# Utah v USU - BYU v Boise St



## BigT

What are the outcomes this week? I don't want to be overconfident in Utah over USU, but USU looked terrible against SUU. I think USU is much better than that.... I think! Still, Utah should have no trouble with USU. I think USU has a tough time with Utah's rushing attack and may fail to score another offensive touchdown. Utah should handle the Aggies. But, it's a rivalry...

As for byu, Boise St is getting them at a good time. After coming off an emotional win like they did, losing Hill, and having absolutely no rushing attack, Boise may come away with a W here. Tanner Mangum looked decent no doubt, but teams will scheme him now. I expect Mangum will have some growing pains over the next few weeks. He may have a higher pitch count than some major league pitchers if they can't develop some resemblance of a running game. I think Boise wins a lower scoring game for these two. 

This is the BEST time of year! Hunting and football...


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## Springville Shooter

I think Utah kills the Aggies and Boise kills BYU.....all emotion aside.-----SS


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## LostLouisianian

I think that the U will win and so will BYU. While I was pulling for BSU I don't think Washington played a good game or is as strong a team as BYU early on in the season. I do however expect it to be a very competitive game. If USU stinks it up like they did this past weekend it will be a blowout.


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## GaryFish

Utah State is in Trouble against Utah. Won't be close. Utah looked FAR better against a much better opponent in week 1. Utah by 3? 4? touchdowns?

As for Boise State at BYU - Home field is everything to BSU, and the game is in Provo. The loss of Hill is big - but Mangum is no slouch. Sure, the hail mary, as all hail mary passes at the end of the game, was a fluke. But exciting enough to unify a team behind a freshman. Mangum is a top recruit though. Before his mission, he was co-MVP of that fancy dancy QB camp - with Jameis Winston. The kid has serious talent. And for added intrigue, he is from Boise. Hmmmm. But BSU is on the road, and doesn't have the emotion of facing their former coach that dumped them for U-Dub. BYU by a score.


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## Catherder

To answer the question, Utah wins over the Aggies in a 7-10 point game. USU's offense won't be able to score effectively, but the AG's D will keep it respectable. Boise will win by about 3 points. If the cougs had Taysom, they would have beaten Boise,........but they don't. That reality will now set in for the cougs.


Speaking of which, what are you cougarfans emotions right now after Saturdays game? Awesome and thrilling win for you guys, but man, what a stomach punch afterwards to lose Taysom in the first game like that?


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## GaryFish

Exactly right Catherder. Losing Hill is a HUGE deal. If Williams were playing this year at RB, it would be different because he could pick up slack in the running game. That'll be tough. But Mangum is a seriously talented kid and I think will perform really well. Not the dual threat, but under Anea, BYU has done better with drop back guys than with runners. Max Hall produced far more wins than Nelson or Hill have under Anea. I think Mangum can do that. 

Now all that said, my expectations for BYU are quite different than some Cougar Fans. I don't see them competing for a title, and even in a conference, a team has to win their conference title game for a shot at the play-off (just ask Baylor and TCU). When you accept that, then the expectation is for a competitive team, that wins more than it loses, and plays a variety of opponents all around the country. So they'll deliver that. 

The end of the Nebraska game was a GREAT moment and one that will be put in all the program highlight reels going forward. And it should. But like Detmer's win over Miami 25 years ago is well remembered, the loss at Oregon two weeks later is much forgotten. But for now, BYU is 1-0, after beating a team that only scheduled them because they thought they would beat them. And that is a sweet thing.


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## captain

As a die hard Aggie fan I would like to see my Aggies beat Utah, but don't see it as a reality. However, I do think the Aggies Defense is stout, and will not allow Utah to score as much as many think. I'm guessing that Utah Wins by two touch downs, and our offense doesn't score a touchdown. We will get a few field goals though as a result of the Defense giving us good field position. 

I believe that BYU will loose. Sure, Mangum threw a great touchdown pass, but he was just lobbing the ball up there and his receivers were making plays on the balls. Mangum will throw at least 3 interceptions in the Boise State game, and the turn overs will make the difference. I say Boise by 7.


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## willfish4food

My expectations mirror Gary's. I don't expect BYU to ever make the playoffs, but, selfishly, I'm glad that I get to see a lot of their games and even get to go to some when they come to the Southeast. 

losing Taysom is indeed a huge blow to the BYU offense, but I liked what I saw with Mangum. When he came in for those three plays in the second quarter and permanently in the fourth, he did NOT look like a freshman. No real nervousness or jitters that were readily apparent and it looked like he commanded the offense well. 

To add another concern, I'm not sure how much of the success in Nebraska's second half run game can be attributed to adjustments and how much is because Tuiloma was out of the game at nose guard. Seemed like he had the middle shut down and when he went out of the game Nebraska's run really opened up.


