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Tuesday, October 2. 2012

Red, Blue And Pigskin

This week is arguably the most important week of the 2012 season for all three teams collectively. Utah has a serious gut check game against one of 's royalty, even if the bloom has fallen off the rose from pre-season expectations of the game. Meanwhile, in Provo, the Beehive Boot is up for grabs for the Aggies when they travel to play BYU.

All three teams will also be done with their week before the weekend even gets here.Enter The Trojans

No this won't be the first time USC has played in Salt Lake City. The University of Utah hosted the Trojan way back in 1917. Safe to say it's a different era.

The Utes will host the Trojans, Thursday, for the first time in the modern era, and for the first time as Conference Mates. Last season the Utes hung tough with the Men of Troy in the Coliseum, before falling to a blocked field goal on the final play of the game.

This year the Utes come into the game licking their wounds after being destroyed by Arizona State two Saturdays ago. The Utes were on a bye last week, to right some wrongs, and to rest some injuries. However, the Trojans also were on a bye last week.

What Can The Utes Do

The Trojans of course come in with the probably #1 overall pick in the next draft with QB Matt Barkley. They also have two probable first round Wide Receivers in Robert Woods, and Marqise Lee, as well as the jewel of the Penn State poaching aftermath in running back Silas Redd.

Defensively the Trojans also have stars led by Safety TJ McDonald.

Truth is I could go on and on, about how the Trojan starting lineup is clearly superior to the Utes. What the Trojans don't have is depth.

This may already be an issue as Center Khaled Holmes is questionable for the game. It was Holmes' injury in the Stanford game, that cause massive issues for the Trojans in the only loss of the season.

About the only position group the Utes can match up on, is the Defensive Line, thanks largely to Star Lotulelei and the Kruger brothers. However with defensive end Joe Kruger questionable, the bright spot for the Utes may be dimmer.

Speaking of injuries the Utes will be with Eric Rowe for the first time since the USU game.

The Gameplan

Since we know the Utes are deficient in most positions on the field, for them to have a chance to win the game, will require a lot of pressure on this coaching staff. Specifically on offense. So far this season the Utes have been without an offensive identity. Now would be a great time for them to find it.

The Utes will need Kelvin York to run with the same violence he showed in the ASU game. Offensive Coordinator must feed the rock to whichever running back is being the most effective, even if that means taking carries away from Wolfman John White IV.

Speaking of White, hopefully he'll be healed up from his ankle injury after the bye.

As for the QB, Hays must get the ball out of his hands quickly. The Utes offensive line, is just shy of terrible. The Utes will also have two freshman starting on the right side of the line. Tackle Jeremiah Poutasi has been starting since the BYU game, while Siasi Aiono will get his first start at right guard. Expect the Utes to move the pocket frequently, as Hays rolls to the right. Even while rolling, it will be important for Hays to have an internal clock to tell him to get the ball out quickly.

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Finally the Utes must have creativity. The bubble passes to Dunn in the flat will not work against this Trojan defense. What Utah must do is adopt a gameplan similar to what they used in 2009 with Terrance Cain. Use the screens. Use slants. Run the ball with White/York, and when the Trojans sneak up, go over the top.

If the Defensive Line can play to their potential, and the Secondary can prevent the mental mistakes they showed against ASU, the defense can keep the team in the game for a while, but the offense must take advantage of opportunities, or the defense will wear down.

P.S.

When Wilson comes into the game, call a freaking pass play.

Gut-Check

This game is a season defining game for the Utes. Was the game against ASU simply a case of overlooking the Sun Devils after the intense emotion of the rivalry game the week before? Or are the Utes simply a terrible team, who is outclassed in the Pac-12 can cannot handle the speed of the next level with their current talent level?

Utes don't necessarily have to win this game to save the season, but they must compete. They must be in this game late. After the Trojans the season doesn't get much easier, as the Utes still have 4 games against currently top 25 teams still to play. If the Utes come out and show fire, and show heart, than the outlook for the rest of the season improves greatly. If, however, they come out and show like they did against the Sun Devils, than you can expect Utah football players to be home for the holidays for the first time since 2002.

This is the type of game that Whittingham and the Utes made their name off of from 2004-2010. Utes being the scrappy underdog against the high powered, highly touted foe. This was the type of team Utah could shock on their way to racking up the most wins against BCS teams by a non BCS team.

