The Utes on a Bruin Hunt, 2013: UCLA comes to RES

[LA Ute]

OK, let's get rolling! A win would be fantastic. What are our chances against a team with a balanced and very productive offense? How do we keep Hundley from repeatedly turning 3rd and long into a first down? And there are other unanswered questions....

[sancho]

OK, let's get rolling! A win would be fantastic. What are our chances against a team with a balanced and very productive offense? How do we keep Hundley from repeatedly turning 3rd and long into a first down? And there are other unanswered questions....

I know very little about UCLA. I haven't seen them play since they beat us last year. I only know they have a QB who is better than Keeton and a LB who is better than Van Noy.

[Virginia Ute]

OK, let's get rolling! A win would be fantastic. What are our chances against a team with a balanced and very productive offense? How do we keep Hundley from repeatedly turning 3rd and long into a first down? And there are other unanswered questions....

I don't know the answers to your questions there. I'm just hoping that UCLA's underperformance in the state of Utah the past decade continues to give us enough of a boost to make up the gap between the quality of our two teams.

Things that make me optimistic:
Games is @ RES (too bad it can't snow again)
Travis Wilson - has shown great poise and I think he'll rise to the challenge

Things that scare me:
Utah's defense - we looked great against BYU, but that was BYU. I could have rounded up 10 of my turkey bowl buddies and we probably could have slowed down BYU's offense. Hundley might have a hay day passing against our secondary.
Mora - I think he is a great coach. UCLA has had talent all along, they just lacked discipline. I think they've learned it well from Mora.

[LA Ute]

I don't know the answers to your questions there. I'm just hoping that UCLA's underperformance in the state of Utah the past decade continues to give us enough of a boost to make up the gap between the quality of our two teams.

Things that make me optimistic:
Games is @ RES (too bad it can't snow again)
Travis Wilson - has shown great poise and I think he'll rise to the challenge

Things that scare me:
Utah's defense - we looked great against BYU, but that was BYU. I could have rounded up 10 of my turkey bowl buddies and we probably could have slowed down BYU's offense. Hundley might have a hay day passing against our secondary.
Mora - I think he is a great coach. UCLA has had talent all along, they just lacked discipline. I think they've learned it well from Mora.

The same things worry me. Stilll, I'm excited. These Utes seem to have some surprises in them.

[Virginia Ute]

The same things worry me. Stilll, I'm excited. These Utes seem to have some surprises in them.

Yep, I'm excited as well. I think we have a good enough team to hang with these guys and pull out a victory where we don't expect one somewhere...something I wasn't so sure of pre-season.

[SheriffCreg]

After the Nebraska game, UCLA scares me. They made some serious in-game adjustments and ran away with that one, on the road.

But after the BYU game, I have confidence in the Utah coaches to effectively game-plan. I just hope we can make effective adjustments in-game. This is a reason I am very glad to have an experienced Erickson on the staff. I would not feel very good with Brian Johnson at the helm.

[chrisrenrut]

This video belongs in this thread. I though we had no chance in this game. I wasn't able to attend because we were flying home from vacation that day. When my brother texted me the score, I thought he was being a smartass.

One of my favorite plays of all my ute fan life is at 50 seconds. You can all probably gues which one it is. . .


http://youtu.be/FRR5fv0PXXQ

[Scorcho]

After the Nebraska game, UCLA scares me. They made some serious in-game adjustments and ran away with that one, on the road.

But after the BYU game, I have confidence in the Utah coaches to effectively game-plan. I just hope we can make effective adjustments in-game. This is a reason I am very glad to have an experienced Erickson on the staff. I would not feel very good with Brian Johnson at the helm.

I am with you on this.

No doubt, UCLA was dreadful the last two trips to Salt Lake, but UCLA seems more confident/mentally tough than they were during those visits. A win would require the Bruins overlooking the Utes, a near perfect game by Utah and some costly turnovers by the visitors. Maybe this is the game Utah breaks out with a couple of takeaways.

I think the Bruins win 35-27. :(

[roseparkutes]

man do I miss Robert Johnson, that game was beautiful. I really hope the Utes can pull this one out and win.

[Applejack]

man do I miss Robert Johnson, that game was beautiful. I really hope the Utes can pull this one out and win.

It's funny to watch those highlights and see what impact elite safeties can have on a game. Do we win that game without RoJo?

[Utah]

I miss corners we can leave out on islands, allowing us to have safeties that blitz and roam free to make big plays. What happened to our corners? That is our second biggest disappointment, behind the QB position (although we look great at QB now).

[Diehard Ute]

I miss corners we can leave out on islands, allowing us to have safeties that blitz and roam free to make big plays. What happened to our corners? That is our second biggest disappointment, behind the QB position (although we look great at QB now).

I think this is the biggest mistake our fan base is making right now. It's the cool thing to blame the corners, when reality is it all starts up front.

We have not gotten the pass rush we need, although that improved this last week.

You can have the best corners on the planet, if you don't pressure the pocket, a good receiver will get open in time, that's just reality. So without a pass rush our corners look worse than they are

Beyond that we have had a revolving door at one safety position, and have lacked the athleticism at linebacker to cover the crossing routes and tight ends properly.

Now, our corners this year are young, and they've made some mistakes, but we're seeing improvement there.

Frankly, the biggest disappointment for me has been our front 7 all of last year and early this year. If they can keep improving, our corners will look a whole lot better.

[Applejack]

I think this is the biggest mistake our fan base is making right now. It's the cool thing to blame the corners, when reality is it all starts up front.

We have not gotten the pass rush we need, although that improved this last week.

You can have the best corners on the planet, if you don't pressure the pocket, a good receiver will get open in time, that's just reality. So without a pass rush our corners look worse than they are

Beyond that we have had a revolving door at one safety position, and have lacked the athleticism at linebacker to cover the crossing routes and tight ends properly.

Now, our corners this year are young, and they've made some mistakes, but we're seeing improvement there.

Frankly, the biggest disappointment for me has been our front 7 all of last year and early this year. If they can keep improving, our corners will look a whole lot better.

I too really like our corner's natural ability. It is unfortunate that we are playing 2 freshmen and some fresh JC transfers, but that's just the reality of this year. The future looks bright with these guys.

[Utah]

I think this is the biggest mistake our fan base is making right now. It's the cool thing to blame the corners, when reality is it all starts up front.

We have not gotten the pass rush we need, although that improved this last week.

You can have the best corners on the planet, if you don't pressure the pocket, a good receiver will get open in time, that's just reality. So without a pass rush our corners look worse than they are

Beyond that we have had a revolving door at one safety position, and have lacked the athleticism at linebacker to cover the crossing routes and tight ends properly.

Now, our corners this year are young, and they've made some mistakes, but we're seeing improvement there.

Frankly, the biggest disappointment for me has been our front 7 all of last year and early this year. If they can keep improving, our corners will look a whole lot better.

