Story Created:
Oct 15, 2009
Story Updated:
Oct 15, 2009
We hit the topic all week on the world's greatest morning sports show - was it a great comeback or was it bad for the Utes to fall behind by 14 points to a mediocre Colorado State team?
A win's a win, as they say, so it's a great learning experience. That's Kyle Whittingham's story, and I'm buying it - for now.
As long as the Utes continue to win, their shortcomings don't matter. As long as the Utes continue to win, Dave Schramm is growing into a competent offensive coordinator and Terrance Cain is making the transformation from junior college to Division I quarterback.
Until Utah starts losing consistently, there's no other logical way to look at it. Bottom line, borrowing from one of Whittingham's favorite phrases, Utah has lost only one game in two years.
Have they been a great team for almost 24 months? The answer, resoundingly, is no.
Aside from one exception, this season has been a repeat of 2008. When they have to get it done, the Utes get it done.
Last year: Michigan, OregonState, TCU. This season: San JoseState, CSU.
The only difference is Oregon. Instead of finishing the job, the Utes fell short last month.
Until something changes, which very well could happen, I'm going with the good comeback theory. Not that the discussion matters much this week. BYU and Utah each have another snoozer.
Utah at UNLV
OK, all you Ute haters, this time you may have me. If Utah needs to come back, then the story becomes the deficit, as opposed to the rally.
No way should the Utes ever trail in this game. To put it mildly, UNLV stinks.
Mike Sanford is dead coach walking. The only question is whether the UNLV administration waits to fire him until early December, when the buyout is about $60,000 cheaper.
The good news is the margin of defeat should be less than it’s been the last two weeks. At this point, Utah’s offense doesn’t appear capable of rolling 50 points on the Rebels.
It’s important for the Utes to build upon the success over the last two games. Since the second half of the Oregon game, the offense has improved incrementally. Another step against a lousy defense is necessary for the team’s development as the team progresses into the more difficult November.
One other note – do not play Jordan Wynn. Unless Terrance Cain goes down with an injury, the freshman quarterback should stay on the sidelines. He’s better off using this season as a redshirt.
Utah 41, UNLV 24
BYU at San Diego State
Much to my surprise, Max Hall went a game without throwing an interception. Credit should be divided between the quarterback and the coaches.
After Hall threw two picks against UtahState, quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman said enough. He set the limit at one, and no more than that.
Hall took the counsel to heart, avoiding any risky throws. Any time a receiver was covered, Hall threw the ball to the outside, where only his teammate had a chance to catch it.
He needs to be interception free again. Like Utah’s offense, Hall has to build upon his improvement.
As we all know, BYU’s chances of beating TCU next week greatly diminish with each turnover. And it all starts with the senior quarterback.
I don’t expect the Cougars to breeze through this game like they did last week. Under tough guy Brady Hoke, the Aztecs seem to display some fight.
The problem is, for now they don’t have enough develop. But I do expect this team to be much improved over the next five seasons.
BYU 38, SDSU 14
