Tag: Utah Utes (Page 5 of 6)

      Week 11 College Football Primer

      November 8, 2008 /

      Top 25 vs. Top 25

      John Parker WilsonNo. 1 Alabama at No. 16 LSU, 3:30 PM ET Saturday
      Nick Saban doesn’t want the focus to be on him this week and for good reason since he spurned LSU a few years ago to go fail in the NFL. That storyline might be a little overrated though, because it’s doubtful the current Tiger players Saban recruited care much about beating him on Saturday. They’ll have more motivation beating a hated rival and knocking off the No. 1 team in the nation. ‘Bama has had issues playing four full quarters all season – will this be the week they finally play a full game and soundly beat a quality opponent? Or will LSU sustain the Tide’s initial punch and come through in the second half? This game is what SEC football is all about and we should expect nothing more than a close, physical matchup that comes down to the wire, even though Alabama has the superior team.

      No. 12 TCU at No. 8 Utah, 8:00 PM ET Thursday
      The Horned Frogs have the opportunity to knock off yet another MWC foe out of BCS title contention this Saturday when they pay a trip to Utah. TCU has held its previous five opponents to only 8.4 points per game and have also limited eight foes to a 2008 season low in yards, which is the most of any team in Division I football. Pundits love what the Frogs bring to the table defensively, but the Utes have plenty to offer themselves. Utah has held four of its opponents to season lows in yardage and has won nine in a row at home. They’ve also beaten TCU the past two meetings and obviously have a ton to play for.

      No. 11 Ohio State at No. 24 Northwestern, 12:00 PM ET
      The Wildcats got a lot of people’s attention last week when they pulled off a miracle upset of Minnesota in the final seconds of the game. But Ohio State has had over a week to stew about the loss to Penn State and they’ve had a ton of success against Northwestern over the past couple of years. The Buckeyes have allowed just 23 total points the past three games and it’s highly doubtful backup quarterback Mike Kakfa puts together back-to-back solid performances. It’ll be interesting to see how freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor rebounds after his crucial fumble played a big role in OSU’s loss to the Nittany Lions.

      Michael CrabtreeNo. 9 Oklahoma State at No. 2 Texas Tech, 8:00 PM ET, Saturday
      It’s no wonder why people keep talking about the Big 12 being the superior conference this season when it keeps churning out fantastic matchups like this every week. Tech had zero time to celebrate its win over Texas last week because the Cowboys offer another potential roadblock to the Raiders’ BCS title hopes. Much like last week, this game features a pair of Heisman Trophy candidates at quarterback in Graham Harrell and Zac Robinson. Can Tech continue to post 500 yards of offense every game or will Mike Leach’s team eventually stumble? OK State hasn’t won in Lubbock since 1944, but the Cowboys have played very well on the road under Mike Gundy and are hoping a win could elevate their BCS status after they hung tough with Texas a few weeks ago. Can the Raiders play as well defensively as they did last week against the Longhorns or will yet another top 5 team get picked off?

      No. 21 California at No. 7 USC, 8:00 PM ET, Saturday
      Many pundits have had this game circled as one where the Trojans could potentially fall victim to an upset. The Bears usually play USC close and fought the Trojans to the final whistle last year before losing by only a touchdown. USC struggled a bit last week in Arizona, but are incredibly tough to beat at the Coliseum. Maybe head coach Pete Carroll will call upon “Captain Compete” to rally his team again before the game.

      No. 20 Georgia Tech at No. 19 North Carolina, 12:00 PM ET, Saturday
      The Yellow Jackets struggled again last week but managed to knock off Florida State with a last second field goal after a goal line stop and a fumble recovery in the end zone (thank you reader GTA for the correction). Tech is 9-1 against the Heels in their last 10 meetings, but UNC has 17 interceptions on the season, which ties them for the most in the nation. The key in this game will be whether or not the Heels can stop Tech’s relentless ground attack for four quarters. If the Jackets find success on the ground, there will be no reason to put the ball in the air often and risk turning the ball over to a ball-hawking UNC defense.

      Other Notable Games:

      No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions at Iowa, 3:30 PM ET, Saturday
      Those fans that don’t want to see another Big Ten team play for a national championship will be watching this game with hopes that the Hawkeyes can pull off a huge upset. The Lions probably won’t faced another ranked team the rest of the way, although Iowa and Michigan State are no pushovers. PSU is coming off a bye week – will they come out flat or determine after moving down in the rankings?

      College Football

      Utah keeps BCS hopes alive with last minute TD to beat TCU

      November 7, 2008 /

      Brian JohnsonThey had trailed all game and their BCS hopes appeared to be dashed. Yet back-to-back missed field goals by TCU had kept No. 8 Utah alive.

      Down 10-6 the entire second half, the Utes started at their own 20 with 2:48 left in the game. There, QB Brian Johnson marched Utah down the field in rhythmic fashion, even completing an 11-yard pass on a 4th and 5 from TCU’s 26-yard line. Then, on a 2nd and 4 from the TCU 9-yard line, Johnson found Freddie Brown for the go-ahead touchdown with only 47 seconds to play. Utah held on the final 47 seconds for a 13-10 win.

      It took the Utes nine plays and 80 yards, but they had saved their season. For the No. 12 Horned Frogs, it had taken them just two minutes and one second from blowing the opportunity to knock off the No. 8 team in the nation and perhaps climb into the top 10 themselves.