Yes and no. Pressure would be awesome to get. But at the end of the day, we can't leave our CB's on islands like we used to. Maybe our CB's are just as good, and we are facing better WR's, but we can't bring safeties on the blitzes you see in those highlights anymore because we can't leave our CB's alone.

I think the cool thing is to blame the front 4 and getting pressure on the QB. You have to remember that it is always 4 against 5 up front. Toss in OSU and their max protect when they keep a TE blocking and then have the RB block/chip then go into their delayed route, you are now talking about 4 against 6-7. What is the difference between when we could attack that better and now? Our blitz schemes. We used to be able to shut down one side of the field with a lock down corner, bring a safety up for run support/blitzing, and leave a safety back to make a play on a poorly thrown ball after the QB was rushed.

We can't shut down half the field like that anymore. We have to keep both safeties back because we can't trust our CB's. We have run more cover 2 this year that I have seen a Whitt defense run. We are keeping our safeties back to cover the deep ball because our CB's can't do it alone. Same goes with our LB's. We don't have PAC-12 LB's yet, so we can't let them man up in pass coverage, which results in more need for cover two defense. We have to rely SOLELY on our front 4, which is 4 on 5+.

If our CB's could man up and be left on islands, we could at least bring the safeties up to cover the TE/RB and allow our LB's to blitz more often. Whitt has tried to fudge this by having Chappuis and Honeycutt play LB, but then we are left open on the run plays.

CB is essential to a Whitt defense, and we don't have CB's that can take on that responsibility.

[Utah]

I too really like our corner's natural ability. It is unfortunate that we are playing 2 freshmen and some fresh JC transfers, but that's just the reality of this year. The future looks bright with these guys.

I do agree with this. Talent is there. Experience and know how when it comes to when to break, when to back off, when to make a play on the ball and when to try to just defend it is what we are missing.

Joining the PAC-12 really exposed some areas of weakness on this team, areas where we could fudge it and still win a lot of games (QB for example. Hays is probably a 10 game winner in the MWC).

[wally]

I too really like our corner's natural ability. It is unfortunate that we are playing 2 freshmen and some fresh JC transfers, but that's just the reality of this year. The future looks bright with these guys.

How much improvement can we realistically expect from our DBs over the course of the season?

[Jarid in Cedar]

How much improvement can we realistically expect from our DBs over the course of the season?

I think quite a bit actually. Look at Brondon Burton from the beginning of 2009(he was abysmal against SJSU) to the end(lock down corner). I think that Thomas and Porter are going to turn some heads by the end of the year, and will be 10x better next year due to the experience they gain from this season.

[Applejack]

I think quite a bit actually. Look at Brondon Burton from the beginning of 2009(he was abysmal against SJSU) to the end(lock down corner). I think that Thomas and Porter are going to turn some heads by the end of the year, and will be 10x better next year due to the experience they gain from this season.

I hope so. I still worry that Thomas is just too short to ever be truly impactful, but he has had moments already that made me question my worry.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I hope so. I still worry that Thomas is just too short to ever be truly impactful, but he has had moments already that made me question my worry.

I think that Thomas will play mostly against the slot because of his size. And his speed makes him the best blitzing corner of the young players as well(and the blitz is best from the nickel slot). i can see him taking that role for the next several seasons.

[Utah]

I think quite a bit actually. Look at Brondon Burton from the beginning of 2009(he was abysmal against SJSU) to the end(lock down corner). I think that Thomas and Porter are going to turn some heads by the end of the year, and will be 10x better next year due to the experience they gain from this season.

This. Look at Wilson. Everyone came into this year with a lot of doubt about what he could do. After four games, he dueled head to head with an amazing QB (Mannion), and has beaten two really good defenses. Utah is currently a top 20 offense, with an incredible QB.

Here is a question for you: Can you name 5 true Sophomore QB's you would want instead of Wilson? 3?

Next year, we will start to fully round out as a PAC-12 team and begin to look like the Utah teams of 2003-2010 again. We will have depth, experience, good QB, good OL, good DL, good CB's and we will be able to go back to the type of football that we are used to seeing.

Six wins is KEY for this year. If we can get to a bowl game, then get the extra month of practice, along with another game, I could see us limping into a bowl game, getting invited to the Heart of Dallas bowl, or the Pinstripe Bowl against a Big Ten or Big 12 team and then absolutely destroying them, with a lot of our players making huge strides between the end of the year and the bowl game, ala Wilson from last year to this year. I think had Wilson played in a bowl game last year, we would have been a lot more optimistic coming into this year.

[sancho]

at the end of the day, we can't leave our CB's on islands like we used to.

If we had USC's pass rush, we would leave our CBs alone regularly.

It's a chicken and egg puzzle. This is why pass-rushers and CBs go in the NFL first round more than safeties, middle linebackers, and tackles. This is why they make the big bucks.

[Rocker Ute]

...Utah is currently a top 20 offense, with an incredible QB...

Did you ever think you'd be saying that without saying Utah had a top 20 defense too? I'm trying to think of a time since Jim Fassel that our D wasn't at least on par if not measurably better than our O.

[LA Ute]

Did you ever think you'd be saying that without saying Utah had a top 20 defense too? I'm trying to think of a time since Jim Fassel that our D wasn't at least on par if not measurably better than our O.

True. But I'm beginning to feel stirrings of hope within me that this defense will improve significantly as the season goes on. They already have. I think.

[Applejack]

True. But I'm beginning to feel stirrings of hope within me that this defense will improve significantly as the season goes on. They already have. I think.

I'm not as sanguine about our D as you are. I think we are going to get L-I-T up by some of the better passers in the Pac-12. I shudder to think how many points Oregon is going to throw up on us. Like I said, I think pieces of the talent puzzle are there, but inexperience and depth issues are going to be huge issues when we face an offense with a better QB than Taysman Hill.

[sancho]

I'm not as sanguine about our D as you are. I think we are going to get L-I-T up by some of the better passers in the Pac-12. I shudder to think how many points Oregon is going to throw up on us. Like I said, I think pieces of the talent puzzle are there, but inexperience and depth issues are going to be huge issues when we face an offense with a better QB than Taysman Hill.

To be fair, the only defenses that have proven capable of slowing down Oregon are the defenses full of future NFL picks.

The entire method of evaluating defenses must change nowadays. I don't think we have a great defense, but it would have looked much better in 2000 in the MWC than it does in 2013 in the Pac-12.

[LA Ute]

I'm not as sanguine about our D as you are. I think we are going to get L-I-T up by some of the better passers in the Pac-12. I shudder to think how many points Oregon is going to throw up on us. Like I said, I think pieces of the talent puzzle are there, but inexperience and depth issues are going to be huge issues when we face an offense with a better QB than Taysman Hill.

I share your fears. "Stirrings of hope" is not "sanguine."

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -


And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -


I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

--E. Dickinson

:D

[Applejack]

I share your fears. "Stirrings of hope" is not "sanguine."

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -


And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -


I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

--E. Dickinson

:D

First TMZ and now Emily Dickinson?!?!?! LA, you are killing this board's rep!

