The real season can now begin. I am happy the Utes won. Moss is a stud. The OL improved as the game went on. Hopefully the two OL who left with injuries are not out for long. TE's need to block better. Huntley was efficient and funny. WR's need more opportunities over the next few weeks. We will need the passing game to be more productive and produce more chunk plays as the competition improves. DL was solid. LB's were flying around, but need to be a little more disciplined. DB's were good. Should have had two additional picks (one drop by Burgess and I think the other was Lloyd. My kingdom is small, but I would give it for a kicker.
May not? I'd love to have BYU's kicker and their TE.
I think it is hard to judge how good we will be on one game against our rival. The defense looked good, not much room for the WRs; but, BYU's receivers have last names like Milne and Romney so I'm not sure how much to read into that. The linebackers held up better than I thought they would. The best thing about last night/this morning was that we made Wilson look below average, and we know he's pretty good.
The one truly worrisome position (besides kicker) is offensive line. I saw two O-linemen leave with injury. That's not good for a thin unit.
I hope this comes through. Tell me if you can't see it. From the Wall Street Journal, College Football's Grid of Shame. Look where Utah sits:
The Wall Street Journal’s Grid of Shame is back, and there has been a lot of shame to calculate in college sports since the last time we convened.
The Grid helps fans determine how bad they should feel about feeling good about their favorite football team. It measures both how good major college football teams are on the gridiron, and how disgraceful they are off of it.
Each team’s location on the grid is determined by advanced numerical calculations and verified by the Journal’s resident sports nerds, who make sure a team’s location also reflects intangible factors that don’t come through in the data.
The Grid features only legitimate Football Bowl Subdivision contenders: each of the 64 schools in the five major conferences, plus a handful of other relevant programs. This season that included independent Notre Dame and the University of Central Florida, among others.
The horizontal axis is straightforward: the more dominant a team is expected to be on the field, the farther right they land. Each team’s ranking is a composite of several pre-season polls, some ordered by the eye tests, others by multivariable mathematical equations.
Things get interesting on the vertical axis, otherwise known as the shame meter. The lower a team falls the more ignominy it heaps upon its fanbase.
Shame is quantified using a weighted calculation of several football-related factors: academic performance, recent NCAA violations and probation, attendance figures, athletic-department subsidies and arrests of players and coaches.
There are some offenses so outside the lines, however, that they can’t quite be captured by numbers alone. That’s where the “ick factor” comes into play.
Any school involved in a scandal, regardless of whether it happened during the last calendar year or directly implicated the university’s football program, takes a hit. And with the non-stop headlines about college-sports scandals over the past year, there has been, if anything, an uptick in the number of teams moving lower on the shame axis. Enable a sexual predator for 20-plus years? You’re going down. Let students buy admission by posing as recruits? Take a trip south.
In the end, how you feel is dictated by where you sit on the Grid. The upper right quadrant means you’re a strong team that has come by your success respectably, like Washington—a perennial contender for the Pac-12 title with few violations or arrests. The upper left is home to the Boston Colleges of the world: teams that are indisputably bad, but their demerits come from losing games rather than breaking rules....
Last edited by LA Ute; 09-02-2019 at 11:30 PM.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Nope. I did see it somewhere recently though. Utah was up and to the right (where you want to be).
Here you go:
UTEgrid.jpg
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Last edited by Dwight Schr-Ute; 09-04-2019 at 05:02 PM.
It looks like the Twitter BBCode is broken.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I know it is hard to gauge too much after 2 games against opponents we should beat, but the Utes look like a top 25 team, but not a top 20 team. We again won’t learn much this week. USC looked pretty impressive after the first quarter and the fighting Leaches look to be in good form. We will know whether the Utes are a contender or pretender before October. I’m a little less optimistic than I was based on our play to date and USC’s. Their wins are probably better than our two wins.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Sounds like smart thinking to me, and well-designed to avoid serious disappointment. I've now seen several people say "Wow, we might have to worry about USC now," or silly words to that effect. I hope we finally beat USC at the Coliseum and I will be at that game, prepared to be wildly happy if we do win. But a win will be a significant accomplishment.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I typically will sandbag my expectations with Utah football, but I can't remember when Utah football had a better start, both games were essentially over at the start of the 4th quarter (not great opponents, but solid)
Offense - Huntley is playing terrific, hasn't been sacked yet, 0 turnovers, few penalties with 2 OL out
Defense - has been solid (gave up a few big plays on Sat, but shut them down in the 2nd half) with some key players missing time
Special Teams - kicking game is going to be a concern, but everything else looks good.
I smell Roses
Stanford is a mess internally right now. It's surprising from a Shaw team, but there's a lot going on there. Additionally, their D is very lacking athletically. They never should have been ranked.
By the way, even though he claims to be an SLC resident, apparently LA Ute is too cool to attend home openers now but he'll go to games in the Coliseum. You can take the man out of LA but you can't take the LA out of the man . . .
Last edited by LA Ute; 09-09-2019 at 01:11 PM.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell