# So, who's girlfriend has the most warts....discuss



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Well, with football season about done for the Cougs and Utes, its time to count 'em up loyal fans. Here is what I know after 11 games:

-Aggies Rock. On their way to a ten win season, the last WAC champion, and a bowl game. Best team in the State. First time being ranked in 50 years! And Aggie Fans - you disappoint me big time. You have the best show in the state and outside the Utah and UNLV games - your support of your team has been pathetic. Best season in team history and you ought to be selling out your 25,000 seat stadium. Just the students should be filling that stadium up! With that kind of support, Anderson will be walking another sideline sooner than you might think. And that would suck because he has done amazing things with a young team. Every reason to think they will do as well in the MWC next year.

-Cougars. Another year of coulda shoulda woulda. Nelson has all the heart, and no arm. Jamal Williams and Ziggy are the bright spots. 7-5 finish, with the San Diego bowl game. Beat bad teams, was in position to win every game except Oregon State, but just failed to deliver. NFL talent at WR and on Defense - D2 talent at QB = losing games they should have won. Encouraged for next year with Taysom Hill at QB and the return of Jamal Williams - both reasons to be optimistic for next year.

-Utes. Solid defense with some very good, NFL players. Finish with 3rd strong QB? Tough when the first two are not D1 talent. Wilson is learning and is a bright spot. Injuries suck and hurt, but I'm not sure the record would be any different. The BYU game means a WHOLE lot more to Utah now, than it did before the season. That win was the ONLY bright spot of the season. Is Utah back to "at least we beat BYU"? That certainly is all there is this year. Next year is going to be even tougher - trading out Cal and Oregon State for Stanford and Oregon. Wilson is reason to be optimistic. Others?


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Actually, Gfish, you covered things pretty well. Here's my take.


1. Utah; Unlike Ute teams of the past, I would say that this crew in some respects underachieved. While their defense wasn't truly bad, they did get gashed in a number of games (ASU,Washington, USC) and incessantly failed to make the big tackle or commit a dumb penalty that could have changed the outcome of others (UCLA, OSU, Arizona, USU). So I would say this bunch defensively was way overrated. Even Lotoleilei didn't seem to have the impact one would expect from a top 5 pick in the NFL draft. As for the offense, they were for the most part mediocre and didn't have as stout of a D behind them as last year to save them from their inadequacies. Wilson may be a good spread QB in time, but I'm not sold on him yet. He still looks like he shot puts the ball when he throws it. We lose several key player to graduation. I expect about the same next year. 

2. BYU; Using your girlfriend analogy, the cougs reminded me of an attractive girl (or boy if you are of that persuasion) that looks good from a distance, but when you get close up, has terrible BO. The cougs BO was their offense, that stank. If you guys had a typical BYU offense this year, you may have been 10-2 or 11-1. And to use the analogy a bit farther, the girl with BO mistakenly thinks that she can mask the odor by applying a bad perfume that makes everyone sick. That is Bronco Mendenhall insisting on starting Riley the whole year even as he struggled, had his back mangled and had his ribs smashed up. If I was a cougarfan, for the first time, I would feel that Bronco bears direct responsibility for his teams failings and should feel at least a little bit of a hot seat. 

3. USU; Hats off to them! My wife is a USU grad, and as my old bishop used to tell me before I got married, when shes happy, you are happy. I was able to help her be a "true aggie" this year. (Aggie grads know to what this refers).


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I like where you took the girlfriend thing with BYU. Dead on correct. Reminds me of a girl I went out with once when I was a student! ;-)


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## HighNDry (Dec 26, 2007)

I think both of you are correct. I wouldn't be surprised if some big money and bigger opportunities come knocking for coach Anderson. In a round-a-bout way, I think Utah's program lost some luster when Anderson left for Aggieland. I think it has shown the weakness of Whittingham as a head coach--and that is part of Utah's problem. I predict that Utah will be a mediocre team in the PAC 12 for at least a decade.

BYU--big problem with the offensive coordinator. I think he puts too much emphasis on heart and scramble. My suspicion is that he convinced Mendenhall that Riley was the best option. Yes, the final say is with the head coach, but Mendenhall tries to give his assistance the authority to make decisions within the realm of their position. It looked like the San Jose State team knew what play BYU was running before they ran it. BYU seems to think Vince Lombardi's quote stops at that first statement, "Winning isn't everything." I would hate to be Riley. Hopefully, his ego will continue to allow him to feel good about himself because he might possibly go down as the worst QB the Y ever played. Hopefully, he's just a blip on the radar screen and they can get some decent QBs lined up for the future. Maybe Riley can come out with a book to help supplement him in the coming years. "I had Heart, but no Arm. The confessions of a mediocre QB," or "Riley's Believe it or not. How I played Division 1 Football with High School Talent." The only four teams he has beat have horrible records. His record shows he was unable to compete at the level necessary to beat top 25 teams. I would send Doman packing with Riley after this year. A decent field goal kicker will do wonders for BYU too.

Anyway, just my thoughts.


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