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Thread: The Kyle Whittingham Thread

  1. #1
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    The Kyle Whittingham Thread

    Three months ago, the idea of Kyle being on the hot seat was to be entertained, but not taken too seriously. Back-to-back 5-7 seasons will do that to any coach. Most coaches with lesser resumes would have been fired.

    I would say since then Kyle's seat has gotten warmer. I have not been excited about the hits the program has taken as of late. We're losing mission kids, we're not making inroads in the state's top talent and our recruiting in California is no different than what it was when we were in the MWC; in fact, it may be worse (Recruiting geeks, please, make some arguments to the contrary). We just got a verbal from a kid whose lone FBS offer was San Jose State. I'm puzzled by this. If this recruit truly is all that, then we have to spend a lot of time fending off other schools -- and could lose him anyway (see: Huff, Josh; Henderson, Ryan). If he's not, he'll be there in February if we really want him. Shouldn't we be offering more polished prospects?

    I don't believe I'm falling victim to the star system -- our team ranking in recruiting with relation to our conference peers has pretty much been in line with our conference finish for over a decade -- we were one of the better recruiting MWC teams, we're easily one of the bottom four recruiting teams in the Pac-12. As much as I think "recruiting news" is an oxymoron on the individual level, Rivals and Scout are pretty good with making broader assessments at the team level.

    Much like Kyle delivered when everything was lined up in 2008, he's gotta bounce back when everyone is counting him out. We have never had a season under Kyle where we were being written off so far in advance. Kyle could use this to his advantage, but unlike the close calls last year, we need wins. I fully expect Kyle to be gone if we go 5-7 with Travis starting 10 or more games. If we have QB health issues again, the direction we go in becomes a much tougher call.

    Fortunately, if Travis starts 12, we win a minimum of 8. I still believe in Kyle, down as I am about the aforementioned issues. If we win, we'll recruit better. But we gotta get this turned around this year. If we get to 7 total wins, I think Kyle is safe. Anything less than that, even 6-7 with a bowl loss, is really dicey. This season would have to be exceptionally cruel for us to keep Kyle without going to a bowl. If DEFCON 5 is Lane Kiffin speaking with Pat Haden at the airport, it's safe to say Kyle's status is already at DEFCON 3 and rising. But damn, this team needs a shot of good mojo. Past Travis, we haven't had any in some time.

  2. #2
    I think I fall in the camp of folks (a shrinking group probably) that believes his seat is not nearly as warm as others might think. The national media still seems to really respect Kyle, and that to me is a better measure of how warm his seat might be, at least to my view, versus what the local media is pushing for or indicating. Plus, I totally buy into the money part of this thing and being "full members" along with the whole 4 full years thing he first noted when we moved to the conference.

    Short of the bottom completely falling out (which I would qualify as 2-3 wins), I think we have Kyle back next season...feels like he's earned the opportunity to turn this thing around.

    I agree with you that recruiting has been the toughest nut to crack here for Utah. In the past it seems like they could take a kid like this commit they just got and develop him into a nice player. These days the depth just doesn't exist on our team to be able to do that, so you're looking for more impact guys to go along with your established talents. Seems to me that they just haven't figured out how to balance going after top in-state talent, and bringing in guys from other states. I love the enroads we've made in states like Florida and Louisiana, but we need those guys to 1) Qualify, 2) Stick with the program, and 3) Breakthrough.

    As for this year, the schedule again is a gauntlet, but there are some opportunities to get wins early. A competent QB beats Wazzu last year, IMO, so I'm in the camp of those that believe we need a minimum of a 3-1 start in those first four.

    I agree with your comment on mojo...it felt like that was turning around with all the reports on Paul before he got hurt, so hopefully he can make it back to have an impact on the season.
    Last edited by DrumNFeather; 07-15-2014 at 07:40 AM.
    “It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”

    Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

  3. #3
    California recruiting has certainly not gotten worse since we joined the Pac - we used to recruit some real nobodies (Weddle, Smith, et al). It's actually pretty similar to what it used to be - we get kids that don't get offers at USC/UCLA/Stanford/Cal. In the MWC, we still had to compete with Colorado St, SDSU, SJSU for kids. Back in the day we went nuts if we beat Colorado for a recruit. Now we're pissed.

