I got asked last night if that Utah football team looked like a PAC-12 champion. My answer was “no.”
What I didn’t say, because I was being polite to my hosts for the evening, is it looked like the Utah football team that won the PAC-12 South division last year. OK, sure, not at the point in time of the PAC-12 championship game, or at the zenith of their 2018 season, but with how that 2018 team began the 2018 season? Yeah, pretty much. I mean, there are some things that need to get better in 2019, but, the same applied last year.
I am not going to be polite here, as evidenced by subject line.
The performance was NOT what we had all hoped for. It was not the Red Rider carbine bb gun that we hoped to find under the Christmas tree.
Meh…we’d have shot our eyes out anyway. Instead, we got a gift that got the job done. Maybe better than that. Maybe the gift we received, as viewed through the lens of history, suggests we are on track to getting that Red Rider bb gun after all. Here’s why.
Now, how to respond to the BYU fans.
What I didn’t say, because I was being polite to my hosts for the evening, is it looked like the Utah football team that won the PAC-12 South division last year. OK, sure, not at the point in time of the PAC-12 championship game, or at the zenith of their 2018 season, but with how that 2018 team began the 2018 season? Yeah, pretty much. I mean, there are some things that need to get better in 2019, but, the same applied last year.
I am not going to be polite here, as evidenced by subject line.
The performance was NOT what we had all hoped for. It was not the Red Rider carbine bb gun that we hoped to find under the Christmas tree.
Meh…we’d have shot our eyes out anyway. Instead, we got a gift that got the job done. Maybe better than that. Maybe the gift we received, as viewed through the lens of history, suggests we are on track to getting that Red Rider bb gun after all. Here’s why.- First things first, in terms of managing the haters and naysayers: What was the final score? I could stop here. And should. But that won’t silence the doubters. Neither will what I write here. Only more games will do that. Those games are coming.
- Let’s move on to the coaching matchups. Who is BYU’s head football coach? He is Anakin Skywalker to Utah’s Obiwan Kenobi. He is the guy that Kyle Whittingham entrusted to run his defense: the defense Kyle knew was all that stood between him and the unemployment line. The defense that kept Utah, with it’s perennially inadequate offense, from being the PAC-12’s redheaded, stepchild. How many years of Tyler Huntley football tape did Darth Vader have to dissect? How many times did Darth’s defense make Utah do something stupid? Many of us feel that Tyler has most of the tools he needs, but he’s lacked the ability to play mistake free. Did Tyler make any killer mistakes? How about the other QB? Kyle is still the Jedi Master. Kyle is Mr. Miyagi while Kalani is Daniel-san, still tripping over buckets of soap and trying to figure out wax on, wax off.
- QB Matchups: When was the last time Tyler Huntley played a football game? I can tell you, but what’s important is that I’m pretty sure Zach Wilson was not even a thing at that time. Fall practice is nice. It’s important. It’s not a game. As Kyle said, there are no pre-season games in college. Do we really expect Huntley to be as sharp as he’s been in the past? Do you really think he could be as quick and decisive in a new offense having missed half of last year? Credit Wilson, for the most part: he got the ball out of his hands a lot of the time. When he didn’t was when he made mistakes. Stats are nice. And mean nothing. Senior QB: clean game. No bed crapping. Win.
- Passing game. The $*&@ passing game. SOS: same old poop. New OC, new Offense. Same old, same old. Well, hold on. I’m not familiar with the offense Hallendale ran, but Huntley’s Utah career has, to this point, been played from the shotgun. Last night he was under center for a majority of offensive snaps. It’s going to take time to get him comfortable with the footwork, making drops and reading coverage. I don’t have the acumen to critique his technique, but Tyler looked smooth and comfortable. He was sometimes slow in making decisions, but I’ll take indecisive over impulsive and mistake-prone. They put him in shotgun in the second half and let him run read option. The designed runs/option runs seemed to make him more comfortable, imo. Good adjustment by AL.