However that magic has been missing since the Blackout game of 2010. It's time to see if this year's squad has heart. Do they have any of their former magic left?

Escaping Reality

They say a visit to the Hawai'i islands is a great way to escape ones reality. Last weekend it turned out that a visit from the football team of the Hawai'i Islands was a great way for the BYU Cougars to escape their reality for a while. Gone were the troubles of an anemic offense wasting fantastic defensive performances. Gone were bonehead coaching decisions costing the team games. Gone were Riley Nelson fumbling and throwing interceptions.

Well the last one was because Riley Nelson was gone. At least for that game. Apparently not healthy enough to start, so the Cougars gave the nod to freshman who performed well against the Rainbow Warriors. While Hill wasn't all that great in the passing game, he led a Cougar offense that was fueled by a potent rushing attack that ran for 396 yards.

While that's an amazing performance there is a little equation to put the performance into context. What do you get when you take the 119th ranked rush defense and then subtract two starting defensive tackles? The answer is 396 yards rushing.

While the numbers for the Cougar run game are astounding it is important to remember who it was against. There was some bad news for the Cougars though, as starting running back Michael Alisa broke his arm and will be gone for a few weeks.

QB Controversy Brewing

Now Bronco is left with a difficult decision to make. Riley Nelson or Taysom Hill. After the game Bronco said Riley is his guy if healthy. The question is, should he be?

It's a tough choice.

Taysom Hill may be getting all the publicity right now, but the truth of the matter is we don't know what the Cougars have in him.

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With Riley Nelson we know his absolute ceiling.

Rushing wise Hill seems to be faster than a healthy Nelson. Passing wise neither has been impressive. We know Riley is a one read huck it and pray QB. With Hill we haven't seen enough to know. In both games (against Hawaii and 4th quarter against Boise State), Hill was merely adequate passing the ball.

Nelson seems to be a bit more reckless with the ball. That recklesness has killed BYU at times, and saved BYU at times. Meanwhile Hill seems to be a little to conservative with the ball, bypassing a throw to run it.

Nelson has experience in big games. None of it is good experience, but he's at least experienced it. Hill however has not.

If you're concern is for this season, truthfully it's a push. The difference between the two is negligible, however Hill will be here after the season, whereas Riley will be done. However, one can understand why, between the two, when Riley is healthy, Bronco is likely to go with Nelson.

Beehive Boot

The decision will play big starting this Friday, when the Coguars begin a brutal stretch of their season by hosting the Utah State Aggies. The Aggies have a chance to outright win the Beehive Boot for the first time 1982. (Two wins since then have been by media vote due to ties between two or more of the in state teams.)

This will be an interesting matchup. The Aggies upset BYU two years ago at home, and then lost a heart breaker in the game that ended the Jake Heaps era last season. The two teams are also very similar in their style of play.

Breakdown

Since this is a rivalry game, we're going to do a rivalry game breakdown. However it won't be as in depth as the Holy War breakdown. Instead we're going to compare QB's, and the Matchup of USU Offense vs BYU Defense, and BYU Offense vs USU Defense, as well as some X-Factors.

Quarterbacks

Aggie QB Chucky Keeton is the best in the state. He's a dual threat qb, who has seemed to be unfazed by hostile environments so far in his career. Keeton is a bit of an escape artist, who throughout this season has shown a knack to escape from sacks and make plays.

We went through the BYU QB situation earlier.

One thing that is really nice for both teams as far as game planning goes, is No matter who plays QB for the Cougars, both teams will have a similar QB. Usually it's difficult for teams to gameplan against mobile QB's such as Keeton, or Nelson/Hill. However for both these defense, they simply need to practice against their normal QB.

Advantage: USU

Utah State's Offense vs. BYU's Defense

BYU's Defense two weeks ago played out of it's mind. It followed that up with another strong effort against Hawai'i. However earlier in the year, and early in the Boise State game, the defense showed a propensity to have holes in it's coverage.

Utah State's offense is a very run heavy offense, which plays into BYU's strength. However, the Cougars have not played a team yet this year with an offense as potent as the Aggies. Especially when it comes to running the ball. In the passing game, the Aggies rely on a zone/read type of attack, that relies on quick slants, and looks mainly to take advantage of overly eager defenders biting on the running game.