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## GaryFish

Don't you just LOVE college football?


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## MuscleWhitefish

I think week one allows fans to be over-reactive.

I remember last year, when the 2-2 Aggies were three touchdown underdogs to #18 Undefeated BYU...and won 35-20.

Homer Pick: USU 17 @ Utah 14

Real Pick USU 21 @ Utah 24

I pick BYU to lose every game, so I guess I have to root for BSU (Even though Ada County has the worst drivers in the nation)


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## hunting777

GaryFish said:


> Don't you just LOVE college football?


I love college football, it is so much more interesting / exciting to watch than the NFL.

For my Picks:

I love the Aggies, but I don't think week is going to be pretty. I See the Aggies defense holding up strong, but they are going to wear down due to the offense not doing anything. I hope the Aggies have worked out their O line issues. I think that if they tried a different QB would help as well. I see the score to be around 34-13 for the Utes, but I would love nothing more to be wrong. GO AGGIES!!!!!

For the BYU game I can see it being a close game again. I really think that the Cougars are going to pull off another win.


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## LostLouisianian

One thing is certain, if the cougs win this weekend their fans will be talking national championship playoffs again....seems to work that way every season....LOL


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## GaryFish

LostLouisianian said:


> One thing is certain, if the cougs win this weekend their fans will be talking national championship playoffs again....seems to work that way every season....LOL


I really hope not. Even if they go undefeated, and win every game soundly, they will not be in the play-off. Just not going to happen. A second SEC team will get in before a non P5 team gets in. With 4 of the P5 conferences having conference championship games, that really is the first round of the play-off. And the Big-12 needs to realize that. Even so, a Big 12 conference champ will be in before an undefeated BYU team. Much as I LOVE my Cougars, as a college football fan, ONLY the champs of the four main conferences should be in the play-off. Period. But what do I know? Don't answer that.


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## High Desert Elk

BigT said:


> ...but USU looked terrible against SUU...


What makes this even worse is I went to USU and my niece goes to SUU...-O,-


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## BigT

MuscleWhitefish said:


> I think week one allows fans to be over-reactive.
> 
> I remember last year, when the 2-2 Aggies were three touchdown underdogs to #18 Undefeated BYU...and won 35-20.
> 
> Homer Pick: USU 17 @ Utah 14
> 
> Real Pick USU 21 @ Utah 24
> 
> I pick BYU to lose every game, so I guess I have to root for BSU (Even though Ada County has the worst drivers in the nation)


I think if the Utah / USU game stays this close, it's because of turnovers by Utah. I honestly don't see any circumstance that USU finds 21 points unless their defense scores a couple times.

This is not to say that the real Chuckie Keeton stands up and show's Utah who he has been. But I have the score more on the lines of 31-10, and thats a Real Homer pick. If USU can't move the ball like against SUU, the score could really get a lot worse as their defense wears out (Utah / BYU 2011). Time will tell!

I don't think Boise is as good as they were last year, but they can play some ball up there. It doesn't matter where they play with those guys. It's the perfect week to play BYU coming off an emotional win in the way they won. I got Boise in this one 24-17.


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## willfish4food

LostLouisianian said:


> One thing is certain, if the cougs win this weekend their fans will be talking national championship playoffs again....seems to work that way every season....LOL


Only the obnoxious fans.

For BYU to have even a glimmer of a chance at the playoffs, they'd have to have beaten Nebraska by a good margin and blow out every team they play from here on. AND the more respected programs on their schedule would have to prove to be good this year.


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## LostLouisianian

High Desert Elk said:


> What makes this even worse is I went to USU and my niece goes to SUU...-O,-


If you think that's bad, our whole family went to LSU including dad. My oldest brother's daughter did as well and then she up and married some jackwagon that went to Ala-frickin-BAMA. I didn't attend the wedding. He is not welcomed during football season unless he is rooting for LSU. Needless to say he won't be around my brothers home during the LSU Bama game. He is from Louisiana but attended bama on a baseball scholarship since he wasn't anywhere near being good enough to make the LSU baseball team. He had to agree before the wedding that the kids would not attend bama but would attend LSU.


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## Rspeters

LostLouisianian said:


> One thing is certain, if the cougs win this weekend their fans will be talking national championship playoffs again....seems to work that way every season....LOL


That's going to be the case for at least some fans of any team who starts off 2-0 against quality opponents. I'm a BYU fan and I can say for sure that even if they kill Boise (not that I'm expecting that), I won't be "talking national championship playoffs".


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## Catherder

LostLouisianian said:


> One thing is certain, if the cougs win this weekend their fans will be talking national championship playoffs again....seems to work that way every season....LOL


You can bet on this. Sports talk radio will be insufferably lit up with this chatter.

