Utah vs. CSU Summary (Wyoming Preview)

UTAH UTES
VS
WYOMING COWBOYS

Date & Time: 1:30 PM MT, November 10, 2007
TV: CSTV
Radio: Kall 700
Location: Rice Eccles Stadium, SLC, UT
All-time series: Utah leads series 47-31-1
Last meeting: 2006, Wyoming 31-15

Tailgate: We'll be having some rootin', tootin' home- made Cowboy Chili. We'll have bread bowls, for those who want just chili, and we'll have hot dogs for those who want chili dogs. We'll be meeting at 11 am so that we can go to the Ute Walk, and then we'll get cooking. Please RSVP if you plan to come. We have people bringing chili, cheese, and sour cream. But we still need people to bring drinks, bread bowls, and some sort of desert. If you can't make it to the tailgate - that's fine. But everybody must go to the game on Saturday. We need a sold-out crowd that game. The Utes can win out, and you don't want to miss seeing a strong finish to a very memorable season.

Week in Review: Well, CSU was probably the best 1-6 team in the NCAA. That was probably a true statement by Coach Whittingham. But you can put a lipstick on a pig, and it's still a pig, and the truth is that CSU is now 1-8, and teams that are 1-8 are not good teams.
That being said, nobody should dismiss Utah's win in Fort Collins because it was a big win. Not only is it always a big deal to come out of Fort Collins with a "W" (Utah had only done it twice in fourteen years), but Utah won in a very convincing fashion - 27-3. And it wasn't just the score that was lopsided. Utah held CSU to zero touchdowns (they were averaging 24 ppg going into that game), they held them to 1-12 on third down conversions, and they held them to 135 rushing yards. Meanwhile, Utah put up 470 yards of offense and 330 yards of rushing yards. Yes, even though this Ram team is not the typical Sonny Lubick-type of Ram team, the way in which Utah won was very impressive, and should have made any Utah fan very optimistic about the remainder of Utah's season.

My top three highlights from the CSU game:
3. The first touchdown of the game. This was huge, because it was on the first drive of the game. Utah has scored on their first drive in three straight games (going back to Louisville). But not only that, it was a screen pass to a seldom-used Ray Stowers, who fought hard to get into the endzone. It was a foreshadowing of bigger things to come from Stowers - who ended up finishing the game with 123 rushing yards and 2 TDs.

2. A few of the defensive highlights: Steve's pick in the first half was a huge pick, because that was about the point where Sonny lost confidence in Hanie (they replaced him in the second half). But I also loved Fotu's sack - where he didn't tackle the QB. He brought him down by plowing over the O-lineman into Hanie. Impressive.

1. And my favorite highlight of the game didn't take place on the field. It took place in the stands at Hughes Stadium. In the fourth quarter, a drunk, obnoxious CSU fan, wearing a replica jersey, a joker hat, and giant green and yellow mardi gras beads starting yelling at Randy Lewis (the guy who does the U-T-A-H cheers at all of the games), and charged towards him to knock him off the wall. Suddenly, the guy gets leveled - wrapped up and tackled to the ground. By who? By Wynn Tate. After the game, the word had spread down to Chris Hill and Coach Whit. Even Coach Anderson got in on the action by telling Mr. Tate that he'd see if he could find an open scholarship next year to sign him - based on what he heard about the tackle. Classic moment that we'll be hearing about for years.

What to expect this week: Wyoming is now just playing to become bowl eligible. They've lost three conference games (and three games in a row), and they have no realistic shot at even a shared MWC title. But don't dismiss the desire to give the lovely town of Laramie a bowl eligible football team. Cowboy Joe's Wyoming squad will be prepared for this game, and they will be playing with everything they have, so don't expect them to keel over and die. The Cowboys may not look like a good team, if you base it off their past three games. But this is a team that beat a top 20 Virginia team at Virginia by three touchdowns - holding the Cavaliers to just a field goal in a 23-3 victory. Wyoming has the potential to play like the best team in the MWC. Their strengths are their defense. They actually have the #1 defense in the MWC this season (in terms of total yardage given up). In fact, they're sixth in the nation, giving up just 287 yards per game. That's very good. Fortunately, this season, Utah is just a better team than Wyoming. They are more athletic and, believe it or not, are much more consistent. At least since Brian Johnson has been back as the starter and they've found a reliable running game.

Here's why Utah will win this week:
1. Utah's defense. Utah's scoring D is ranked 13th in the NCAA, giving up just over 17 ppg. Utah has been playing much more aggressively on D. We're seeing aggressive and unpredictable play-calling - with blitz packages from every angle on the D and stunting at the line. This has caused confusion from every opposing team, and has led to the most sacks in the MWC in the past four games and the most turn-overs recovered in the MWC in the past four games. In addition, the Utes are giving up just over 74 rushing ypg in the past four games - as opposed to nearly 160 ypg in the first three games.
Just like the game plan vs. CSU, Utah should again stack the box and not let Wyoming's good tandem running backs beat them, and let Sween beat them through the air with as much pressure as possible constantly coming at him.

2. Wyoming's Offense. While Utah's D is good, it's should make for an even more productive day for the defense considering that they are not facing an offensive juggernaut. Wyoming is averaging just 349 ypg - which is last in the MWC. The Cowboys are also averaging only 21 points per game - which is second to last in the MWC. They do have two very talented backs, and that is why they're the third best rushing team in the MWC, but Utah's D should be able to contain them well enough. The key will be getting pressure on Sween to force him into making stupid mistakes - which he has been very prone to do. He has been replaced game-time in two different games, so even the coaches are lacking confidence in him. And with 12 INTs thrown so far this year, Utah should have some luck in getting one or tow this game.

3. Whit's proven ability to prepare. Whittingham is 2-0 when coming off byes. However, if you include bowl games - which are pretty much four consecutive bye weeks - he's 4-0 as a head coach. And the numbers don't tell the whole story. Even as a Defensive Coordinator, Kyle Whittingham was always known for putting together a very thorough game plan when he had time to prepare. This bye week will help the Utes - not only to help give time to some dinged-up players (like Brian Johnson's shoulder, Freddy Brown's concussion, Braden Godfrey's back, Mack's ankle), but also to give Kyle an extra week to put together a solid plan. Last year was an embarassment to Kyle and his coaching staff, and he will want to make a statement from the beginning. Look for a very strong start for the Utes.

A Conference Championship? It seemed like an impossible thought just a few weeks ago. But the Utes have a very good shot at sharing a MWC title this year. To help the Utes, we need TCU to pound the little kitties down south on Thursday night. And even though I hope for a BYU defeat every week, I actually think that TCU is the team to give us what we all want. This TCU team is now playing like the team everybody thought they'd be pre-season. Tommy Blake is back, and he has brought some energy back to the defense. Not only did they beat the league's top-scoring offense on Saturday, but they shut them out 37-0. And not only did they shut them out, but they held them to 28 rushing yards and 78 passing yards for the entire game. They killed them. TCU has the athletes to give BYU fits, as long as they don't commit stupid turn-overs. Look for the Horned Frogs to get to Hall often and force a few fumbles. If we're lucky, maybe we can see this QB cry after the game. Go Horned Frogs!
My pick: Utah 27, Wyoming 13


Next week: New Mexico at Utah @ 3:30 pm.