Neverending Mountain West region college football thread

[Stenar]

OSU??? The team that's last in the PAC-12?

Originally Posted by N2I.F.

WTG UTES Now at #3 in AP Poll!
The Special Teams will get in their groove again. I think OSU could be one of the more difficult games. It's about who coaches at OSU now. But, then again, it might be Wilson's greatest game as he has confidence now he didn't have in prior seasons with former coaches now in Corvallis.

Plus, I thought this was interesting. I had no idea Crowton was so connected to the OSU head coach. Somehow I didn't connect him with anything decades ago with Oregon or OSU. He could help OSU, IMO.

While the Utes need to focus on USC currently, this is something to watch if Croton can help OSU prepare for Utah.

Does anyone think Crowton is looking at a specific job accepting this position? I actually preferred him at BYU compared to Bronco.

http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/in...e_college.html

[Evo5Boise]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

Baylor is massively overrated based on SOS. Utah is getting much tougher wins against much tougher opponents (like opponents that actually have defenses). Who are youse guys playing next? Damn, I think the Utes really could go all the way!

Also, who's Utah State and what happened to Boise State?

Boise State got hit right in the mouth and didn't know how to react. Young team. At least now us fans can see how they bounce back from the dirt. Honestly, it was nice to see some competition from the conference. Utah had a nice gameplan and Boise State walked right into it.

[N2I.F.]

Originally Posted by Stenar

OSU??? The team that's last in the PAC-12?

Yip, I know. On paper it makes no sense and I hope that is the case. But to have a coach now at OSU that Wilson clashed with last year, I think logic doesn't always prevail. It's just interesting to me that Crowton got asked to help now. I'm simply saying someone needs to be working with Wilson now so he is in a good place in that game.

Then again, maybe that is where Kendall Thompson plays or Chase Hansen as QB. That would work well as the OSU coach is probably planning on TW currently. Coach Whitt said Kendall was going to get some playing time. Maybe he'll play a lot against OSU.

Did you see Coach Whitt's statement about Chase Hansen playing D for a while? That was his natural position and the Utes are banged up in those positions. Hansen just wants to play.

Also, officially, now both TE starters are out for the rest of the year due to injuries. But the two that played against AZ State should only improve with more playing time.

[Stenar]

I don't think Wilson will be bothered in any way by facing a team coached by someone he clashed with in the past. Also, who are you referring to that Wilson supposedly clashed with? Kalani Sitake?? He was a defensive coordinator, not offensive, so I don't know why Wilson would have clashed with him.

Crowton is a terrible coach who was fired in record time from BYU, and lost to Utah 3 out of his 4 years at BYU. I'm not at all worried about him assisting OSU.

Originally Posted by N2I.F.

Yip, I know. On paper it makes no sense and I hope that is the case. But to have a coach now at OSU that Wilson clashed with last year, I think logic doesn't always prevail. It's just interesting to me that Crowton got asked to help now. I'm simply saying someone needs to be working with Wilson now so he is in a good place in that game.

Then again, maybe that is where Kendall Thompson plays or Chase Hansen as QB. That would work well as the OSU coach is probably planning on TW currently. Coach Whitt said Kendall was going to get some playing time. Maybe he'll play a lot against OSU.

Did you see Coach Whitt's statement about Chase Hansen playing D for a while? That was his natural position and the Utes are banged up in those positions. Hansen just wants to play.

Also, officially, now both TE starters are out for the rest of the year due to injuries. But the two that played against AZ State should only improve with more playing time.

[N2I.F.]

Originally Posted by Stenar

I don't think Wilson will be bothered in any way by facing a team coached by someone he clashed with in the past. Also, who are you referring to that Wilson supposedly clashed with? Kalani Sitake?? He was a defensive coordinator, not offensive, so I don't know why Wilson would have clashed with him.

Crowton is a terrible coach who was fired in record time from BYU, and lost to Utah 3 out of his 4 years at BYU. I'm not at all worried about him assisting OSU.