[LA Ute]

First TMZ and now Emily Dickinson?!?!?! LA, you are killing this board's rep!

I'll find some Eliot or Yeats next time. (Hope still rocks, especially for fans of college sports programs on the rise.)

[U-Ute]

I think this is the biggest mistake our fan base is making right now. It's the cool thing to blame the corners, when reality is it all starts up front.

We have not gotten the pass rush we need, although that improved this last week.

You can have the best corners on the planet, if you don't pressure the pocket, a good receiver will get open in time, that's just reality. So without a pass rush our corners look worse than they are

Beyond that we have had a revolving door at one safety position, and have lacked the athleticism at linebacker to cover the crossing routes and tight ends properly.

Now, our corners this year are young, and they've made some mistakes, but we're seeing improvement there.

Frankly, the biggest disappointment for me has been our front 7 all of last year and early this year. If they can keep improving, our corners will look a whole lot better.

+1

I agree with this whole take.

[USS Utah]

Highlights from last year's contest.

Utah's:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1e5S478Kyo

UCLA's:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FczRWIOHP9s

[SoCalPat]

Did you ever think you'd be saying that without saying Utah had a top 20 defense too? I'm trying to think of a time since Jim Fassel that our D wasn't at least on par if not measurably better than our O.

I would not have called Kyle's first two teams great stop units by any stretch. Of course, next to the Fassel squads, they were the 1985 Bears. Also, the 1993 and 1996 squads were atrocious on defense at season's end, but a lot of that had to do with injuries.

[San Diego Ute Fan]

This would help immensely...
835

[LA Ute]

Against Utah, UCLA likely to continue mixing spread offense, rushing attack (http://dailybruin.com/2013/09/30/against-utah-ucla-likely-to-continue-mixing-spread-offense-rushing-attack/)

[LA Ute]

ESPN Pac-12 Power Rankings:

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/62533/pac-12-power-rankings-week-5-3

7. Utah: The Utes were off over the weekend. UCLA visits Salt Lake City on Thursday. Utah, meet opportunity. Opportunity, meet Utah.


Yep.

[Devildog]

The Utes need to get busy stealing games we are not supposed to win. No time like the present.

We let Oregon State get away... we need to win at home, even against tough teams like UCLA. We may be able to steal some road games against Arizona and USC, but we are going to need to play with confidence to do so. Nothing would build that confidence like beating a very good UCLA team.

I would be ecstatic with even a 1 point victory.

[SoCalPat]

The Utes need to get busy stealing games we are not supposed to win. No time like the present.

We let Oregon State get away... we need to win at home, even against tough teams like UCLA. We may be able to steal some road games against Arizona and USC, but we are going to need to play with confidence to do so. Nothing would build that confidence like beating a very good UCLA team.

I would be ecstatic with even a 1 point victory.

We're past style points in this league, although they help. There are obviously better alternatives to this, but I'd take the ball on my own 20 down 6 with 2 minutes to play, quite honestly.

[SoCalPat]

The timing of this game is the worst since 2008 Oregon State, when I was flipping between that game and Cubs-Dodgers in the NLCS. Buffalo plays Cleveland at 6, with Utah-UCLA at 8. I'm hoping for a blowout in the former so I can watch the Utah game without interruptions, although given how the Bills and Browns look, I'm probably spitting into the wind with the hope that game is decided early.

[LA Ute]

Who here is going to this game? I'll be in town and am going to be in my seats for a change. In view of the weather forecast I guess I need to find a black poncho.

[Diehard Ute]

Who here is going to this game? I'll be in town and am going to be in my seats for a change. In view of the weather forecast I guess I need to find a black poncho.

I'll be there...like every other home game in the past 30 years :)

[Applejack]

I'll be there...like every other home game in the past 30 years :)


Jealous!

Question, I don't own a DVR and I don't want to stay up until 2:30 AM watching the game like I did with BYU. Does anyone know of a reliable place online to catch a replay the next day that I can access WITHOUT being tipped off about the outcome?*

*Maybe this question should be moved to the epic "Watching Football on TV" thread

[U-Ute]

Who here is going to this game? I'll be in town and am going to be in my seats for a change. In view of the weather forecast I guess I need to find a black poncho.

I'll be there.

[U-Ute]

Jealous!

Question, I don't own a DVR and I don't want to stay up until 2:30 AM watching the game like I did with BYU. Does anyone know of a reliable place online to catch a replay the next day that I can access WITHOUT being tipped off about the outcome?*

*Maybe this question should be moved to the epic "Watching Football on TV" thread

PAC-12 online maybe?

[Applejack]

PAC-12 online maybe?

Perhaps, although it doesn't list the game as a replay option on Friday.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I think that fellating of UCLA's offense is getting out of hand. They are ranked 2nd in total offense, but there is a huge caveat with that.

They have played:

Nevada-113th in total defense
Nebraska-107th in total defense
NMSU-123rd(out of 123) in total defense.

If you compare that to what Utah has accomplished:

If you eliminate the weber State game, Utah is averaging 448 yards/game total offense(good for 47th) against the following defenses:

USU-22nd in total defense
Oregon State-71st in total defense
BYU-23rd in total defense.

Now that this is not to denigrate their season. Hundley is an excellent quarterback, who beat us with his feet frequently last year, but he has been prone to slow starts this season. My main concern for the game is controlling their ground game. If their running game is going, Hundley will kill us with play action. If he is forced to drop back(and we can maintain the pocket) his effectiveness will decline substantially.

This game is going to be a high scoring affair. Hope our offense is up to the task.

[Jarid in Cedar]

So looking that the other side, UCLA is ranked 36th in total defense against:

Nebraska-20th in total offense
Nevada-66th in total offense
NMSU-101st in total offense

Utah is 74th in total defense against:

Utah State-24th in total offense
BYU-21st in total offense
Oregon State-26th in total offense.

The difference between the two teams is about 50 yards.

UCLA hasn't handled the run very well(about as well as we have done against the pass), which makes it imperative that we get Poole and York going early. So much of our effectiveness passing is based around play action, that we need a credible rushing attack to make it flow. Wilson needs to have a couple of solid runs as well. IMO, this game will be decided by which defense can get off the field more frequently. I think we can get a solid running game going. What can't do is start as slow as we did against OSU and BYU. If our first three possessions are 3 and out, we are in trouble.

[Two Utes]

So looking that the other side, UCLA is ranked 36th in total defense against:

Nebraska-20th in total offense
Nevada-66th in total offense
NMSU-101st in total offense

Utah is 74th in total defense against:

Utah State-24th in total offense
BYU-21st in total offense
Oregon State-26th in total offense.

The difference between the two teams is about 50 yards.

UCLA hasn't handled the run very well(about as well as we have done against the pass), which makes it imperative that we get Poole and York going early. So much of our effectiveness passing is based around play action, that we need a credible rushing attack to make it flow. Wilson needs to have a couple of solid runs as well. IMO, this game will be decided by which defense can get off the field more frequently. I think we can get a solid running game going. What can't do is start as slow as we did against OSU and BYU. If our first three possessions are 3 and out, we are in trouble.

The line in Vegas is 3 and 1/2. That shoud tell anybody this is likely going to be a hotlly contested, close game.

[Jarid in Cedar]

The line in Vegas is 3 and 1/2. That shoud tell anybody this is likely going to be a hotlly contested, close game.


ANd there hasn't been a dramatic shift in the line. (see USU-SJSU last week; SJSU -6 1/2 that drifted to SJSU +7 by the end of the week) My guess is that by game time it will be UCLA -4 1/2 which sounds about right to me.

[Two Utes]

ANd there hasn't been a dramatic shift in the line. (see USU-SJSU last week; SJSU -6 1/2 that drifted to SJSU +7 by the end of the week) My guess is that by game time it will be UCLA -4 1/2 which sounds about right to me.

It's actually now 5 1/2, but given the proximity of LV to SoCal, I'm surprised it hasn't gone up more.

[wally]

We really need to get some takeaways. We are at a neutral margin, but if you toss out the BYU INT (which was a disadvantage) and the 2 against FBS opponents, we are at a -3 (all vs. OSU). I would like to see some strips and INTs. I am not sure that our secondary is at the point that they can get some INTs, as they are just trying to continue development, but I think that our front 7 need to step that up.

If this game turns out to be a shootout, the best way for a mediocre defense to get off the field is by taking the ball away, and that would give us a HUGE advantage. I want Karma to give back the 3 that we had against Oregon State.

[Freaky Girl]

Who here is going to this game? I'll be in town and am going to be in my seats for a change. In view of the weather forecast I guess I need to find a black poncho.

Matt and I will be there. Glad you are in town for this one, LA!

[hostile]

Who here is going to this game? I'll be in town and am going to be in my seats for a change. In view of the weather forecast I guess I need to find a black poncho.
I'll be there, wearing this.
http://www.backcountry.com/images/items/900/ARC/ARC1016/DEEDUS.jpg

[LA Ute]

Pac-12 coaches teleconference: Quarterback comparisons (http://pac-12.com/article/2013/10/01/pac-12-coaches-teleconference-quarterback-comparisons)


In this week's Pac-12 coaches teleconference, two sophomore quarterbacks were compared to NFL quarterbacks -- Utah Utes signal-caller Travis Wilson and Oregon Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota should take those as compliments. Ed Orgeron also discussed what's taken place at USC since he took over as interim coach, and Cal's Sonny Dykes talked about facing former mentor Mike Leach of Washington State....

[Solon]

Pac-12 coaches teleconference: Quarterback comparisons (http://pac-12.com/article/2013/10/01/pac-12-coaches-teleconference-quarterback-comparisons)

I wonder if they were compared to specific NFL quarterbacks, or if the conversation just hit on the new-style running NFL quarterbacks.

The link has a nice photo of Wilson with the football perfectly oriented to show off the U's logo. His throwing mechanics look a little unorthodox on TV, and that photo doesn't reassure me - but hey, some really good qbs have had awkward mechanics.

[DrumNFeather]

Game Day!:football:

[Freaky Girl]

Game Day!:football:

And the forecast is only 10% chance of rain. Yay!! I can dress to keep warm in the low 40's instead of dress to keep dry.

[LA Ute]

And the forecast is only 10% chance of rain. Yay!! I can dress to keep warm in the low 40's instead of dress to keep dry.

This ruins my blackout plans. I was going to buy a cheap black plastic poncho. Now I have to find something warm and black. I may rebel and just show up in red.

[DrumNFeather]

This ruins my blackout plans. I was going to buy a cheap black plastic poncho. Now I have to find something warm and black. I may rebel and just show up in red.

I'm sure you can afford it, money bags. :)

[UTEopia]

The key to defending the Bruins is to not allow Hundley to hurt you with the run when there is nothing open downfield. This requires a disciplined rush where the front four stay in their lanes and try to get a push without a lot of twisting or speed rushing. This makes it more difficult to get pressure on the QB especially against a strong, physical OL. We did this against BYU and that prevented Hill from breaking the pocket for long runs. I would prefer that we do this and give up a few more receptions than allow Hundley to kill us with his legs like he did a year ago. This will be a huge challenge for the defense and we need to be better if we are going to be in the game late. I think we will need to be at least +2 in turnovers to have a chance tonight and those turnovers need to be the type where they give us a short field for a score.

[U-Ute]

The key to defending the Bruins is to not allow Hundley to hurt you with the run when there is nothing open downfield. This requires a disciplined rush where the front four stay in their lanes and try to get a push without a lot of twisting or speed rushing. This makes it more difficult to get pressure on the QB especially against a strong, physical OL. We did this against BYU and that prevented Hill from breaking the pocket for long runs. I would prefer that we do this and give up a few more receptions than allow Hundley to kill us with his legs like he did a year ago. This will be a huge challenge for the defense and we need to be better if we are going to be in the game late. I think we will need to be at least +2 in turnovers to have a chance tonight and those turnovers need to be the type where they give us a short field for a score.

QFT.

The name of the game is to not give up touchdowns. Letting Hundley out of the pocket could potentially lead to him running for a TD. If he converts a couple of third and longs, but we bottle them up at the goal line and force them into a field goal instead? That's a win.

[LA Ute]

I'm sure you can afford it, money bags. :)

That's it! I'm cutting you out of the will.

[Senioritis]

This game is really the season definer. Utes win this, they have a legitimately legitimate chance to compete to get their asses worn like hats in Palo Alto or Eugene on December 7th. Utes lose this, it's fighting for 6 wins and a date in The Heart of Dallas Bowl, whoopity doooo!

I don't really expect Utah to win, but I don't think they're too far from really competing in the conference. Tonight will tell us how wide the divide.

[concerned]

That's it! I'm cutting you out of the will.
\
BTW, this could be everybody's last/only chance to see Hundley. During all the talk a week or two ago about the Browns trading Richardson to the Colts, all the talking heads identified Hundley as one of the qb's the Browns could draft. They all expect Hundley to go pro this year.

[GarthUte]

The Utes defense will need to play their best game of the year for the team to have a shot at winning. The D did a good job containing the BYU's Hill from doing too much damage with his legs, but Hundley is a better runner and passer than Hill; doing the same job on Hundley as the D did on Hill won't be enough.

Hopefully, Wilson will play his best game of the year as well in order to get the win. He's played better in each game thus far, so it would be nice to see that continue.

As Senioritis noted above, a win bodes well for the team. It will give them the much needed confidence the team will have to have next week against Stanford. A loss and Stanford will smell blood and move in for the kill.

[Utah]

Hill is a terrible passer. But he is an elite runner. The kid is a great runner and better than Hundley.

If Orchard plays as well as he did against BYU, our defense has a good chance.

[Utah]

Just walked out of work and the mountains have painted themselves red. It's a omen. Go UTES!!!