    I think recruiting has fundamentally changed in a number of areas, though.

    1. We don't recruit Texas as well as we used to. This is due to a lot of factors: other teams have figured out that Texas is a good place to recruit (Wisconsin, etc); we don't play at TCU every other year so we can't promise a "homecoming"; we don't have a stable of Texas kids that can welcome the new recruits.
    2. We can be successful with the second tier guys in Florida and Louisiana. In the MWC we had no chance with these guys - we'd lose anyone to FAMU.
    3. We have not improved in-state recruiting as much as I had hoped that we would. I thought that Pac-12 membership would really let us compete with mormon recruits who would have always chosen BYU in the past; and I think it has. I don't think we get Chase Hansen, Jake Murphy, etc if we're in the MWC. But we have been getting killled by other Pac-12 teams coming to Utah and using our old line of "we will play in front of your family and friends every other year, but you can get away from your hometown for college." I underestimated the recruiting advantage that our joining the Pac-12 would give to other Pac schools recruiting in Utah.
    Last edited by Applejack; 07-15-2014 at 09:07 AM.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Applejack View Post
    California recruiting has certainly not gotten worse since we joined the Pac - we used to recruit some real nobodies (Weddle, Smith, et al). It's actually pretty similar to what it used to be - we get kids that don't get offers at USC/UCLA/Stanford/Cal. In the MWC, we still had to compete with Colorado St, SDSU, SJSU for kids. Back in the day we went nuts if we beat Colorado for a recruit. Now we're pissed.

    I think recruiting has fundamentally changed in a number of areas, though.

    1. We don't recruit Texas as well as we used to. This is due to a lot of factors: other teams have figured out that Texas is a good place to recruit (Wisconsin, etc); we don't play at TCU every other year so we can't promise a "homecoming"; we don't have a stable of Texas kids that can welcome the new recruits.
    2. We can be successful with the second tier guys in Florida and Louisiana. In the MWC we had no chance with these guys - we'd lose anyone to FAMU.
    3. We have not improved in-state recruiting as much as I had hoped that we would. I thought that we Pac-12 membership would really let us compete with mormon recruits who would have always chosen BYU in the past; and I think it has. I don't think we get Chase Hansen, Jake Murphy, etc if we're in the MWC. But we have been getting killled by other Pac-12 teams coming to Utah and using our old line of "we will play in front of your family and friends every other year, but you can get away from your hometown for college." I underestimated the recruiting advantage that our joining the Pac-12 would give to other Pac schools recruiting in Utah.
    To your final point...

    I think the Gary Anderson factor is a part of that too. So now you have all the other Pac 12 schools plus Wisconsin that are actively recruiting the state of Utah, plus the BYU lifers. Makes for an interesting challenge for Whit & Co.

    I seem to remember (and this may be perceived and not real) that Utah would have a kid on their radar, make an offer, and then almost immediately other programs would swoop in and offer once the kid comitted to the Utes, so it just seems harder to hang on to some of those gems that we've had in the past.

    All that said, the coaches need to figure this one out. Having DE and DC here I think will help. Perhaps it is time to bring in a solid national recruiter on the defensive side of the ball as well.
    “It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”

    Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by DrumNFeather View Post
    To your final point...

    I think the Gary Anderson factor is a part of that too. So now you have all the other Pac 12 schools plus Wisconsin that are actively recruiting the state of Utah, plus the BYU lifers. Makes for an interesting challenge for Whit & Co.

    I seem to remember (and this may be perceived and not real) that Utah would have a kid on their radar, make an offer, and then almost immediately other programs would swoop in and offer once the kid comitted to the Utes, so it just seems harder to hang on to some of those gems that we've had in the past.

