(Red) The beat down in cow town...

Yes Utah lost. I would say not a surprise this is TCUs year. I'm not ashamed to lost to a top 5 team. After all when they go to the BCS that will be more money for the conference and in 2 of the 4 years of the BCS evaluation period the MWC will have 2 bcs teams, Utah (08) and TCU (09). But to the game. Overall the thing that makes me the most sick was the special teams. Jay Hill, the special teams coach, should be suspended for the way special teams played tonight. Granted Utah probably doesn't win tonight anyway but the special teams put the rest of a team in a hole. There was a fumble on a kick off, a blocked punt, a punt returned to the 30 yard line, a couple botched returned kick offs that put the offense in a hole. I would say the special teams were directly responsible for at least 21 points for TCU tonight. The defense, despite the bad numbers, I think played ok at best. They gave up a few big runs but overall the TCU offense only had a couple sustained drives of big yardage. I'd say TCU earned 28 points on offense tonight on good drives. They way they did it was different than i expected too. Dalton didn't overwhelm me tonight. The game plan for him was swing passes and thats about it. Some missed tackles helped those plays out a lot. I still think he is an average qb. The running backs did a great job later in the game when the defense was tired. They would use the speed of utah against them and misdirect the running plays to get the momentum moving one way and coming back the other, a lot of plays utah used to beat TCU within the last 3 years. And offensively I think it was ok there as well given the quality of TCUs defense. I think Utah scored the most points on them this year, 28. Wynn had a bad INT for a TD but it was a freshman mistake locking in on the wide out. He made some ballsy plays however, a great rollout and improv throw to DeVonte Christopher. Some great throws to david Reed. Overall I thought he played rather well given the situation. The play calling I wasn't a huge fan of outside of one drive well the calls were mixed well with run and passes of various kinds. I think we should have went to Reed more often. Time after time Reed got behind their corners, no one for the rest of the year will be able to guard Reed, period. I thought they abandoned the run for a little to long to. Yeah it wasn't working very well but still you need to still run the ball to keep the D honest.
It is what it is. We lost. Only for the 2nd time in 2 years. So I'm ok with it overall, just a couple small things could have made this a much closer game and thats the frustrating part. I think Utahs speed matched up well with them just to many mistakes. over 100 yards penalties. most on defense too. We have them in a 3rd and 10 and get an offsides and turn it into 3rd and short. With all that being said Utah needs to get up off the mat now and move on to SDSU. I don't think Utah loses again this year. But they need to worry about SDSU and take care of business there, get some confidence back and they will be in great shape. This teams youth will build upon a loss like this. It should make them hungrier for the next meeting with the Frogs next year... back in Rice-Eccles Stadium.

And WTF happened in Albuquerque?  BYU almost losing to UNM, a winless UNM. I didn't watch the game but wow. BYU is vulnerable right now going into Air Force not to mention the match up at the end of the season with Utah. I think there is reason to be concerned in Provo. If there wasn't already.

(Red) Bowl eligible again, and the beat down in P-Town.

If you lose the time of possession battle almost 2 to 1. They have 10+ more first downs than you. More yards, and you lose the turnover battle you lose right? Wrong. Utah lost every statistical category against the Air Force Academy except 2. Passing yards (which is a given) and the most important stat of all, score. The first Utah overtime game since the 2005 Holy War was a weird game to say the least. On the first possession Eddie Wide grabbed a Cain fumble and ran it in for a TD, and Joe Phillips shanked the following PAT. Who would have known that would have a huge impact on the game. AFA only offensive TD came on an 11 yard field after a muffed punt, so the D played great. They gave up 200 yards of rushing but it was on 75 carries, so the yards per carry was very small. And David Reed once again proved he was the best wide out in the MWC. He took a 10 yard slant pattern 90 yards for a TD to change all the momentum of the game. Utah was definitely their own worst enemy in this game. Putting the ball on the ground 6 times (only losing 2) and having drive altering penalties (3rd and 1 and 2s turning into 3rd and longs with false starts). AFA holding onto the ball for extended periods of time doesn't help either. When OT came however the offense got it together and moved the ball into the end zone without any issue. And shutting down AFA on a short field in OT is a great accomplishment as well. So throw out the stats with these 2 teams just take the score.