Now, I can't believe I'm saying this, being a proud Utefan and all, but now I'm going to disagree with you guys a bit. *If* the cougs were to truly go undefeated, I think they would indeed get consideration for the playoffs. They would have beaten a top Pac 12 contender(UCLA), a solid SEC divisional contender in Missouri, one of, if not the best "group of 5" school in Boise, 2 middling big 10 teams, (Nebraska and Michigan, and a couple more teams like Cincinnati and Utah State, that aren't really chopped liver either. Of course it all would depend on how many losses the other power 5 champions have and other factors, but you better believe they would be in the conversation.

Now, do I believe they have any shot in the world at pulling it off, especially with Taysom out? *Heck no*.


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## willfish4food

Catherder said:


> You can bet on this. Sports talk radio will be insufferably lit up with this chatter.
> 
> Now, I can't believe I'm saying this, being a proud Utefan and all, but now I'm going to disagree with you guys a bit. *If* the cougs were to truly go undefeated, I think they would indeed get consideration for the playoffs. They would have beaten a top Pac 12 contender(UCLA), a solid SEC divisional contender in Missouri, one of, if not the best "group of 5" school in Boise, 2 middling big 10 teams, (Nebraska and Michigan, and a couple more teams like Cincinnati and Utah State, that aren't really chopped liver either. Of course it all would depend on how many losses the other power 5 champions have and other factors, but you better believe they would be in the conversation.
> 
> Now, do I believe they have any shot in the world at pulling it off, especially with Taysom out? *Heck no*.


BYU has a good schedule for sure. So, *IF *BYU could go undefeated, you're right that they'd be in the conversation. But that doesn't mean they would get a chance. Again look at TCU last year. For BYU to have a chance this year they'd have to go CONVINCINGLY undefeated AND there would have to be multiple screw ups in at least 2 of the three P5 conferences. IMO


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## GaryFish

That is all fine and good. But even with all of that - why should they get in before one of the four teams that win their conference championship game? Why should a Big 12 team get in either, based on the same argument? And if they bump one of the teams that win their conference championship, it will be in favor of the Big 12 champion with a loss, over an undefeated BYU team. Sure, BYU has some strong games this year, all on the road, but they also have 5 crap games too. That is still more crap games than Big 12 teams, or an SEC runner up. 

Part of the conversation? Sure. Any chance they get in? No way. But it would give the talking radio heads something to talk about. And no fans like to be martyrs like BYU fans. Except maybe BSU fans. BSU whining is just a different shade of blue.


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## BigT

First off, history has shown with BYU that they start buying into themselves. As soon as they do that, they lose. IE, the number of times I had to watch fans throw tortilla shells onto the field after their opening weekend game, the quest for perfection, etc...

Boise wasn't impressive against Washington. Washington is supposed to be down this year. Hill carved Nebraska apart by himself before leaving the game. Outside of Hills rushing yards, they basically got 37 yards from their running backs. This isn't good. Any coach in the country will tell you that the first thing you want to do is to make your opposition one dimensional. This is fine when you're playing teams without a pulse... IE UCONN, Wagner, San Jose St, and likely Fresno St. But when you're playing physical talented teams such as Boise, UCLA, Michigan, Missouri, and even Cinci, you're going to get into some trouble. 

If BYU can't develop a rushing attack, they will get beat by Boise, UCLA, Michigan, Cincinnati, and Missouri. Those 3 and outs where you have 3 incomplete passes are brutal on the defense. No rest at all. Look at Utah those two down years. Awesome defenses, but the offense couldn't move the ball. Utah kept the games close usually into the third quarter which is when the defenses wore out. (Which is what I believe will happen Friday with the Utah / USU game. Close game into the 3rd quarter when Utah pulls away). 

I think Tanner Mangum is better than your average freshman... I mean the kid is 22. I think he's got a bright future. But he's still been away for 4 years and teams will scheme him. Question is can he utilize other receivers when the Matthews and company get doubled? 

Time will tell, but there won't be any playoff talk this year other than the regular talk like should the SEC get two, does Baylor or TCU qualify, etc! 

Go Utes!


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## Catherder

GaryFish said:


> That is all fine and good. But even with all of that - why should they get in before one of the four teams that win their conference championship game? Why should a Big 12 team get in either, based on the same argument? And if they bump one of the teams that win their conference championship, it will be in favor of the Big 12 champion with a loss, over an undefeated BYU team. Sure, BYU has some strong games this year, all on the road, but they also have 5 crap games too. That is still more crap games than Big 12 teams, or an SEC runner up.
> 
> Part of the conversation? Sure. Any chance they get in? No way. But it would give the talking radio heads something to talk about. And no fans like to be martyrs like BYU fans. Except maybe BSU fans. BSU whining is just a different shade of blue.