    All that said, the coaches need to figure this one out. Having DE and DC here I think will help. Perhaps it is time to bring in a solid national recruiter on the defensive side of the ball as well.
    I agree on Gary Andersen. I like the guy, but Wisconsin is my second most hated team now. I want them to lose and lose badly.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by SoCalPat View Post
    I'm puzzled by this. If this recruit truly is all that, then we have to spend a lot of time fending off other schools -- and could lose him anyway (see: Huff, Josh; Henderson, Ryan). If he's not, he'll be there in February if we really want him. Shouldn't we be offering more polished prospects?
    The idea here is to win points by being the first to offer. That QB who supposedly narrowed it down to USC and Utah (did he choose yet?) says it means a lot to him that Utah was his first offer. At the time we offered, I'm guessing he looked like any other unwanted 2 star kid.

    AJ is right - we aren't going to start landing 4 star kids out of CA. We are way too far down on the totem pole for that.

    As for the Utah kids, we all know that winning is the only way to keep them here. And Wisconsin losing.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Applejack View Post
    I agree on Gary Andersen. I like the guy, but Wisconsin is my second most hated team now. I want them to lose and lose badly.
    He's got it pretty easy too. Have you seen the schedules he gets to play against? They are only slightly tougher than BYUs. And they're getting easier with Maryland and Rutgers joining that watered down conference. He has 8 games built in to his schedule that the top 22 posters on this site could probably win.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    The idea here is to win points by being the first to offer. That QB who supposedly narrowed it down to USC and Utah (did he choose yet?) says it means a lot to him that Utah was his first offer. At the time we offered, I'm guessing he looked like any other unwanted 2 star kid.

    AJ is right - we aren't going to start landing 4 star kids out of CA. We are way too far down on the totem pole for that.

    As for the Utah kids, we all know that winning is the only way to keep them here. And Wisconsin losing.
    It also feels like we've been snake-bit a little on some of our bigger recruits. Who was the last four star that we signed that had a meaningful impact on the team? Feels like at least a few of those guys have either not panned out or have had to retire due to injury, or left due to homesickness etc...
    “It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”

    Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by DrumNFeather View Post
    It also feels like we've been snake-bit a little on some of our bigger recruits. Who was the last four star that we signed that had a meaningful impact on the team? Feels like at least a few of those guys have either not panned out or have had to retire due to injury, or left due to homesickness etc...
    I agree with snake-bittedness of our team, but that is a reflection of the lack of depth due to recruiting difficulties. Losing Kenneth Scott absolutely decimated our offense last year, but it shouldn't have. There should be other good receivers on the team.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    He's got it pretty easy too. Have you seen the schedules he gets to play against? They are only slightly tougher than BYUs. And they're getting easier with Maryland and Rutgers joining that watered down conference. He has 8 games built in to his schedule that the top 22 posters on this site could probably win.
    More ranting:

    How charismatic is this guy anyway? I understand that you like GA, kid, but is he really so much more likeable than Whitt, Riley, Sark, Graham, RichRod, etc that it's worth 4 years of your life in WI just to be his buddy? You are selling your soul - a chance to play in the greatest conference in the land - for a mess of frozen pottage.

  11. #11
    I have to agree with SoCalPat on this. The seat is increasingly getting hotter and hotter for Whitt. Pat makes a few good points that I have to agree with.

    One of the biggest disappointments that I have had is our inability to keep the best kids in the state home. This is one of the key things that Utah has to be successful at in order to compete in this conference. If we can't win the recruiting battles for the best local talent then how do we expect to win the talent that will help the program in other states.

