Chambliss:

We’ll be providing the stats for the commits throughout the high school season. Most of the guys are now playing, after it was only the Corner Canyon group last week:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/tracking-utah-2024-commit-games-wilson-shines-in-loss-to-national-power

Let's talk about a guy that could be a big post of the Utah receivers taking the next step forward:

Mbanasor is still working his way back from injury, but the offense is excited for when they’re can unleash him:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/utenation-countdown-to-kickoff-no-12-sidney-mbanasor

Does anyone know who chooses the music and videos for the game time entertainment? I have good idea for something I coined a couple years ago.

Sione Fotu is not a name to sleep on, even with a loaded LB room…

https://utah.rivals.com/news/utenation-countdown-to-kickoff-no-12-sione-fotu

Sorry if old news and already discussed but I am curious what his recovery period looks like? Not for football sake but for the kid's sake itself.

Thanks to the Alex and Sean for a terrific job on the player profiles. Your time and effort is greatly appreciated.

Morgan was a great interview yesterday. Insightful and also noticed amused by some questions from everyone. Here are the notes from the interview:


-Scalley is feeling good heading into the season. He acknowledges that fall camp is a grind physically, mentally and emotionally. He loved that the guys fought through it. They’ve created some good depth.

-He felt like they needed to tackle more to be ready for the opener. They weren’t prepared enough last year for full speed tackling.

-They’ve made the most progress in the fall at the DT position and securing some of the secondary positions.

-It’s helpful knowing who Florida’s QB will be and Merrz is a good QB. Good arm and is athletic emo to make you miss. He’s been in big games, so you can’t rattle him.

-Asked about a three-peat, Scalley shot it down by saying, “Well the reason we were able to do it was by focusing one game at a time, so we’ve got Florida. We’ve got Florida.” (Alex take: Scalley finished that with a smile and a nod that was entertaining. He wasn’t going to be tee’d up even though it wasn’t the reporter’s intent)

-David Fotu, Logan Fano, Smith Snowden and Nate Ritchie are defensive under the radar guys Scalley highlighted as being ready.

-Logan Fano fought through fall camp injury-free.

-He also highlighted Jonah Lea’ea as a newcomer to watch. Defensive end is a stacked room and it keeps guys competing.

-Levani Damuni and Miles Battle have adjusted well. Damuni is playing fast now that he has the scheme down. Battle is playing much more physically since he got to Utah.

-Asked about Bishop and Vaki, the reporter implied both are suited for strong safety. Scalley quickly asked the reporter what he wanted his safeties to do and how he envisioned it. Scalley took it well, as everyone was laughing. Scalley said he’s looking for range and physicality and ball skills and they both excel at that.

-Vaki brings physicality similar to Marquise Blair. It’s the type of physicality that gets in opponents’ heads.

-Pepa is looking for Pepa to show consistency in year two.

-A reporter hinted at having Fillinger at a different position (defensive tackle). Scalley replied, “He’s a very productive defensive end, and we’re happy to have him.” Then gave another exaggerated nod. He said before Van got injured he was either 1 or 2 on their production board. He’s a complete defensive end.

Let’s talk about Nate Johnson, who is beginning to take advantage of the extra reps, according to Andy Ludwig:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/utenation-countdown-to-kickoff-no-13-nate-johnson

Kennedy is one of the athletic and young defensive ends that could be make an impact for years to come:

Why Gamers are Going Crazy Over This $18,460 Chair!

Let's talk about a kid that could be a key player in the nickelback role:

Does anyone know if campus will shut down early on ga e day? Wanting to tailgate but worried about locations.

Calvert is a guy who I think can be a valuable depth piece in the linebacker room:

The Most Unbelievable Moments in College Football History​

One thing that I’ll probably never get over with respect to the PAC12 is the pervasive lie that “I can’t even get the PAC12 network”.

Was that true? No. It was a lie. And we can speculate as to why this lie was so prevalent especially in online communities including this one.

Some key time points for expanded access to the PAC12 include:

Summer 2011 DISH.

August, 2014 YouTube International.

February 2015 Sling.

**DISH**
In the Summer of 2011, prior to the inaugural PAC12 kickoff, DISH was added as a PAC partner. This made the P12N available nationally. So what were the barriers to adoption for PAC fans?

1) Don’t have my own roof. Renters, apartment dwellers, and other people who literally could not place a dish on a roof did not have access.
2) NFL Sunday ticket. The only reason why DTV was a sticking point was that DTV was the home of NFL Sunday Ticket. Any PAC fan who chose DTV (and the choice was aided by the fact that if you called DTV to cancel and mentioned the P12N they would offer you free Sunday Ticket) obviously had a roof and the opportunity to get DISH.