No. It's a combination of two offensive coaches who left UT at different times. I'll simply say some teammates have more than hinted what went on during games. Let's just say Wilson feels much more secure on the sideline this year as he doesn't have to listen to coaches who were detrimental to him. But, it sounds like they are already addressing it. Also, I was somehow confused. OSU is at home. I thought it was a road game. Wilson could shut them up easily playing well. It no longer concerns me learning what I did.

I know who Crowton is. I just find the timing and possible desperation or panic thinking of OSU's coach to hire him this week more than just a random act. Yah, I agree. Crowton has been out of UT too long to add anything. Just odd to be named to that position.

Moving on, it sucks about Norris. He was a childhood friend and teammate of USC's QB. I like Norris' leadership on the field. But the younger guys can learn from Paul and others. I hope Norris went with the team. He might be able to help the younger guys from the sideline.

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3094567...-norris-status

Also, this is a good read. While it talks about sports some, I see this as a stand alone article about life. If you haven't seen it, it is worth the time for anyone to read. One doesn't need to like football to benefit.

http://m.deseretnews.com/article/865...8Ja2O8a0iEY2Lw

I think UT can pull this off. The Utes play bether as underdogs. Weird stuff, but that's Vegas and years of USC winning.

What do you expect for the game? Oh, double check the time. One site had it earlier by an hour. At least we'really not the late game for once. Go UTES!!

[Stenar]

The two coaches who left were defensive coaches, not offensive coaches. And one of them, Andersen, left years before Wilson was ever at Utah.

Originally Posted by N2I.F.

No. It's a combination of two offensive coaches who left UT at different times. I'll simply say some teammates have more than hinted what went on during games. Let's just say Wilson feels much more secure on the sideline this year as he doesn't have to listen to coaches who were detrimental to him. But, it sounds like they are already addressing it. Also, I was somehow confused. OSU is at home. I thought it was a road game. Wilson could shut them up easily playing well. It no longer concerns me learning what I did.

[Comrade]

Dave Christensen left for Texas A&M and he was a coach who Wilson struggled with. Rumors have it that Christensen purposely ran a vanilla offense to discredit Wilson and allow for the chance to bring in Kendal Thompson instead.

With that said, there's no love lost between Whitt & Andersen. I expect Whitt to take a hammer to OSU. It'll get ugly.

[N2I.F.]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Dave Christensen left for Texas A&M and he was a coach who Wilson struggled with. Rumors have it that Christensen purposely ran a vanilla offense to discredit Wilson and allow for the chance to bring in Kendal Thompson instead.

With that said, there's no love lost between Whitt & Andersen. I expect Whitt to take a hammer to OSU. It'll get ugly.

I hope Coach Whitt does take a hammer to him, I mean exploit his coaching difficulties and problems the OSU team has! He can be consoled by Crowton. BTW, I like Crowton lots more than Mendenhall. My last comment about previous UT coaches is I believe it is naive to think coaches don't talk to other former assistant coaches and others still with a team. Some players tried to buffer etc. A huge win against OSU might be the perfect remedy for all of those who were used to deliver messages or be involved in any capacity.

For now, let's focus on USC. I really like how the coaching staff has worked together this year and built Wilson's confiidence. I don't look for a 3 pt. game. USC is still trying to figure out which substitue to move to a different spot on the O line. They made a change again on Friday. They have two or three starters out of the O line and subs playing positions they haven't played before. Lots from UT were rejected by USC including Booker and Coach Shay. Payback can be a beautiful thing

Some of the L.A. press and others nationally are now saying Utah might win because Coach Whitt is *auditioning* for the USC job. I don't think he's interested. Nonetheless, I find it amusing the press is moving to that storyline. If UT wins, it was just Whittingham showing his excellent coaching abilities. I'll say this for those new stories, a few said there had been major problems with the AD. They didn't name Hill, but I'm glad a few outside of UT are writing that. I'd like a new AD!

Go Utes!

[SLC Projects]

All this time I was really hoping that Utah's success so far was based on true talent and not just by pure luck. But now I'm starting to lean more on the pure luck side after watching Utah falling apart to USC.

[Atlas]

Luck has nothing to do with it. Utah plays tough, disciplined football and usually muscles its way to close victories. They're not the most talented team, but hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. USC is stacked with talent and it seems they might have a coach they believe in. They matched Utah and beat them at their own game.