If BYU can shut down the Aggie run attack, they're defense should be able to bait Keeton into making mistakes. The Cougars are currently 4th nationally in scoring defense. The one area that could hurt BYU is they are an active, attacking defense. If Keeton can make them miss, or get them to bite on the zone/read it could be a tough night.

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Advantage: BYU

BYU's Offense vs. Utah State's Defense

Gary Anderson has brought with him to Logan the same defensive mentality he learned during his time at Utah. The Aggies also play an aggressive attacking style defense, that is anchored by it's defensive line. The Aggies currently rank 18th overall in scoring defense.

On Offense, despite the breakout against the Rainbow Warriors, the Cougars are still a big question mark. Questions about the passing game, and the QB aside, it will be interesting to see if last week's running break out was the Cougars turning the corner, or a result of a porous opposing defense.

The Cougars have been forced to become more of an option team due to qb issues, and at times completely forgets to call straight up running plays. With Alisa gone, Doman's tendency to abandon the running game, especially if the game gets tight, could become even more pronounced, and that puts a lot of shoulders on the passing game.

Advantage: USU

X-Factors

BYU is home and desperately wants to prove that it's struggles of earlier this season are behind them. If Riley Nelson plays he will also be extremely fired up for this game due to his history with the Aggies.

The Aggies meanwhile still remember Riley's 11 second miracle from last season where they had victory snatched from them. Also as much as Utah State reveled in beating Utah earlier, their hatred for the color stealing Cougars is unmatched.

Advantage: Push

Final Thoughts

Thanks to early season struggles by both BYU and Utah, the Aggies have been pronounced the unofficial best team in the state by fans, and media, both locally and national. This is the Aggies chance to prove they've earned it. It's also a chance for the Aggies to prove they've grown from last year's oh so many close calls.

The Cougars have struggled against a Boise State and Utah team who both have shown to be down from recent years. A win against the Aggies will greatly help the Cougars as they prepare for a rough stretch of games, before ending the season against 3 dog opponents.

Season Definitions

Are the Aggies the best team in the state, and ready to flip the long written script in Utah, or are they still just a little brother who gets pesky once in a while but still needs to know their place?

Is Utah a team that struggled with inconsistencies because they lack talent to match up, or are their struggles mostly mental and can be fixed allowing them to be a factor in the Pac-12 south?

Is BYU an offensively inept team, or have they finally found the answer to turn this team around? Can they actually turn in a legitimate good season, or will they end up being a fraud with a good record once again?

Is there any good football to be played in this state, or is it all just terrible and we should focus on high school?

This pre-weekend will go a long way to clarifying some of the answers.

Posted by Sideshow in Red, Blue And Pigskin at 16:38

I disagree in calling this game a rivalry game. In my mind, you can only have 1 rival. The aggies have pushed this to be a rivalry game because they need a rival. They hate BYU and I understand that. But to me at least, they are still just a little brother that annoys and every now and then wins. When the aggies are playing on Saturdays, I will cheer for them and hope they win. However my experience has been that they don't reciprocate this feeling. I don't know why that is, other than their fans are pushing it too far (like they do in basketball). There is a fine line between being passionate, creative, die-hard and being hateful, spiteful, and classless.

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Should be an interesting game. (Oh and USC is only favored by like 12? Grab them!)Comment (1) Anonymous on Oct 2 2012, 17:04

It's a rivalry. Not a main rivalry, but still a rivalry. BYU fans validated the rivalry by rushing the field last year. You're right though it is definitely more on USU side than BYU, and boy they do hate BYU. I know it goes back to when BYU, Utah, and USU were in the same conference (I believe it was the Rocky Mountain Conference, or something like that). When BYU and Utah left to join the WAC, they left USU behind, and BYU seems to get the blame for it. USU says that it was BYU who blocked their move to the conference. BYU And Utah Excelled, USU bottomed out. So the hatred grew. The Hatred only got worse when BYU landed the lineage of one of USU's greatest players (Merlin Olson's nephew Hans). Of course to make matters worse, the the Aggies really took a slight when BYU decided to ditch their old traditional blue and stole the Aggie Blue as their team colors. As far as crazy vegas lines, I agree that USC -12 is surprisingly low, but to me the safer bet, and the smarter bet is definitely USU +10. That is just a stupidly ridiculous line.Comment (1) Anonymous on Oct 2 2012, 22:15

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