8 Reasons to be optimistic about Utah Football

[utecentral]

Are you feeling optimistic about the Utes chances for a big rebound this year?

Here's a few reason why things are looking up for the Utes.

http://www.tornbysports.com/ute-hangout-8-reasons-to-be-optimistic-about-utah-football-this-year/

[WhiskyPriest]

Are you feeling optimistic about the Utes chances for a big rebound this year?

Here's a few reason why things are looking up for the Utes.

http://www.tornbysports.com/ute-hangout-8-reasons-to-be-optimistic-about-utah-football-this-year/

Thank you for that article. I enjoyed the read.

[Sullyute]

The first three are the key. We have had one or more of those key items missing the last several years. Wilson is still young but with a cohesive offensive line and an experienced play caller hopefully wilson can continue to get better and we can win some of the more difficult games at the end of the season.

[Sullyute]

I am less optimistic about Erickson than most seem to be. Don't get me wrong - I'm happy to have him, but first years under new systems are often tough. There was a ton of feeling among Pac-12 writers and fans than Leach would have Wazzu firing on all cylinders last year. There was feeling around here that Norm Chow would have us scoring in buckets. It unfortunately takes more time than we want it to. It even took the great Urban a year to get the offense going at Florida. The ray of hope with Erickson is that we might not be overhauling the entire system; we might just be tweaking it.

With Norm we had an unhealthy quarterback and then a tough but overmatched second string qb for most of the year. If it wasn't for white we would have been killed that year.

I don't think erickson is the answer to all our problems but having some experience on the offensive side of the ball will (hopefully) help.

[Diehard Ute]

I am less optimistic about Erickson than most seem to be. Don't get me wrong - I'm happy to have him, but first years under new systems are often tough. There was a ton of feeling among Pac-12 writers and fans than Leach would have Wazzu firing on all cylinders last year. There was feeling around here that Norm Chow would have us scoring in buckets. It unfortunately takes more time than we want it to. It even took the great Urban a year to get the offense going at Florida. The ray of hope with Erickson is that we might not be overhauling the entire system; we might just be tweaking it.

Having talked directly to an offensive player, they're loving Erickson, this player raved about him. That wasn't the case with Chow in my experience

[roseparkutes]

nice read. hopefully coach Erickson will help the offense become a good one. and hopefully the d line will be as good as they expect

[Crimsonute]

I've watched videos and interviews with Cox, Manning, and Thomas. All look to be tremendously talented, and all three could push Wilson. For the first time in a while, Utah looks to have some depth at QB. Young depth. I think Coach Whit found out that a team needs 3 or 4 quality quarterbacks in the Pac 12.

[Utah]

I've watched videos and interviews with Cox, Manning, and Thomas. All look to be tremendously talented, and all three could push Wilson. For the first time in a while, Utah looks to have some depth at QB. Young depth. I think Coach Whit found out that a team needs 3 or 4 quality quarterbacks in the Pac 12.

Live said this before, but I think Wilson needs 8+ wins to go into next season as the unquestioned starter.

[Ma'ake]

I like the article, and basically agree with the points made. If we were still in the MWC, even with all the challenges last year we might have recovered and won 8 or 9 games.

We're not in the MWC anymore, and adding Stanford and Oregon on the schedule means we really need to avoid the problems from last year, develop some swagger, and then we can get to 7 wins, I think.

If you told me right now Utah would go 7-5 and back to a decent bowl, I'd take it, no questions asked. Climbing the ladder in the PAC is not easy. Some of us predicted that if the cards fell into place just right, we might be able to capitalize on momentum getting into the PAC, get some breaks, and get into the upper third of the league on a consistent basis.

That didn't happen.

We need to just focus on getting to the upper half of the PAC, but the good news is the fan base hasn't fallen off the cliff with a couple of (what previously would appear as) disappointing years. 2011 was a cold shot, but ended on an up-swing. Last year was just plain sobering. I'm confident we'll be better than last year, and there's ample reason to think that our PAC recruiting bump and coaching adjustments will help keep us at least the best team in Utah.

[Ma'ake]

Having talked directly to an offensive player, they're loving Erickson, this player raved about him. That wasn't the case with Chow in my experience

I was skeptical of hiring Erickson at the beginning, but I've heard enough inside information to have done a 180. He hasn't come in with a lot of ego, like he could have. He's been a heads up guy who has a ton of credibility, some excellent ideas, and is elevating both the offensive players and coaches.

The impression I get is that Dennis has his national championships, so he doesn't have anything to prove, professionally. (Chow had never been a head coach).

He just realized after getting a taste of retirement that he has more energy he'd like to devote to coaching, and retirement wasn't his thing, at least not now. Who knows how long he'll be at Utah, but the collaborative way he's interacted with the other coaches has been an investment, not to mention yielding immediate dividends in helping the offense rise above where they were.

Brian Johnson is a better coach because of last year, Dan Finn is definitely a very good coach, A-Rod is really good, and Jay Hill is solid, too. And they're all getting high-quality interaction and experience with Erickson around.

Mix in recruiting to address needs, some different chemistry among player leaders at critical positions, add Erickson as the guy who's seen everything there is to see in college ball, and I think the ingredients are there for the offense to rebound.

Hell, if we get to middle of the PAC in offensive stats, that's a vast improvement. The defense needs to develop on the line and in the secondary, but rarely in college football do you have very few new faces. That's the nature of college ball.

This could be an interesting year, hopefully with a return to a bowl. I'm getting stoked.