[Applejack]

This game is really the season definer. Utes win this, they have a legitimately legitimate chance to compete to get their asses worn like hats in Palo Alto or Eugene on December 7th. Utes lose this, it's fighting for 6 wins and a date in The Heart of Dallas Bowl, whoopity doooo!

I don't really expect Utah to win, but I don't think they're too far from really competing in the conference. Tonight will tell us how wide the divide.

This game is also a season definer for the Bruins. Outside of UCLA, every team has shown they are beatable: USC looks terrible, Colorado is Colorado, Arizona has no QB, Utah has issues in the defensive backfield. ASU has looked good, but they aren't world beaters. If UCLA is a legit top 10 team, they should cruise thru the South like they are Burt Reynolds. They are going to want to put their stamp on greatness tonight.

Here's hoping they fall flat.

[Senioritis]

This game is also a season definer for the Bruins. Outside of UCLA, every team has shown they are beatable: USC looks terrible, Colorado is Colorado, Arizona has no QB, Utah has issues in the defensive backfield. ASU has looked good, but they aren't world beaters. If UCLA is a legit top 10 team, they should cruise thru the South like they are Burt Reynolds. They are going to want to put their stamp on greatness tonight.

Here's hoping they fall flat.

The world is depending on the Utes to stop this from happening:

854

Our lady of Kyle Whittingham's mojo, pray for us!!!

[Applejack]

The world is depending on the Utes to stop this from happening:

854

Our lady of Kyle Whittingham's mojo, pray for us!!!

Where is Burt's left hand!!!!:blink:

Can someone with internet hacking skills photoshop him lying next to Bill Walton or Troy Aikman? Thanks in advance.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Offense needs to get out to a quick start. We can't go 3 and out the first 4 possessions. We need points out of at least one of the first 2 drives.

2. Defense needs to get off the field on 3rd down.

3. If UCLA gets in range, force them to kick a few field goals.

4. Stop the run. I think that Hundley passing skills have been more pumped up than Jenna Jameson's bosom.

5. No worse than -1 in turnovers. I think we can overcome -1 but nothing beyond that.

6. Poole with over 100 yards rushing. UCLA has had some problems with the run. We need Poole/Wilson's running to set up play action and to stay on schedule in regards to 3rd down.

7. Win special teams. Phillips is probably used to playing in the snow, so he shouldn't be phased.

8. Own the emotion. Crowd needs to get it started and the team needs to keep the crowd in the game.

9. Wilson needs to pick a different game to come down to Earth(its going to happen once). We need him to rise to the occasion and beat Hundley.

[Applejack]

2. Defense needs to get off the field on 3rd down.


This was the difference in last year's game. On a beautiful day in Pasadena, we contained UCLA pretty well, but it felt like we just couldn't get off the field on 3rd and long.

[chrisrenrut]

This was the difference in last year's game. On a beautiful day in Pasadena, we contained UCLA pretty well, but it felt like we just couldn't get off the field on 3rd and long.

Bruins are ranked first in the nation in third down conversion % (.680)

:worried:

[Jarid in Cedar]

Hitting the road!

855

[chrisrenrut]

Snow and lightning right now at RES. Doesn't look like it will last long.

[Sisyphus]

Stop Hundley! And all the other Bruins while you're at it Defense...

[LA Ute]

Team not wearing pads during warmups. TW looking relaxed.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/04/hejyru8y.jpg

[LA Ute]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/04/y8y7ahuv.jpg

Notice the shirtless show-offs.

[DrumNFeather]

Well...we might need to do better than that

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2

[DrumNFeather]

Dres Anderson is a beast!!!

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2

[DrumNFeather]

Great catch and a ballsy throw.

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2

[mpfunk]

We finally have a QB. Wilson is very good and we have another 2.5 years with him.

Also, we have a hell of an offensive coordinator. The Dennis Erickson hire is going to help Whittingham become competitive in the Pac-12. Kudos to Whittingham for finally stepping up and making a great hire on the offensive side of the ball.

[Utah]

Another INT due to Dres. Wilson threw that into open space. Dres ran into coverage, over ran the throw and tipped it up. Three picks this year due to Dres. That sucks.

[mpfunk]

We need to answer here. UCLA has been a great 2nd half team and we don't want to go in down.

[sancho]

Another INT due to Dres. Wilson threw that into open space. Dres ran into coverage, over ran the throw and tipped it up. Three picks this year due to Dres. That sucks.

Not all on Dres. Wilson has made half a dozen dangerous throws this half.

[OrangeUte]

Down by 4 isn't bad. Make some adjustments on defense to avoid big plays in the second half. Get York back to pounding chunks if yardage and picking apart the ucla D and we can pull this off.

Wilson is one cool calm cucumber.

[Sisyphus]

between our CBs and their WRs

Hundley's a beast, so is Wilson though...

[OrangeUte]

Huge miscue on thY snap. Too bad we couldn't recover that. Dammit! Great 3rd and long.

Crowd needs to get noisy and disruptive.

[OrangeUte]

Stupid block in the back negates a big return.

Come on Wilson!

[OrangeUte]

Ugh!!!! Another int.

We need a takeaway if we want to win this game.

[OrangeUte]

Huge turnover followed by great 3 and out by defense. Offense. Another turnover and this game is going to be over. -4 in turnovers and we are only down by 4? That's not a good thing but it's a good thing all at the same time.

[OrangeUte]

Sorry. Down by 7 not 4.

[OrangeUte]

Anemic offense now.

[OrangeUte]

We really need a takeaway here.

[mpfunk]

I'm not entirely sure why the officials think that everyone is there to watch them. I'm not saying the officiating is biased one way or the other, but these officials are calling way too many penalties on both sides.

[OrangeUte]

We really need a takeaway here.
YES!!!!!

That could be a huge momentum changer!!!

[mpfunk]

Thank you defense.

Pretty amazing that we are in this game being -3 on TOs against a borderline top 10 team.

[LA Ute]

A big TO couldn't have come at a better time!

[Brian]

We really need a takeaway here.

Ask and he shall receive

[SoCalPat]

About fuckin time fate shines on our collective asses

[OrangeUte]

A big TO couldn't have come at a better time!

True. Word!

[OrangeUte]

Ask and he shall receive

Seriously. Wow!

[OrangeUte]

Made them settle for 3. Our D came up w a good stand there.

[mpfunk]

An 8 minute TD drive would be nice here. I am hoping that by asking, that I shall receive.

[mpfunk]

I blame OrangeUte. He is righteous that when he asks he receives, but I get nothing.

[SoCalPat]

Made them settle for 3. Our D came up w a good stand there.

Settle? We gave them 3 because We couldn't sack Hundley when we had him dead to rights.

[SoCalPat]

What the hell is Lucky Radley doing in the game on every down? We need 2 yards on third down and were trying to beat UCLA LBs to the edge?

[LA Ute]

Settle? We gave them 3 because We couldn't sack Hundley when we had him dead to rights.