Although this segment of NFL-first fans had the opportunity to get DISH and P12N, they seem almost universally to have made the false claim/lie that “I can’t even get the P12N”. This lie served the purpose of protecting their egos as fans, because to say that I chose not to get the P12N would accurately characterize this segment as fair-weather CFB fans.

**YouTube International**
The PAC12 network became available on YouTube International for $10 month. In August 2014. As an a la carte option this was the dream of early adopter cord-cutters. All that stood in their path was a $10 subscription and a VPN to spoof their location. I think a lot of early cord-cutters had the VPN issue solved. So why didn’t they do this? Likely lack of awareness. Any positive mention of P12N access on any forum, was completely drowned out be the DTV-subscribing “I can’t get the P12N” fans noted above.

**Sling**
For people without roofs, Sling became an option in February 2015. For the 98% of American households with broadband Internet access, getting the PAC12N was a few mouse clicks away. It literally takes less time to sign up for sling than to order a pizza online. And with 98% of households covered by broadband Sling is more available than Dominos delivery.

Now for 98% of the population “I can’t get the P12N” was an outright lie. So why is this narrative so pervasive?

Because P12 fans suck. Not because they didn’t pay for a service that might make them chose against another interest like the NFL. But because overwhelmingly people who made this choice outright lied about it to cover the fact that they are fair-weather fans.

And in doing so they completely undermined the financial viability of the conference by destroying its public perception and creating a barrier of misinformation that kept potential new subscribers and revenue from being realized by the conference.

This narrative also undercut any confidence that PAC fans might actually support a subscription service like Apple+ which is why Apple came in with such a lowball offer.

There’s no spinning it, if Cam can’t go fans are justified to be stressed out. Even had Rose remained healthy, it sounds like Whittingham’s urge for smart and mistake-free football would have put Barnes as the fill-in for Cam.

The question is, which Barnes is Utah getting? Rose Bowl 2022 or Rose Bowl 2023 Barnes? Mop-up duty Barnes or Wazzu Barnes?

With time to prepare, he’s more than capable enough that fans should trust that he’ll be ready with a smart game plan by Ludwig. From there, it’s up to him to make the smart decisions. He won the Wazzu game by 4, but that’s a game Utah blows them out if Cam was in. That game wasn’t a good game. He made several questionable decisions throwing between the hash marks and the sidelines instead of hitting wide open guys over the middle. That was also his first ever collegiate extended action. I trust that he’s learned from that now and the coaches have drilled that in his head because if he tries those same throws against Florida, you can guarantee at least one pick-6.

If he is the QB, it’ll be a run-heavy approach. Quick passes can also probably eliminate his overthinking on surveying and making questionable throws.

The thing is, the talent is there with Barnes. If Cam can’t go, Barnes won’t be finding this out last minute. He’ll be prepared. It’s up to him to trust in and play within the game plan. If he does that, Utah will beat Florida. If he manages the game, takes what is given, and looks for the big play when it’s not forced, Utah will be in capable hands.

Here’s Matt’s article with the players from Tuesday and Wednesday’s availability.

https://utah.rivals.com/news/utes-fall-camp-recap-the-players-8-15-8-16

-11 practices to go. They’re a little beat up right now, but camp is always going to be physical.

-Barnes is taking the majority of the reps with the 1s while Rising works his way back. The process continues today, sometimes he’s available and sometimes he’s not. (Alex comment: There wasn’t expected to be any change in status, so it’s pointless to ask until 7-10 days from now).

-Nate Johnson taking the reps with the 2s. There will be packages installed for him every game in order to utilize his skill set.

-No remarks on the Instagram news that leaked on Brandon Rose.

-Whittingham won’t acknowledge any injuries right now other than Rising and also saying Kuithe is limited.

-Defense is doing a great job swarming to the ball. They’re really stout up front. Secondary is doing a great job in run defense and is really coming along, period.

-The scrimmage was their first extensive live work. They’re not where they need to be offensively yet, but they’re not in panic mode. He really wants to see improvement from them two days from now during their second scrimmage.

-Damuni is tough, smart and an excellent leader. Whittingham also said the same about Karene Reid, also adding that he has an elite nose for the ball.

-Now that they have a little more access to the players in the summer, the practices don’t need to be as long as they were 5-6 years ago.

-One reporter was pushing a little too hard on injuries or trying to get Whittingham to slip in his comments today and it didn’t work.

-QBs will be live when they need to see them prove themselves and gain experience. Going forward in camp, they won’t be live.

-This defensive line is one of the best the program has had. A lot of those guys and the depth are “game ready.”

-Going forward, the execution needs to be better. The younger QBs have been holding on to the ball too long and they need to be more decisive.

-They started installing the Florida game plan at the end of last week. Their offensive scheme will definitely be different than last year with transfer Graham Merton being named the starter.