- Was Utah explosive on offense? No. Am I worried about it? No. Remember the start to 2018? Remember the four (or whatever it was games) of 40 or more points against Stanford, Arizona, USC and UCLA (i.e., the meat of the PAC-12 schedule)? How many points did Utah score? 30. Where did they end the game? Taking a knee three (?) times at BYU’s 4 yard line. Here we go. 30 points + 7 points that they could have scored had that been important + 3 points on a missed FG (chip shot) + 1 point on missed PAT is what? +40. Did they score 40? No. How many skill people are missing from last season’s team? Charitably, 1, if we don't count Matt Gay as a skill guy, and we should. Matt was the one piece from last year that we're certainly going to miss and can't replace. Other than Gay, we are missing the WR who kept changing his name and whose Garo Yepremian impersonation gave Washington it’s only touchdown in last year’s championship game. Addition by subtraction??? Utah’s also missing a couple of good OL. #55 had some issues that dug some holes and erased some momentum. If Utah can get the OL tuned up, they have the pieces to roll 40 on a lot of teams.
- Defensively, I’ll start with this. Remember, the BYU players were sure (based on the last rivalry game and the Potato Bowl) that their offense could not be stopped. One touchdown? That’s pretty much being stopped.
- I thought the pass coverage by the secondary was very good and also atypical, likely by design. Utah played a ton of zone coverage and the style was bend but don’t break. BYU used motion and shifts to get Utah to reveal coverage. They also used a good number of crossing routes and rub-routes. Utah had to play zone. Other than a couple of slant routes and one deep pass over the middle, Wilson mostly had to make contested throws. He kept firing into coverage, sometimes winning, sometimes not. He piled up some stats, just not enough of the stats that count and too many of the stats that kill you. In addition to the two INTs, I’m guessing Utah had at least four PBUs. Jaylon gave up one completion that I can recall. He had an excellent, text-book PBU. His coverage on the pass into the North endzone was as good as it can get. Burgess had a helluva matchup in Bushman, but held up really well. Bottom line: If the yards allowed bother you, you’re either an idiot or just not terribly advanced in your understanding of the game. Take your pick. Bend but don’t break. Worked perfectly.
- Defensive line did not generate much pressure in the first half but did in the second. I don’t know BYU’s personnel inside and out, but I’m sure we’d take Empey and Hoge. Hans thought BYU’s OL was better than sliced bread. Utah got to Wilson in the second half and mostly contained the designed runs. Btw: did anyone else notice Pita Tonga is not in the current two deep? Utah did not seem to be employing the platoon rotation of DTs that they were using last season. I’ve got my hunch why, but we are not allowed to talk about Fight Club.
- Linebackers were solid. If you’re that type of fan, Bernard’s Still Running. So too is Blackmon. BYU did not sustain the run. They had some decent runs, yes, but here and there. Mostly change ups. Wilson broke contain and picked up some good yards. I think it’s time to give Wilson his due as a capable runner. That said, when he runs he doesn’t have the ability to find receivers and throw on the run (at least not from what I’ve seen).
- Kicking game. Great googly, moogly. That’s all. The one page Kalani ripped from Kyle's book was the kicking game and field position. Utah needs some work. BYU's was rock solid and that punt that made Covey reverse field? Holy crap, Batman!! That was a monster. Kickoffs and coverage were good.
- OH, I will say this: we got the benefit of the PAC-12 officiating last night, especially on Covey's return. Same old PAC-12 refs: can't see a block in the back.
Now, how to respond to the BYU fans.
- The Mother of All Lies: Utah didn’t beat BYU, BYU just made stupid mistakes. Truth: Kyle knows that the team that commits the fewest turnovers generally wins. I don’t believe Utah had a turnover. Tyler and Andy knew they had a great defense and great running game. They played with the lead from (iirc) their opening drive. After Bernard’s pick six they had a decent cushion. Why take risks on offense?
- The Son of the Mother of All Lies: Utah won because of fluke pick sixes. Truth: Points are points. You can’t score on offense if you can’t possess the ball. Often it’s bad when a defense can’t get off the field. When they get off the field after scoring, only to get right back on the field, it’s pretty good! Cold hard reality: A couple of years ago Alabama had a consecutive game stretch of something like 8 or 9 games with a non-offensive touchdown. People liked to use that stat to underscore how good Alabama is. So, scoring on defense -- if you’re Alabama is awesome -- but when Utah does it, it’s not as awesome? Brilliant.
- My favorite thing: Utah possessed the ball after the rain delay for over 9 minutes on a single drive. You’re Darth Vader and you know the Rebel’s attack plan. They do nothing to conceal the plan, but come straight at you. The only reason they didn’t shoot the torpedo into the exhaust port is because they just needed to keep you on defense to win. And you’re good with that? LMAO.
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