I hope that isn't the play that ends up winning the game for them. All game long we've been doing pretty well at containing him....

[OrangeUte]

Utes get ball back. Nice.

[GarthUte]

Wilson has made some really shitty throws tonight.

[OrangeUte]

5th turnover. Crap.

[LA Ute]

That one was inexcusable

[OrangeUte]

Hundley does what he did last year.

[OrangeUte]

Huge drops.

[OrangeUte]

Better throw by Wilson would be nice there. That was horrible.

[sancho]

Better throw by Wilson would be nice there. That was horrible.

Horrible game altogether for him. Hope he can bounce back.

The second half was last year all over again. They blitzed every down, and we couldn't handle it. That's exactly what we will see next week from Stanford.

[LA Ute]

To pull off a win with that turnover margin would've been one of the greatest statistical anomalies ever.

I guess Jarid's fear was realized: This was the game when Travis came down to earth. Still an overall impressive team performance. Lots to like about this game.

[SoCalPat]

Travis was brutal tonight -- yes, several of the INTs were tipped but the last two were entirely on him. In his defense, we don't have a lot of weapons on offense. Dres is fast but you can beat him up at the LOS. Fitz runs nice routes but is not a burner. It's apparent Denham can be covered adequately by LBs and his hands can best be labeled as average. Murphy has not taken that next step toward dominance at his position. Geoff Norwood is a midget. We miss Kenneth Scott badly.

And I'll say it again, what is up with the merry-go-round at running back? Did both York and Poole get hurt? Radley essentially played the last quarter-and-a-half, and after his first 2-3 runs, was more a liability than an asset.

[sancho]

And I'll say it again, what is up with the merry-go-round at running back? Did both York and Poole get hurt? Radley essentially played the last quarter-and-a-half, and after his first 2-3 runs, was more a liability than an asset.

I don't understand this either. Poole looked good, then York looked good.

Good point about the WR depth and quality. Those two drops at the end were brutal. But both Fitz and Dres had made great plays earlier in the game.

[justaute]

Who knows? Maybe it's coaching. That's the one variable that has yet to be really discussed.



I don't understand this either. Poole looked good, then York looked good.

Good point about the WR depth and quality. Those two drops at the end were brutal. But both Fitz and Dres had made great plays earlier in the game.

[SoCalPat]

I don't understand this either. Poole looked good, then York looked good.

Good point about the WR depth and quality. Those two drops at the end were brutal. But both Fitz and Dres had made great plays earlier in the game.

I'll have to watch the game again to find it, but Poole again stutter-stepped a LB with the hole already created, and didn't gain nearly as much yardage on the play as he should have. And giving the ball to Radley on a sweep on 3rd-and-2 mid-fourth was the most absolutely brain-dead call of the year. We could not get outside on UCLA all night.

[OrangeUte]

Turnovers. We literally cannot get them. McGill's pick was great but ended up not being the tide turner I had hoped.

[SoCalPat]

Turnovers. We literally cannot get them. McGill's pick was great but ended up not being the tide turner I had hoped.

The onsides kick also qualifies as a turnover, albeit unofficially, but obviously we didn't do a thing with it.

[LA Ute]

Turnovers. We literally cannot get them. McGill's pick was great but ended up not being the tide turner I had hoped.

Defense can put you in a position to win, but you can't depend on the D to get the ball in the endzone.

Couple of notes from the post-game interview with Kyle:



Travis was 11-14 in the first half, then melted down in the second. 11-30. O-line play was worse in the second half, he can't point to any adjustment UCLA made that caused that.
Of Wilson's picks, 2 were bad decisions by Wilson (and how!) and the others occurred when he was hurried because the O-line broke down or the ball was tipped. O-line did not play well this game, especially in the second half.
Kyle loved the aggressiveness of the defense and the coverage the secondary provided. The better secondary play allowed Kilani to be more aggressive with the pass rush. (I thought the D was a real bright spot tonight -- held UCLA 200 yards below their average total offense.)
Kyle noted that Wilson has been sick the past two days, and lots of players would have sat this game out. So there was that going on.
The Utes are 3 of 27 on 3rd downs in the last two games.
The only bad call Kilani made in the game was on Hundley's QB draw for the touchdown on 3rd and 6. (That one was especially painful.)


What does everyone make of Dres's drops? Man, an elite receiver (which he can be) has got to make those catches.

Jacoby Hale's ankle injury was a shame. Not sure how bad it is. It looked like Bubba was hurt too. Couldn't tell why York stayed out.

Of 10 possessions in the second half, 5 were turnovers. Ugh. Dolce thinks UCLA's defensive front 7 owned the Utah offensive line.

[sancho]

O-line did not play well this game, especially in the second half.

Often, it was blitzes, which is not necessarily the O-line's fault. But really, this is the best pash rush we've seen all year. I think what we saw is reality for our O-line. Wilson is not going to have time to throw against Stanford, USC, ASU, and Oregon. That's just something we have to accept and plan for.


The only bad call Kilani made in the game was on Hundley's QB draw for the touchdown on 3rd and 6. (That one was especially painful.)

That would have made it a 6 point game instead of 10, and we would have gone for it on 4th and 5 instead of taking the FG.



What does everyone make of Dres's drops? Man, an elite receiver (which he can be) has got to make those catches.

Frustrating, but it is what it is. He gave us some great plays, and he gave us some drops. He's our best WR, and we don't have any other options.

[sancho]

So was it the right call to kick the FG on 4th and 5 on the 20?

You take the FG, and you extend the game. But if you go for it and get it, you can still get the TD on that drive. If you recover the onside kick down 3 instead of down 7, it's going to be very easy to get into FG range (which we did). Plus, you still have a chance to win outright with a TD.

If it's inside the 10 yard line, it's a no brainer - you go for it. If it's 4th and 1 anywhere, you go for it. But at the 20 on 4th and 5, I'm not sure.

[DrumNFeather]

After sleeping on it (albeit not much...) here are some post-game thoughts.

I'll continue to say, this feels like the year before the year that the team starts putting together competitive seasons in the Pac 12. It would be nice to see them "learn" this year and still get to the post season. They need to start winning these type of dog fight games to take that next step.

I like our three-headed monster at RB. I don't know if injuries drove that rotation last night or not, but all three were effective. I even wonder if we could bring back the Utah pass with Radley, or line him up in the slot sometimes. He's just a guy we need to have on the field. Great energy, great team guy, and he ran over #99 for UCLA last night...(which, got in the guy's head and made him play harder, but still).

The one thing I didn't like in our run game was not blocking on the backside of those sweeps. On consecutive run plays on that last drive, Barr, and #99 caught our guys from behind. Gotta chip 'em or something.

Speaking of Barr. I think he's the best defensive player we've faced in quite some time. That's no disrespect to KVN or even ASU's DT that we'll face later this year, but Barr is an elite player and is going to make some 3/4 D Coordinator in the NFL very happy.

It's hard to call Wilson's performance good with those 6 picks, but Wilson is a gamer. The mistakes he is making are things that I think we can clean up. He might even need to take a little bit off those throws, I don't know...or our guys could just catch 'em! Wilson is going to keep this team in games this season, and I think he'll be the reason we pick one or two up that perhaps we shouldn't.

Our WRs need to catch the ball, period. Too many drops.

Defensively, I think you have to like the push the D-line has had in the pass rush the last two games. Hundley is one of the more lauded QBs we've played against and our line had him confused and running for his life in the passing game. He excelled with designed runs though, so we've got to be able account for that.

Tackle, tackle, tackle. To quote Dan Hawkins..."IT'S DIVISION 1 FOOTBALL." You just cannot arm tackle 6'4 WRs and powerful backs. It ain't going to work.

I love Jason Whittingham. He his a violent player, and I mean that in a good way. I don't think we've had someone that hits like he does in a while.

Andy Phillips is living right.

All in all, to have a chance to force OT despite 6 turnovers against a top 15 team is pretty good. The Utes just need one of these games to break through, and I think we'll see a big shift in the attitude and confidence of this team.

I'm glad we've got extra time to prepare for Stanford. I'll be in RES for that one. Can't wait.

[sancho]

They need to start winning these type of dog fight games to take that next step.

Yes, we better win a Pac-12 game soon. A team can learn how to lose just as much as it can learn how to win. If you keep dropping close ones, soon you will start losing by 30.



Speaking of Barr. I think he's the best defensive player we've faced in quite some time.

No doubt about it.



It's hard to call Wilson's performance good with those 6 picks, but Wilson is a gamer. The mistakes he is making are things that I think we can clean up. He might even need to take a little bit off those throws, I don't know...or our guys could just catch 'em! Wilson is going to keep this team in games this season, and I think he'll be the reason we pick one or two up that perhaps we shouldn't.


I thought going into the game that Wilson's short pass accuracy was one thing we didn't need to worry about. He started very crisp in that department, but his accuracy grew progressively worse throughout the game. Now it's an issue to worry about again. Maybe it was his cold, maybe it was the pressure, maybe it was the weather. Whatever it was, it's on the concern list again.

[LA Ute]

I thought going into the game that Wilson's short pass accuracy was one thing we didn't need to worry about. He started very crisp in that department, but his accuracy grew progressively worse throughout the game. Now it's an issue to worry about again. Maybe it was his cold, maybe it was the pressure, maybe it was the weather. Whatever it was, it's on the concern list again.

Someone who knows football better than I do (I think it was on the UF.net board) said UCLA started playing press coverage in the second half and after that our receivers couldn't get separation, which put Travis in the position of needing pinpoint accuracy (and made it more important than ever that the receivers catch balls that hit them in the hands, not tip it, etc.). That, plus the poor protection from the o-line, made it hard for Travis to punish UCLA for pressing. Maybe our receivers need to be a hair faster, but I think the the lack of offensive production is because of our O-line, which could not handle an outstanding UCLA D-line. Those guys owned the line of scrimmage last night.

[sancho]

The game is front page on SI:


The Utes had torn apart UCLA's offense for most of the second half with overload blitzes that brought more rushers than the Bruins had blockers on a particular side. How good were Utah coach Kyle Whittingham's pressure packages? "His blitz schemes were excellent," Mora said. "I can't wait to look at the film and see if I can't poach a few of them." But Hundley noticed one tendency in particular. When the Bruins had a single receiver to the boundary (short) side of the field, the Utes sent a cornerback at Hundley. When the Bruins had two receivers on each side of the field, the Utes dropped that corner into man coverage. Their other blitzers left the middle of the field unguarded -- which made the Utes susceptible to a quarterback draw. If the corner was coming, he could track down Hundley fairly easily on a draw. If the corner got stuck covering a receiver, Hundley could run all day. At least that's what Hundley envisioned when he presented the idea to Mazzone. So, on third-and-6 from the Utah 36-yard line, Mazzone indulged his quarterback. The tailback split wide, giving the Bruins two receivers on each side. Sure enough, the corner dropped into man coverage. The middle of the field opened, and Hundley raced for a 36-yard touchdown that turned out to be a critical cushion after Utah kicked a late field goal and recovered an onside kick. "I'm very proud of our defense in the second half," Utah's Whittingham said. "They were dominant in the second half -- except for the QB draw."

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20131004/ucla-bruins-beat-utah-utes/#ixzz2glUG7wuT

[sancho]

How great would it be to have a 4-star tackle waiting on the sideline in case the starter goes down? The quality depth of the top recruiting programs is a luxury I don't think we'll ever experience.

[U-Ute]

Utah @UNC, 2005 (http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=252740153).

If anyone can pull Travis through his sophomore slump, BJ can.

[sancho]

Utah @UNC, 2005 (http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=252740153).

If anyone can pull Travis through his sophomore slump, BJ can.

I was at that game. Tarheel fans mocked me all the way back to my car afterward.

[Solon]

Some bright spots coming out of a bye.
Some dark spots that need to improve.

UCLA is a good team. But this was a winnable game.
I have nothing original to add - it was a game of inches.
The near-TD at the end; the fumble that Hundley picks up and runs in; The Utes' second TD was almost an INT; an onside kick; a couple of tips either way . . .
Game of inches. It's time for the Utes to take up more of those inches.

[DrumNFeather]

I was at that game. Tarheel fans mocked me all the way back to my car afterward.

I was there as well. I remember they returned the opening kick and someone won a new truck. It was a good time even though we lost.

[Solon]

I was there as well. I remember they returned the opening kick and someone won a new truck. It was a good time even though we lost.

I was also there, along with Mormon Red Death.
It was blistering hot that day from where we were in the stands.

[SeattleUte]

We're still paying the piper for years and years of failures recruiting or developing quality quarterbacks. I think Wilson is great. But he was thrown into the fire last season as a true freshman. Does he even have a full season's worth of games as a starter? He's still learning and UCLA is a good team. It wasn't the best time for us to experience our quarterback drought, was it. Wilson would be racking up big numbers in the MWC. BYU fans are asking why didn't he throw so many interceptions against BYU. lol. Toto, I have a feeling we're not in the MWC anymore. Folks, it's possible we could get shut out this season.

[Diehard Ute]

We're still paying the piper for years and years of failures recruiting or developing quality quarterbacks. I think Wilson is great. But he was thrown into the frey last season as a true freshman. Does he even have a full season's worth of games as a starter? He's still learning and UCLA is a good team. It wasn't the best time for us to experience our quarterback drought, was it. Wilson would be racking up big numbers in the MWC. BYU fans are asking why didn't he throw so many interceptions against BYU. lol. Toto, I have a feeling we're not in the MWC anymore. Folks, it's possible we could get shut out this season.

He was also pretty sick last night, while playing against a quality team with receivers making an unusual amount of poor plays. Perfect storm

[Hot Lunch]

Not sure what to say about last night. I will start by saying, we are a better team than I thought we were.

