Posts Tagged ‘Utah’
P.S.R. 1-120: Week 6 Re-Ranking
By Paul Myerberg // Oct 3, 2011
With the weekend in the books, here’s a look at how the country ranks — using the original rankings as the starting point, with the season’s results as rationale for any movement. The top 25 teams land a one-sentence breakdown. The rest? Not so much. Part of the perks of being one of the best. Think your team is too low? Feel another team deserves more credit, less credit? Let’s hear it below. It’s a delicate ranking process, particularly with only a month in the books, but things are growing clearer.
Tags: Alabama, Boise State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, L.S.U., Michigan State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford, T.C.U., Texas A&M, Utah, Washington State, Weekly rankings, Wisconsin
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The Search for Answers in Provo
By Paul Myerberg // Sep 19, 2011
The promise of the future is alive everywhere, but promise in Memphis, for example, is different than promise in Provo, for example. At the former, promise means fewer embarrassments: fewer 50-point losses, less attrition, fewer calls for the coach’s head, fewer of all those things that has turned Memphis into the worst football program in the country. Promise in Provo means more: more of the wins, more of the accolades, more of the acclaim, more of all those things that has made B.Y.U. into the football program it is today. What promise doesn’t hold — what you can never expect — is for the Cougars to play so terribly, suffering one painful loss and then, on Saturday, the sort of defeat that can derail an entire season.
Tags: B.Y.U., Jake Heaps, John White IV, Utah
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Ten Themes for Saturday: Week 3
By Paul Myerberg // Sep 17, 2011
Ten teams, themes, games and players to watch on Saturday. Pretty straightforward. And here we go:
Oh, it’s you It’s a three-game series, and that may be normal for the Mariners and the Royals but it’s extremely uncommon for two teams from different conferences to meet three times in 12 months, such as Washington and Nebraska are set to do this afternoon. Game one: Nebraska domination. Game two: Washington domination, this time in the Holiday Bowl. Game three takes place in Lincoln, not on the West Coast, and the Huskies are decided underdogs. Which makes very little sense to me, as while U.W. hasn’t been overly impressive — last week’s win over Hawaii was nice, to be fair — the Cornhuskers have not played up to expectations. In last winter’s Holiday Bowl, Washington controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Based on the way Nebraska played the run against Fresno State and the health and experience of its offensive front, we may see a repeat from the Huskies. And if that does occur, they’ll take the three-game set. Maybe it’ll be four, should the Cornhuskers and Huskies meet in the Rose Bowl.
Tags: B.Y.U., Big East, Boise State, Case McCoy, G.J. Kinne, Jacory Harris, Jarrett Lee, Les Miles. L.S.U., Navy, Nebraska, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Tyler Bray, Utah, Washington, Washington State
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No. 27: Utah
By Paul Myerberg // Aug 7, 2011
Underdogs come in all shapes and sizes, varying shades of gray where true underdog status depends solely on the eye of the beholder. Take Utah, for instance. Were the Utes underdogs on a national stage prior to this season? Yes. But were the Utes considered underdogs by a New Mexico or Wyoming, two teams Utah took behind the Mountain West woodshed on a yearly basis? I don’t think so. Again, whether you’re an underdog depends on where you’re standing. Are the Utes underdogs now that they’ve cashed in with the Pac-12? Not to Boise State, Hawaii, Tulsa or Houston: Utah’s now part of the machine. But are the Utes underdogs in the Pac-12? Absolutely. From underdog to underdog, depending on your point of view. So perhaps that hasn’t changed for Utah, though seemingly everything else has.
Tags: Brian Blechen, Dave Kruger, DeVonte Christopher, Dres Anderson, Harvey Langi, Jordan Wynn, Keith McGill, Kyle Whittingham, Norm Chow, Pac-12, Star Lotulelei, Thretton Palamo, Tony Bergstrom, Utah
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A Conference Title Weekend What-If
By Paul Myerberg // Jul 22, 2011
Arizona State is the de facto favorite, based on the number of returning starters, the way the team ended last season and the thought that after three years of scuffling along the time is now for Dennis Erickson and the Sun Devils. Arizona was briefly counted out but is now back in, seeing that wide receiver Juron Criner is back in the fold following a brief scare. Utah’s the new guy, the unknown with a sterling resume of success at one of college football’s non-B.C.S. conference levels. Then there’s U.S.C.: you remember the Trojans, right?
Tags: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Pac-12, Stanford, U.C.L.A., U.S.C., Utah
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Non-Conference to Watch: 1-7
By Paul Myerberg // Mar 30, 2011
Happiness is: seeing Alabama fans in New York City for the N.I.T. semifinals and having an impromptu conversation about their quarterback situation while waiting for the light to change. Happiness is not: another day, another college football controversy – from the Fiesta Bowl to Auburn’s alleged involvement in a play-for-pay scenario. Happiness is: ignoring the off-field negativity and focusing on a September non-conference schedule packed with intrigue of the positive variety. Can the L.S.U. defense slow down LaMichael James and Oregon? Can Boise State win in Georgia’s backyard? Here are first seven of 15 – not just 10, but 15 – non-conference games to ponder over the season’s first month.
Tags: 2011 schedule, Alabama, B.Y.U., Boise State, Florida State, Georgia, L.S.U., Miami (Fla.), Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Texas, Utah
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Utah’s Brave New World On Offense
By Paul Myerberg // Mar 29, 2011
There’s snow on the ground, but that won’t stop the Utes. Utahans have a word for snow in late March and April: spring. So cold, wet or otherwise, new offensive coordinator Norm Chow rolls out the West Coast offense, tutoring quarterback Jordan Wynn on the intricacies of the play-action pass as he recovers from surgery, while as a team, Utah prepares for a significant step up the prestige ladder. In that way, this spring — with or without the ever-present snow — is different than all the others.
Tags: Jordan Wynn, Kyle Whittingham, Norm Chow, Urban Meyer, Utah
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The Shakeup Nears a Conclusion
By Paul Myerberg // Jan 24, 2011
After weeks of innuendo, it was nice to hear Rick Neuheisel finally come out and make a statement about the future of the U.C.L.A. offense. It might not have been the words we were waiting to hear, though his comments did shed some light on what most close to the program had long attested: the Bruins had big names, but the lack of communication and clearly defined roles among the offensive coaching staff led to the sizable dysfunction that waylaid U.C.L.A.’s rebuilding plans. Now, with a new coordinator in place, Neuheisel will become “more hands-on in the area of play calling,” which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your level of faith in the fourth-year coach.
Tags: Mike Johnson, Norm Chow, Randy Shannon, Rick Neuheisel, U.C.L.A., Utah
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