I woke up this morning and realized that I (and likely many of the Ute fans posting here) may have been sipping a little too much of the red coolaid this season, and we probably shouldn't be so down about the end of the season 'slide'. Overall, this year was a relatively successful rebuild, we are likely ranked higher than we deserve to be ... and we are going to a better bowl than we may have earned.
I keep hearing the frustration that 'this was the year'...'our one chance'... but, we appear to be drifting into delusional National Championship territory of the Zoobs.
If I look at the season a little more objectively. Why were we expecting a first year JC transfer QB (with a freshman backup), completely new linebackers, one returning running back and a completely unproven group of receivers to take us to the PAC-12 championship and/or Rose Bowl?
We just weren't that good this year ... and we had an unfortunate run of injuries (just like many of the PAC-12 teams).
We only had one quality win over a 'down' USC, and it took a comeback reminiscent of 2008 to do it.
We never really dominated anybody this season. We 'escaped' BYU with a great stop on a 2-point conversion. We coulda, woulda, shoulda beat Cal, Oregon and Colorado for a special season...but, we didn't... and we still ended up ranked in the top 20.
We actually had a pretty damn good year. This team beat the pre-season expectations (not ours, of course). We are playing in a much better bowl than last year. We are making the final cut of many recruits that would have never given us a thought a few years ago. The sky hasn't fallen (well .. the results of the Presidential election could still change that).
I think it's time to get back behind the team (and the coaches who are recruiting their asses off this year) and be ready to cheer in full force for the team when they take the field on the 28th. This team does things the right way, on and off the field. The Utah coaches have never forgotten that they are responsible for a group of student athletes, and that there is way more to life than just football.
... of course there's nothing wrong with one more drink to help forget the last few games ...
Go Utes!
I keep hearing the frustration that 'this was the year'...'our one chance'... but, we appear to be drifting into delusional National Championship territory of the Zoobs.
If I look at the season a little more objectively. Why were we expecting a first year JC transfer QB (with a freshman backup), completely new linebackers, one returning running back and a completely unproven group of receivers to take us to the PAC-12 championship and/or Rose Bowl?
We just weren't that good this year ... and we had an unfortunate run of injuries (just like many of the PAC-12 teams).
We only had one quality win over a 'down' USC, and it took a comeback reminiscent of 2008 to do it.
We never really dominated anybody this season. We 'escaped' BYU with a great stop on a 2-point conversion. We coulda, woulda, shoulda beat Cal, Oregon and Colorado for a special season...but, we didn't... and we still ended up ranked in the top 20.
We actually had a pretty damn good year. This team beat the pre-season expectations (not ours, of course). We are playing in a much better bowl than last year. We are making the final cut of many recruits that would have never given us a thought a few years ago. The sky hasn't fallen (well .. the results of the Presidential election could still change that).
I think it's time to get back behind the team (and the coaches who are recruiting their asses off this year) and be ready to cheer in full force for the team when they take the field on the 28th. This team does things the right way, on and off the field. The Utah coaches have never forgotten that they are responsible for a group of student athletes, and that there is way more to life than just football.
... of course there's nothing wrong with one more drink to help forget the last few games ...
Go Utes!