That being said.............. I will start with the negatives.

Travis is still young, I still love him at the future of our team. He made some big mistakes last night but he also made some great plays. He is young and learning. For the first time this year, he forced a high amount of throws. He also needs to learn some touch. In the second half, I didn't like the play calling. I thought that DE didn't do him a lot of favors with some of the play calling in the 2nd half. It felt like the halftime adjustments he made weren't positive this week.

Poutasi was awful. He personally killed drives with penalties, and not blocking anyone. He had a tough task in trying to contain Anthony Barr who is a beast but last night told me that he is not a left tackle. I think his play had the biggest impact on the outcome of last nights game.

I hated the fact that we didn't see Bubba Poole after the 1st quarter. York was a great change of pace back last night. At the end of the day, I want my best back in the game 65% of the time. I hated that it was Lucky Radley getting the 4th quarter carries and not Bubba Poole. We never let our best back get into a flow of the game.

We desperately need to find another Wide Out besides Dres that can make plays. We missed Scott so bad last night. Fitz is a great possession guy. I love what he did last night. We need another play maker.

The block in the back on the Norwoods punt return hurt. Yes, that is obvious. We went from first and goal from the 8 or 9 to 1st and 10 on our own 30. That drive then resulted in an int. It was the one that was tipped coming out of Travis's hand.

McGill has become a really good corner IMO. Eric Rowe had a great game from what I could tell. He is really coming into his own The other corners, well, they still have a lot of work.

Tackling was poor. Really poor. Especially in the 1st half.

The Positives........

Dres is good. He is really good. He needs to touch the ball 8 or 9 times a game.

The D made some awesome adjustments in the 2nd half and played great. Nate Orchard was a beast. I have been hard on Jason Whittingham. He made some huge plays last night.

The blitz that we dialed up last night were awesome. The problem with a few of them was how poor the coverage was at times which allowed Hundley to find someone quick. Usually on the opposite side of McGill.

We have some really good young players. We are a handful of players away from being a dang good team.

Go Utes!

[LA Ute]

Anyone know what happened with Poole? Is he hurt?

[U-Ute]

Anyone know what happened with Poole? Is he hurt?

On the post game last night, it was said that someone asked Kyle that, and he said that this rotation was by design - not dictated by injury.

But then again, we all know how much Kyle likes to talk about injuries.

:)

[LA Ute]

On the post game last night, it was said that someone asked Kyle that, and he said that this rotation was by design - not dictated by injury.

856

[SoCalPat]

So was it the right call to kick the FG on 4th and 5 on the 20?

You take the FG, and you extend the game. But if you go for it and get it, you can still get the TD on that drive. If you recover the onside kick down 3 instead of down 7, it's going to be very easy to get into FG range (which we did). Plus, you still have a chance to win outright with a TD.

If it's inside the 10 yard line, it's a no brainer - you go for it. If it's 4th and 1 anywhere, you go for it. But at the 20 on 4th and 5, I'm not sure.

I'm not a believer in any of this thinking. You can convert the fourth down and then use up most of the remaining time trying to score, leaving you with no time to execute the onside kick, gain 15 yards and try a 55-yard FG.

With one timeout and under two minutes (which we had last night), your goal is to get to a one-possession game ASAP. Anywhere inside the 30 (or solidly in your kicker's FG range), you kick the field goal on fourth down and get it to 7. You're still going to need to recover an onsides kick. What's it matter if you try it down 7 or down 3? But if you fail to convert on fourth down, the game is over.

You want to keep the miracle in play, because at that point in the game, you need the other team to screw up badly for you to tie the game. Put yourself in position to reap full benefits of the miracle, kick the FG and get it to a one-possession game ASAP.

[Applejack]

I missed the game (stupid 10:15 kickoff on a workday). I had meant to hold out all day to watch the replay on pac12.com tomorrow at 8 AM - didn't work. I lack the willpower to go a full day without checking any sports-related websites.

I don't think we have the horses to beat Stanford, but I would like us to take one of the next two road games (Arizona/USC). I think we'll be underdogs in both, but I think they would be big wins for us. If we lose both of them, I don't think we are bowling - we'd basically have to beat ASU, WSU, and Colorado: not impossible, but unlikely I think.

[sancho]

I'm not a believer in any of this thinking. You can convert the fourth down and then use up most of the remaining time trying to score, leaving you with no time to execute the onside kick, gain 15 yards and try a 55-yard FG.

With one timeout and under two minutes (which we had last night), your goal is to get to a one-possession game ASAP. Anywhere inside the 30 (or solidly in your kicker's FG range), you kick the field goal on fourth down and get it to 7. You're still going to need to recover an onsides kick. What's it matter if you try it down 7 or down 3? But if you fail to convert on fourth down, the game is over.

You want to keep the miracle in play, because at that point in the game, you need the other team to screw up badly for you to tie the game. Put yourself in position to reap full benefits of the miracle, kick the FG and get it to a one-possession game ASAP.


I understand that point of view. There are definitely situations where the odds are far better if you go for it. You clearly go for the TD if it's 4th and goal from the 1. But how far out does that go? And with how much time?

Getting into field goal range when down 3 after an onside kick is relatively easy, especially with the defense worried about giving up the TD and losing.

It's a moot conversation because almost no coach would have the balls to do it even if the odds were overwhelmingly in favor.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Offense needs to get out to a quick start. We can't go 3 and out the first 4 possessions. We need points out of at least one of the first 2 drives.

Pretty good here. I thought the offense came out of the gate well, but didn't sustain in the 2nd half.


2. Defense needs to get off the field on 3rd down.

We did pretty good here looking at the numbers, but we still gave up a few 3rd and long conversions


3. If UCLA gets in range, force them to kick a few field goals.

Failed here. If we forced one more drive to a FG instead of a TD, we would have been playing in overtime.


4. Stop the run. I think that Hundley passing skills have been more pumped up than Jenna Jameson's bosom.

Hundley made some nice passes, but he didn't impress me much here. Their running game didn't get much traction as well, but they ground out a decent number against us.


5. No worse than -1 in turnovers. I think we can overcome -1 but nothing beyond that.

:doh:


6. Poole with over 100 yards rushing. UCLA has had some problems with the run. We need Poole/Wilson's running to set up play action and to stay on schedule in regards to 3rd down.

Missed here as well. I think that we gave up on the run a little bit in the second half. Run a draw or two to slow down the pass rush.


7. Win special teams. Phillips is probably used to playing in the snow, so he shouldn't be phased.

I think we won this area. The onsides was big on that front.


8. Own the emotion. Crowd needs to get it started and the team needs to keep the crowd in the game.

The crowd was good, but UCLA made drives at the right times to keep the energy squelched.


9. Wilson needs to pick a different game to come down to Earth(its going to happen once). We need him to rise to the occasion and beat Hundley.

I really hated being right here. I knew it was coming, i hoped that it would happen in a game that we didn't have as good a chance to win(eg Oregon).