    Right now, we are loosing to the likes of WAZZU, Oregon St, Colorado and Zona in recruiting battles in other states. These are battles that we have to win. I don't expect to be beating Oregon, UCLA, Stanford, USC and even ASU and UW right now. We still have a ways to go in order to be going head to head with those programs on kids. Right now we are beating MWC teams on kids. Outside of one or two kids that have come from the south, we aren't beating kids down there that have P5 offers as well. I judge kids by the offers they have. In the Mountain West we were able to find a few gems that didn't have any of those offers and they excelled up on the hill. To win in the PAC-12, we have to have bigger, better, more talented athletes. We need to win some of these battles, get them in the program and trust that our coaches can develop them even further. We need depth, and competition at all positions. We can't keep losing recruits to WAZZU, Oregon St., Colorado and Zona.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Applejack View Post
    I agree with snake-bittedness of our team, but that is a reflection of the lack of depth due to recruiting difficulties. Losing Kenneth Scott absolutely decimated our offense last year, but it shouldn't have. There should be other good receivers on the team.
    This probably pissed me off the most about last season. Kenneth Scott is good. Really good. His injury IMO cost us at least 2 wins. He makes that big of an impact on games. The fact that we didn't have some behind He and Dres to step in and be a player blew me away.

  13. #13
    Let's take a vote. If the Utes go 5-7 this year (very likely, in my esteemed opinion), does Kyle get shown the door? Not SHOULD he be fired, but WILL he?

    I say no. Hill gives him a one-year, bowl or bust ultimatum.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Applejack View Post
    Let's take a vote. If the Utes go 5-7 this year (very likely, in my esteemed opinion), does Kyle get shown the door? Not SHOULD he be fired, but WILL he?

    I say no. Hill gives him a one-year, bowl or bust ultimatum.
    I agree. Another 5-7 season and he is still here with a very hot seat.
    “It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”

    Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Hot Lunch View Post
    I have to agree with SoCalPat on this. The seat is increasingly getting hotter and hotter for Whitt. Pat makes a few good points that I have to agree with.
    There is no doubt the seat is getting hotter. The media and the fans control hot seat temperatures. Media will always be happy to fan the flames of a hot seat. And more and more fans are willing to roll the dice on a new coach. A couple of good hires in the conference lately have made us forget how common it is for a team in our position to make an unsuccessful hire.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by DrumNFeather View Post
    I agree. Another 5-7 season and he is still here with a very hot seat.
    I also agree. If Utah goes 5-7 and competes well then he gets one more year with (hopefully) some continuity at QB and OC for the first time in forever.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Applejack View Post
    Let's take a vote. If the Utes go 5-7 this year (very likely, in my esteemed opinion), does Kyle get shown the door?
    I vote No.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Applejack View Post
    Let's take a vote. If the Utes go 5-7 this year (very likely, in my esteemed opinion), does Kyle get shown the door? Not SHOULD he be fired, but WILL he?

    I say no. Hill gives him a one-year, bowl or bust ultimatum.
    Does it depend on the 5 wins? Does ISU, FSU, CU, WSU, and Arizona/OSU look different than ISU, FSU, Michigan, CU, and USC?

    Does it depend on injuries and other decent excuses?

    I don't know the answers. Firing a good coach takes a certain amount of mob mentality, and mobs are not known for rational thinking.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    Does it depend on the 5 wins? Does ISU, FSU, CU, WSU, and Arizona/OSU look different than ISU, FSU, Michigan, CU, and USC?

    Does it depend on injuries and other decent excuses?

    I don't know the answers. Firing a good coach takes a certain amount of mob mentality, and mobs are not known for rational thinking.
    I don't think it does, to be honest. If we miss a bowl game this year, no one will care if we beat Washington State and lost to USC or beat USC and lost to WSU. Sure, it was fun to beat Stanford last year, but no one is talking about that game as if it saved Whit's career.

    I personally think that Whit is a good coach, but I do think his position is precarious if we don't get six wins this year. And I think it will be very hard to get six given our schedule/linebackers.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Applejack View Post
    Let's take a vote. If the Utes go 5-7 this year (very likely, in my esteemed opinion), does Kyle get shown the door? Not SHOULD he be fired, but WILL he?

    I say no. Hill gives him a one-year, bowl or bust ultimatum.
    If Travis starts 12 games and is top 5-6 at his position in the league, I don't think an argument exists in keeping him unless you're willing to let his past influence the decision.

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Applejack View Post
    Let's take a vote. If the Utes go 5-7 this year (very likely, in my esteemed opinion), does Kyle get shown the door? Not SHOULD he be fired, but WILL he?