[TakeFive]

Good News and Bad News

CU won a Pac-12 football game.
But so did USC.

[comoneymaker]

You lost cause Travis didn't show up to play. What was it.... 1 pick 6 and almost 2 others? He does not normally make those mistakes. Your D was a little asleep to. Sad I was hoping Utah would be going to the final 4.

But as a Buff fan even though we won I am still upset with the way they played. All though LIUFAU is a great QB I can't wait till MONTEZ plays. A True duel threat. The coach is good but make a lot of WTF questions like is clock management skills and the off play calling. I think if we get rid of Brian Lindgren things might improve drastically. I mean running a QB run play at the start of the game on 1st and 20????????????????

[seventwenty]

Still beats Hawkins.

[SLC Projects]

Wilson is "so and so" QB at best. he's just not consistent enough. Truth is even as a Utah fan ive never been sold on him and still wait for the day when we get a true pac12 level quarterback.

[Atlas]

I think we are in pretty good shape at QB next year, albeit with little starting experience returning. Chase Hansen will be a redshirt sophomore and he's a playmaker. He may end up on defense but I think we'll be in good hands if he plays QB. Whit has said he'll be the #1 QB going into Spring. Troy Williams is coming in from JC and he was a four star QB recruit out of high school and played at Washington. He may have the skills and size to beat out Hansen, but that remains to be seen. Brandon Cox has had some injury trouble but I've heard he has been really good when he's healthy. I don't think Manning has a chance.

Wilson gives us our best chance of winning this year. He's good at times and awful at times.

[SLC Projects]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Luck has nothing to do with it. Utah plays tough, disciplined football and usually muscles its way to close victories. They're not the most talented team, but hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. USC is stacked with talent and it seems they might have a coach they believe in. They matched Utah and beat them at their own game.

After getting a good nights rest and got to cool down a bit, yea, I think it's a bit of both. Utah does have talent and they do play tough. Their defense and special teams are amazing and have gotten us out of a lot of close calls. However our offense scares the s**t out of me most of the time. Truthfully, if you take out Booker, maybe Scott and we have a "bad Wilson", then we have NO offense. Luck has played a roll somewhat by having a few results that have gone our way that have kept us in the driver seat in the Pac-12 south and Utah really is a few dense/special team mistakes away from being 4-3 this year.
Utah has now dropped down to the 13th spot in the latest AP polls. As they should. I've felt that Utah was WAYYYYY overrated at number 3.
The Playoffs is likely never really a real shot for us, but if Utah can just focus on winning the Pac-12 South and win the PAC12 championship that gets us to the Rose Bowl, and win that. I will be a very happy fan.

[TakeFive]

Listened to the end of last night's ASU - Oregon game. Sun Devils racked up 742 total yards but it wasn't enough as they lost in 3OT's. Been so long, I'd forgotten how those OT games are played. What a hoot.

Looks like Utah get the Halloween candy this weekend.

[N2I.F.]

Utah needs to get prepared for Washington. I'm a loyal UTE fan and will be throughout the season. What I can't stand are the injuries. Now something like six starters injured. Hearing paperwork was started last week for one or two to red shirt is kind of depressing to me. Some of those out, are so much the heart and soul of the team.

So either others need to find a way to lead the younger players and get that group mentality back about defense and helping each other on offense, or this team needs to have a meeting and ask what has happened to their heart, IMO. Bring in motivational people to talk to them and/or get sports psychology involved.

I personally think the defense will play better now that OSU has been defeated. I believe the newspapers said something like 17 connections from OSU to Utah Utes. Crazy. Glad it's over so study film about the Huskies! They took it to AZ on Sat. WSU came so close to beating Stanford.....time to get tough again preparing for WA.

I wouldn't be surprised if Booker and Wilson play well. Plus a couple of the subs are catching passes more routinely now.

We can count the regular games left on one hand. Let's enjoy them

[comoneymaker]

That one hurt. Go Buffs! Should be able to at least beast WSU

[SLC Projects]

Jesus Christ Travis Wilson sucks. I can't wait until we get rid of him and we can have a real quarterback next year.