The Wildcats came to play football tonight.
The game was completely overshadowed by Georgia @ Alabama which I personally thought was a very poorly played game and Texas does stand out to me as the best team in the Nation by a lot more after today (FOR ME). I think the Big10 looks a lot stronger at the top than the SEC at the moment.
The Score was 3-0 for a long time. A lot of plays happened that will go unsung by the Nation.
The Pundits may not even boost us much due to Utah's QB situation
However, we did score on Utah's Defense
We did turn it around from the "Massacre in Manhattan" as I am coining it.
Difficulty level - 6.5 out of 10. Would have been 8.5 had the QB scenario been better.
Will we see back to back performances? I don't know. BYU has done well vs UofA in the past.
The Big12 looks a lot like the Pac12 to me in terms of teams devouring each other. The silver lining is "Someone" has to win the Conference. This is a Big Win. It cannot be understated. A Big12 Conference Champion will most likely be defined by consistency this season. So I ask everyone here... Why not us?
If we stack wins on the road (@BYU next) ---> That would be a "Win Streak". I think that there is very little reason to believe we cannot win our slate. This was a big hurdle. We cleared it.
Brennan's job now ---> Do not allow Arizona to feel themselves. We are Shit. We are Maggots. Like I said, the Bye Week needed to resemble that of Basic Training. Wake up at the Bugle, go to sleep at Taps.
There is no Swagger necessary right now. Build on what I have long said this team needs to work on, which is The Run Game. Check my receipts.
We have what is known as a "Stable" of Running Backs. We can have a primary in Conley, but we should be running at least 7-12 times with 2 other backs in every game. Why you say? Because we have an O-Line.
Noah is a capable "Passer-backer", but he is not someone we need to drop back 30-50 times per game especially in a game we are controlling in the trenches.
Use the resources we have available intelligently.
Tmac, Tacario, Manu, the Right Tackle who I can't type out... They are all 1st and 2nd round prospects.
However, don't forget about our Tight Ends. A QB's best friend. Burnett has stepped up in my opinion. He garners more targets. Hyatt is maybe our only other "big WR" besides T-Mac. We do have Montana "Mt." Lemon-ious Craig, but I am dumbfounded as to why he is not more involved.
A win is a win, until it's not. No Complacency will be tolerated. @BYU will be tough. Colorado is as disrespectful as ever. I don't want to say they are a bad team, but there was no reason for them to be 14 point underdogs today. UCF garners nothing that makes me think that would have been the case. "Curious" lines are going to happen. However, we are going to be defined by keeping our heads down and playing Football. Not playing the hype, the social media, the betting lines.
A week from now I hope to be validated in my theory that establishing the Run is going to be a major catalyst in how we intend to write the story of this season and portray this University as a "Football School" going forward along with a Basketball School ---> Which is suspect at the moment because the Big12 Basketball Conference is a whole different animal that I don't know if Tommy prepared properly for yet.
But this is Football Season...until it's not.
Well played game tonight, but keep the perspective. Utah was not offensively up for the task tonight.
Onward and Up
Beardown.
Yes, Speedy Luke and Reescano should be more involved in the running game. Conley is good but doesn't have the strength or speed to beat Big-12 defenses without a gaping hole from our O-Line.
Don't discount the Utah O-Line, in addition to guys like Bernard, Singer and Kuithe. The Utes won't lose many more games and this was a brutal environment for our boys to steal a road win.
Hopefully, our offense can build confidence and play to our potential because the defense was good (despite the fact that we were lucky to play against a true freshman QB last night).
Looking forward to the rest of the conference schedule. As Arx mentioned, this league is up for grabs and we need some help from schools like KSU to lose bad games, in addition to beating the "easier" schools like Houston.
Great win last night.
I agree with the thoughts above. It was a great win, all things considered, and we'll see where the team goes from here.
I feel a lot of our struggles were due to coaching, and it was the coaching that played a big part in the improved play last night. The players also looked more focused and played with purpose.
Running game was big. When we infused a good run game with the shorter pass plays, we really clicked. I think Reescano is a star in the making. He reminds me of a mix of DJ and Jonah. Conley is a decent back ala Ontiwaun Carter (lite).
My only wonder is why it took four games to figure thinhgs out. However, I'm glad, at least for a game so far, we did. Hopefully, this is the turn in the season like the year we went to Miami and nearly pulled off one of the greatest upsets ever.