As for the beat down in P-Town, let's say I am not surprised. I thought I would give them the benefit of the doubt since it was home and I thought they would lose by 10 but watching the game it is apparent BYU is a long ways off from where they want to be, and they won't be getting close anytime soon. BYUs defense is bad, no other way to put it. They thought they got better from last year but I was skeptical. FSU, TCU, and SDSU for that matter exposed them for what they are. A bad secondary, possibly worse than last year and a D line that can't apply pressure as well as a coaching staff that remains stubborn and refuses to accept the obvious. And it is also obvious their offense is not as good as previous years. They have no wide receiver threats. TCU took out the tight ends and their passing game was all but done, not to mention Max Hall can not handle pressure... at all. It is so obvious that without Austin Collie this team has no go to wide out. Sure McKay Jacobson is good and all but he is not a #1 wideout for most teams, he can beat you deep from time to time but he doesn't put fear into a defense. O'Neil Chambers is a poor wide out right now as well. Their running game is strong with Unga but without those wide outs they will be in trouble. And their O line is gelling well but Max Hall has been running around a lot more this year than ever. TCU was in the back field regularly as was FSU, OU, and any other team with athletic lineman. Right now BYU is the 3rd best team in the conference. Even behind Utah, even if Blue hates to admit it. As long as BYU has a bad D and a offense that has Max Hall and not to mention a bad special teams, they are #3 right now. And as of right now I would say yes TCU probably beats Utah in Fort Worth. But I doubt they will get "KILLED" like my compadre pointed out. Utah has speed that can keep up with TCU. You will not see Utah getting beat around the edges and deep like what happened to BYU. Ya I would put them as 14 point dogs right now but thats not bad. If Utah corrects the issues they have right now, turnovers, they will put up a hell of a fight. And although Cain has had a problem with fumbling the ball as of late, he still only has 5 INTs on the season, so he is careful and calculated with his passes. And one other factor why Utah is better than BYU right now and why they can keep it close to TCU, Kyle Whittingham. He is a much better coach than Bronco Mendenhall right now, especially in big games. And since TCU has joined the conference he is 3-1 against the Frogs, so he can get the team up and scheme very well. And truth of the matter is he has pretty much out coached Bronco in every rivalry game since they have been coaching, just those 2 years no doubt BYU had either more talent or was much more healthy. And the way Robert Anae/Jamie Hill calls plays I think it is fair to put them at #3 right now. So much for when BYU has a senior QB they win conference titles, and it appears the mystic of LaVell Edwards Stadium is gone, at least as long as BYU has SWGS (slow white guy syndrome).

(Blue) Well, there goes the neighborhood...

We lost. We lost on all fronts. Defense, offense, special teams. But guess what, I feel fine. First of all, they were the better team. I think they had better coaching schemes, faster and better athletes, and better focus. That's not to diss our coaches, athletes, and focus, but the results tell the story.
I think we are better than Utah, we shall see. But I KNOW that TCU is going to kill them in Texas. The reason why I am so non plussed by the loss is this: BCS. TCU jumped Boise and I hate Boise, so thats good. Additionally, they will best represent the MW nationally. And also, there is more money to be gleaned this way.
For our game, we have no secondary, and our corners are just sad. Play calling was craptastic in certain situations, and we couldn't get anything rolling on offense because TCU's defense got to Hall all the time. All of our glaring weaknesses were exploited and there were no lucky breaks in penalties or turnovers to keep things even. So thats it.
UofU and Air Force. AFA has always given Utah problems. I'm not surprised at this game. Good job for pulling out a close one.
Next week. BYE(Thank goodness)