Hello,
At 7:15MST tonight BYU and Utah will resume their annual battle, known as The Holy War. The game tonight is at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. I always feel a bit conflicted when this game is played. On one hand I've been cheering for BYU as long as I've been following football. But on the other hand I'm a proud alumnus of Utah, I couldn't get into BYU because my grades weren't good enough. I didn't blame them for that, my poor grades were my fault. Although I will be conflicted, when it comes down to it I'll be cheering for BYU to destroy the Utes. Not so much against them, but against all the hype that the Pac 12 has received locally. The hype is so nauseating, especially as a football conference the Pac 12 is meh.
To show how fluid a person's allegiance can change, the three main decision makers on Utah's football coaching staffs all have extensive BYU ties. Kyle Whittingham used to play at BYU and his father spent several years there as well. Norm Chow was the offensive coordinator for several years at BYU, he was Lavell Edwards right hand man. (I can't wait to see his offensive packages when his former employer UCLA comes to town.) And defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake was a stud defender for BYU. He also has one of my favorite names to say.
ANYWAY tonight's game should be a classic. Although Utah is a member of the supposedly superior Pac 12 conference both teams should be evenly matched. The Cougars have home field advantage, but that hasn't really mattered for several years in this rivalry. They are two teams that have a lot of similarities. Both teams have defensive minded head coaches, Whittingham and Bronco Mendenhall. So no one should be very shocked that the defenses are the best parts of both teams. Both teams also have struggling quarterbacks that are under performing the hype they came into the season with.
Utah quarterback junior Jordan Wynn had off season shoulder surgery for his throwing arm. Earlier in the year, it was reported that he had fully recovered, many of his passes would indicate otherwise. His balls look like ducks and I'm not sure why he has had so few intercepted. And on BYU's side is heralded sophomore quarterback Jake Heaps. He has a fairly good offensive line in front of him and he usually throws the ball on a tight spiral. However I can't quite put my finger on what he and BYU's offense is missing. (Brandon Doman you are the man, but I wish you would stop calling that damn fade route, I don't remember that ever working at BYU. As Bill Simmons pointed out in his ESPN column yesterday, the fade has 4 results but only one of them is good.) The quarterback that wins the position battle, it's more likely their team will win the game.
Honestly BYU should be 2-0 coming off of victories over SEC team Ole Miss and Big 12 Texas on the road. BYU plays Pac 12 Utah today. After playing 2-0 UCF next Saturday in Provo, BYU will close out the season with a string of cream puffs. Their schedule from week 5 on is so bad, it's embarrassing. That is except for the always tough TCU team. Their match up against Oregon State doesn't look so exciting after OSU's two ugly losses. OSU gets a bye today, although their first two weeks should also count as byes. Oregon State then welcomes UCLA on the 24th in what may be the least exciting Pac 12 game of the season.
So anyway who is going to win today's game? I'm not going to make a prediction as I can see this game potentially playing out in so many ways. I think it will be a close game. If one of the teams offenses get in gear I would give that team the edge. But that doesn't mean you should discount the defenses either. Utah had 3 takeaways against USC last week. And the main reason BYU has a victory this season is because Kyle Van Noy forced a fumble which was returned for a touchdown. Also you never can discount the special teams, especially with the threat of rain for tonight's game. Both kickers have been shaky, not exactly inspiring a lot of confidence in me.
Other college football games of note. The big game of the day is #5 Florida State vs. #1 Oklahoma, the game is being played in Tallahassee. FSU is trying to regain their former preeminence in college football. They also have the revenge factor on their side, as Oklahoma handled them fairly easily last year. Also I'll be loudly cheering for #15 Michigan State to go into South Bend and knock off the Irish. A loss would send the Fighting Irish crashing to 0-3. I'm waiting for Brian Kelly to get so mad, his head will explode during a game. Future potential coaches of Notre Dame, start polishing up your resumes. I have a feeling there will be an opening in the next couple of years. Who's going to be their next alleged football savior?
Idaho goes on the road to play #9 Texas A&M, A&M you should be ashamed of yourself for playing such a wimpy team. What kind of school would schedule such a lightweight? Wait what's that BYU is playing Idaho later this year? Um. After UCF BYU should be giving out cream puffs to their fans entering their stadium.
I'm also predicting that the Pac 12 will suffer at least one or two more out of conference black eyes. The 2-0 Huskies go on the road to play 2-0 and # 11 Nebraska. By manhandling the Huskies today, the Pac 12 will continue to show how overrated their conference is. Another Pac 12 non-conference black eye for the Pac 12 is when Texas beats UCLA in LA. While Brian Kelly's job isn't even in trouble as of yet, it's only a matter of time before Rick Neuheisel gets fired. After losing today the Bruins will be in ruins and 1-2 on the season. I'm not sure their win over SJSU should even count as a victory, it's quite possible SJSU won't get a victory this season. (SJSU, yet another cream puff BYU will be playing today.) I'm looking forward to watching the Utes destroy the Bruins later on this season. The Ruins would be a better name for UCLA as that will be representative of the game they play against Utah. Will Neuheisel still be UCLA's coach when they visit Utah? Another potential final black eye for the Pac 12 is Colorado could lose to MWC Colorado St. today. If that game is on the MTN, don't expect to be able to see it, as I think the Mtn is now in about 12 homes. Not that many people will be making an effort to do so. It will be a good thing when the MWC and the MTN both dissolve in a couple of years.
themusicaddict
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