    I say no. Hill gives him a one-year, bowl or bust ultimatum.
    ...
    Last edited by crazyute; 07-15-2014 at 02:38 PM.

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by SoCalPat View Post
    If Travis starts 12 games and is top 5-6 at his position in the league
    Pac-12 preseason QB power ranking

    1) Mariota
    2) Hundley
    3) Kelley
    4) Mannion
    5) Halliday
    6) Hogan
    7) Wilson
    8) Goff
    9) Kessler
    10) Miles
    11) Liufau
    12) Arizona QB

    Funny thing, if we were in the SEC, Wilson would probably be top 3 this season. Outside of Marshall, there's nobody down south to get excited about this preseason.

  23. #23
    As much as everyone considers Whit an Urban protege, he really isn't. He only coached under Pope Urban for two years. Whitt's real mentor is Rascally Ron McBride. In a lot of ways, the Utah program is still the one that Mac developed.



    Ways in which Whittingham is like McBride:

    - It often takes all year to identify the best running back on the team. Crazy Ron used to drive me crazy with his RB rotations. Just this week Whit moved Booker into a co-starting role with Poole. I like Poole, but it's been clear since Q1 of the Idaho State game that Booker has a different gear. It also took Whit until the Fiesta Bowl to figure out that Matt Asiata was NFL material and Darrell Mack was not.
    - Recruit offensive players for defense. Ronny Mac should have patented this move. It seemed like he just recruited running backs, and then flipped most of them to DB or LB. Domo is Whit's latest greatest flip.
    - Quarterback issues.Mike Fouts. T.D. Croshaw. Tommy Grady. Jon Hays. I could go on.

    Ways in which Whttingham is not like McBride:


    - He has kickers. Mac's teams always lost a game or two a year because we forgot to have a kicker (St. Daniel Pulsipher excluded). Whit has done a pretty good job of having good kickers/punters on his teams.
    - He got rid of the Daffy. Mac loved screwball formations and plays, and they rarely worked. I think one thing that Whit learned from Urban is to use trickery sparingly and surprisingly.
    - His teams are more disciplined. We still get penalized a lot, but its usually for pass intereference, something our man coverage forces us to do at times. Mac's teams used to get enough brain-dead personal fouls and late hits to give a young fan the shakes.

  24. #24
    I disagree. Booker, for example, has fumbling issues. He has shown he won't fumble, so he has moved up. Whitt wanted Booker to be our #1 and has said so since January. Booker needs to hold onto the ball.

    2 - recruiting offense then moving them. Disagree again. In the MWC, Whitt went after HS QB's because they were athletes. A 2 star athletic QB had 4 star safety potential. He wasn't getting 4 star safeties in the MWC. But he knew he could develop one. So he did.

    As far as in the PAC-12, who have they recruited then switched? Hatfield? Hatfield was a two way player in HS and an amazing defensive player. Our WR's are deep this year. This just worked out better for Utah and Hatfield.

    As far as QB issues go, it's not from a lack of effort. It's more bad luck. In the MWC, you can't have more than 1 QB. The only reason you received a QB was so he could play right away. Wynn getting hurt killed us.

    After Whitt's first year in the PAC-12, he signed Wilson and Hansen. The next year was Cox, Manning, Thomas. The next year he brought in Thompson, Thompson, Isom.

    So, the QB issue is more MWC team playing BCS football than QB issues. The QB "issue" is more impatience with fans than anything Whitt is doing wrong.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Applejack View Post
    As much as everyone considers Whit an Urban protege, he really isn't. He only coached under Pope Urban for two years. Whitt's real mentor is Rascally Ron McBride. In a lot of ways, the Utah program is still the one that Mac developed.
    I have always felt that Whittingham is 70% Mac, 20% Urban, 10% Edwards. Yes. Saint LaVell.

    It wasn't just kickers that Urban brought, but the overall emphasis on special teams, something that continues today. For example, Mac never used a scholarship for a deep snapper. This is something brought to the program by Urban that has been continued by Whittingham.