      Utah’s comeback was incredibly impressive and what a game by the senior Johnson. But TCU blew a golden opportunity to put the Utes away several times in the fourth quarter. Twice they had marched into the red zone with less than seven minutes remaining in the game and twice they were unable to put the game away with touchdowns or even field goals, as they missed two 30-yard attempts that would have at least kept the game tied once Utah scored.

      It’s hard to blame TCU’s defense for finally yielding in the final minutes. Normally when you hold the No. 8 team to only 13 points (including 6 until the final three minutes left in the game) you should walk away with a victory.

      College Football

      Utah is overrated

      November 5, 2008 /

      Or so says Gordon Monson of The Salt Lake Tribune.

      Utah UtesThe No. 8 Utes can feel some satisfaction about their being 9-0, supposedly on course for a BCS bowl, and the No. 15 Cougars can handle being 8-1, despite higher aspirations earlier this season, until TCU blasted them to smithereens.

      But based on what they’ve shown thus far, neither of these teams is as good as the record suggests. That’s not a mean-spirited rip, it’s simply an obvious truth. They just do not belong, not so far, among the country’s elite.

      The goings-on last weekend are Exhibit A: squeaking by with three-point wins over competition that wouldn’t create much of a threat to the teams ranked around them, not even in a season where upsets have been plentiful.

      Utah made the New Mexico Lobos look like the New York Giants on Saturday night, unimpressively edging them, 13-10. We all get sick of judging and guessing who would do what against whom in college football, but . . . anybody think Penn State or Florida or Oklahoma or any of the teams ranked ahead of Utah would struggle the way the Utes did to beat the 4-6 Lobos? Would any of those ranked teams put just 13 points on them?

      I completely agree, but this is what you get when you have a college football system that’s so broken. Utah is No. 8 because they’re undefeated. They’re undefeated because they don’t play anybody on a consistent basis. So every year we have to wait until they either are upset by a lesser opponent and therefore justify not being ranked that high, or get screwed out of a chance to play for a title because their conference/schedule is weak.

      This is unavoidable with the way college football is set up.

      College Football

      BCS Bowl Forecast

      October 31, 2008 /

      RealClearSports.com lays out its first BCS bowl forecast of the year.

      Texas LonghornsBCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: January 8, Dolphin Stadium, Miami
      Matchup: Texas vs. Penn State (Odds: Texas 70%, Penn State 80%)
      Outlook: The No. 1-ranked Longhorns will have their toughest remaining game this week at Texas Tech. A victory should send Texas smooth sailing into Key Biscayne. Penn State has an even easier slate, but it still needs Alabama to lose one game.

      ROSE BOWL: January 1, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.
      Matchup: USC vs. Ohio State (Odds: USC 90%, Ohio State 50%)
      Outlook: The Tournament of Roses red coats don’t want this rematch – it would be the third time these two teams meet in 12 months – but it will have to really think outside of the box to avoid it. If Penn State somehow doesn’t make it to the BCS title game, fine. If USC somehow doesn’t win the Pac-10 outright, fine. But would the Rose Bowl dare to invite an SEC team to finally matchup with the Trojans in a bowl game? That would be nice, but that would also risk ticking off the Big Ten. Just remember, these guys invited Illinois last year. The track record isn’t good.

      FIESTA BOWL: January 5, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
      Matchup: Alabama vs. Utah (Odds: Alabama 20%, Utah 60%)
      Outlook: Say what? You ask. Well, this is going on the assumption that Oklahoma would be the obvious second choice from the Big 12 and the Fiesta Bowl doesn’t want a third consecutive appearance by the Sooners. The quandary here is that although the Fiesta would get the first pick if it loses Texas to the BCS title game, it pretty much has no way of avoid taking a non-BCS automatic qualifier, be it Utah, TCU, Boise State or even Tulsa.

      SUGAR BOWL: January, 2, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans
      Matchup: Florida vs. Oklahoma (Odds: Florida 40%, Oklahoma 50%)
      Outlook: If the Fiesta does pass on Oklahoma, then the Sooners land here to play the SEC champion. If Oklahoma is gone, then the Sugar will be forced to take the Big East champion, leaving the second SEC team for the Orange Bowl. If the SEC champion somehow ends up in the BCS title game, then the Sugar will take the Big 12’s second team.

      Florida-Oklahoma would be awesome. And even though the Trojans blew them out earlier this season, I’d be interested in an OSU-USC rematch with Terrelle Pryor playing the entire game under center for the Buckeyes.

      College Football

      New BCS rankings out: Texas Tech No. 7

      October 27, 2008 /

      The new BCS Championship Series standings are out and here’s a look at the top 10:

      1. Texas
      2. Alabama
      3. Penn State
      4. Oklahoma
      5. USC
      6. Georgia
      7. Texas Tech
      8. Florida
      9. Oklahoma State
      10. Utah

      Obviously the hype heading into this weekend will be about No. 1 Texas squaring off with No. 7 Texas Tech. Everyone is expecting a shootout or an upset, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Longhorns completely dismantled Tech, either. The Red Raiders haven’t played against any team with a defense yet and UT is the most complete team in college football. But it’s going to be fun playing into the excitement that builds all week.

      College Football

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