    The one maddening thing that Whittingham does that Mac did was the "play not to lose" mentality when ahead. I loved the killer mentality Urban brought. Although, that may just be more of a psychological makeup than anything. Meyer has a bit of that "Riverboat Gambler" mentality that neither Whittingham or Mac has.

    But that tough, gritty, smashmouth football Kyle is defined by is most certainly influenced by his dad foremost, followed by Mac.

    I think that Kyle has a much more even emotional keel than either Mac or Urban had. I think that comes from Edwards.

  26. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Utah View Post
    I disagree. Booker, for example, has fumbling issues. He has shown he won't fumble, so he has moved up. Whitt wanted Booker to be our #1 and has said so since January. Booker needs to hold onto the ball.
    Fumbling is the quickest way down the depth chart for a RB, but a close second is screwing up pass protection and getting your QB killed.

    Poole has been in the program for a year and, consequently, he is better at the pass protection. This is a much more difficult thing for us fans to gauge since we are not aware of the pass protection calls and what the RB's responsibility is on any given play.

  27. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by U-Ute View Post
    The one maddening thing that Whittingham does that Mac did was the "play not to lose" mentality when ahead. I loved the killer mentality Urban brought. Although, that may just be more of a psychological makeup than anything. Meyer has a bit of that "Riverboat Gambler" mentality that neither Whittingham or Mac has.

    But that tough, gritty, smashmouth football Kyle is defined by is most certainly influenced by his dad foremost, followed by Mac.
    Urban's "killer instinct" was possible because he had superior teams capable of scoring at will. Against more even competition in the SEC and Big10, Urban has had to go conservative many times. Good coaches have to be able to assess the situation. Whittingham has no issue with running up the score when he can. But when he's barely clinging to life against a better team, his QB and TE are injured, and his line can't buy more than a half second of protection, he has to consider trying to run out the clock.

  28. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Utah View Post
    2 - recruiting offense then moving them. Disagree again. In the MWC, Whitt went after HS QB's because they were athletes. A 2 star athletic QB had 4 star safety potential. He wasn't getting 4 star safeties in the MWC. But he knew he could develop one. So he did.

    As far as in the PAC-12, who have they recruited then switched? Hatfield? Hatfield was a two way player in HS and an amazing defensive player. Our WR's are deep this year. This just worked out better for Utah and Hatfield.
    Charles Henderson (all-Lousiana WR)
    Brian Blechen (QB)
    Tavaris Williams (played both ways in HS but was all-state RB)
    Marcus Williams (played both ways in HS but was all-state WR)
    Brian Allen (if he really does switch to DB)
    Nate Orchard (all-state WR, although everyone recruited him for defense)
    Daniel Nielsen (played O-line his freshman year)
    Greg Reese (TE at junior college)
    Marcus Sanders-Williams (RB)
    Wallace Gonzalez (did not play DE for the Astros)

  29. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    Urban's "killer instinct" was possible because he had superior teams capable of scoring at will. Against more even competition in the SEC and Big10, Urban has had to go conservative many times. Good coaches have to be able to assess the situation. Whittingham has no issue with running up the score when he can. But when he's barely clinging to life against a better team, his QB and TE are injured, and his line can't buy more than a half second of protection, he has to consider trying to run out the clock.
    I agree that Whit's and McBride's teams both have been maddening at times in the 4th Quarter (ASU 2013 anyone?). But that's because the teams are always built on defense first, offense dead last. I think that sort of team plays to Utah's recruiting strengths, but it also gives me gray hairs.

  30. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    Urban's "killer instinct" was possible because he had superior teams capable of scoring at will. Against more even competition in the SEC and Big10, Urban has had to go conservative many times. Good coaches have to be able to assess the situation. Whittingham has no issue with running up the score when he can. But when he's barely clinging to life against a better team, his QB and TE are injured, and his line can't buy more than a half second of protection, he has to consider trying to run out the clock.
    I agree 100%. Whitt has played not to lose because his QB was a walkon or an underclassman. I think we see a completely different mentality this year with two JR QB's.

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