Again, I don't think there is a chance in a million that the cougs will run the table, so such talk will probably end Saturday night at 11:30. However, as I noted in my previous post, if they were to do so, it would depend on the other conference champions. And that is where it could get interesting. I 100+++% agree that they should be passed over any 0 or 1 loss confeence champ. But what about 2? What if there are upsets in the conference championship game and one (or more) less qualified conference champ is declared such? What if both the ACC and the Big 12 suck this year and don't have a team distinguish themselves (hypothetically)?

All of that may sound far fetched, but it already happened in the BCS era. We *did* have a 2 loss LSU team in the championship game. In increasing the teams to 4 that get picked, you double the chances for a "perfect storm".

Anyway, this is all hypothetical and unlikely to be anything cougarfan worries about very soon. Boise, on the other hand, has a whole lot of cupcakes on the menu for the rest of the season after this week, Notre Dame is only a bit better.


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## MuscleWhitefish

Well, that game was a good old fashion battle. 

I know the final score was 24-14 in favor of Utah, but I feel like both teams kind of lost. 

We may not have an Utah FBS starting quarterback after week 2. 

I hope Chuckie plays next week at UW, but it doesn't look good.


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## BigT

The game was really a grind. Chuckie battled through some tough hits. Worried about Utah's offense without Wilson who has played pretty well thus far. Hopefully his shoulder isn't too bad. 

I think Utah just wanted to grind that game out after losing Travis and no apparent game plan for if he were hurt. Credit Utah St for showing up and playing well. Didn't know what to expect after last week!


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## MuscleWhitefish

Utah State worries me going forward, both these first two games penalties have been a huge issue. 

I think a lot of people who overreacted week 1, had their eyes opened to how talented USU is. 

Football is a long season and there are some great games on the docket for tomorrow.


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## MuscleWhitefish

BigT said:


> The game was really a grind. Chuckie battled through some tough hits. Worried about Utah's offense without Wilson who has played pretty well thus far. Hopefully his shoulder isn't too bad.
> 
> I think Utah just wanted to grind that game out after losing Travis and no apparent game plan for if he were hurt. Credit Utah St for showing up and playing well. Didn't know what to expect after last week!


USU played decent, just didn't make the plays they needed to, to win.

Penalties, Turnovers, that dropped pass, and not executing at all on offense in the third quarter.

Very winnable game, but to the Utes credit they got the pass rush when they needed it and made plays when they needed too.


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## BigT

The breaks go both ways...

Good luck at Washington next week. Husky Stadium is a tough place to play no matter how good or bad Washington is. See BYU a few years back beating an 0-12 Washington team by 1 only after a bad penalty was called against Washington. 

Utah should be able to walk over Fresno. With or without Wilson. I think the game will be closer than any Utah fan wants, but if Thompson is playing, Utah's offense really changes. Still, Booker should run for 200 against Fresno.


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## MuscleWhitefish

BigT said:


> The breaks go both ways...
> 
> Good luck at Washington next week. Husky Stadium is a tough place to play no matter how good or bad Washington is. See BYU a few years back beating an 0-12 Washington team by 1 only after a bad penalty was called against Washington.
> 
> Utah should be able to walk over Fresno. With or without Wilson. I think the game will be closer than any Utah fan wants, but if Thompson is playing, Utah's offense really changes. Still, Booker should run for 200 against Fresno.


Fresno is always a dangerous team, they get some talented California kids that are either overlooked by other schools or want to be the man for a team that plays stiff competition each year.

Fresno for a MWC sends a lot of good players to the pros.

I would always be wary of a team after a humbling loss. Especially one that is talented.

The Utes should win, but I doubt Booker will get 200. They will attempt to make Thompson beat them with his arm.

I think 31-17 is a good prediction.

On another note, I bet Ole Miss beats Alabama by a TD next week.

I don't like USU's chances in UW, but I think they will pull it out.


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## BigT

Utah will look different next week if Thompson plays. Reports are that Wilson may play next week and for sure at Oregon. Would love to see him play at Fresno. Fresno can't stop the run which will play into Utah's strength... I hate making predictions on scores, but the spread will be more than two scores. 

As for byu.... They only need one play in the old play book... Hail freaking Mary! 3 of them tonight really!


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## Huge29

BigT said:


> As for byu.... They only need one play in the old play book... Hail freaking Mary! 3 of them tonight really!


Very entertaining, but there is no way that a team can consistently win with this strategy. Offense has a long ways to go and thanks to Harvey Langhi coming to his senses the D looked pretty good overall. Offense has a long ways to go, it doesn't help with such a poor running game. Not sure how they can not be ranked after this win, but that will hurt them, they really are not that good and simply hung in there and lucked out on another single plat. Nacua, if you can keep him cheap shotting guys in the back restrained by their coach he was the true MVP.


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## Rspeters

BYU's running game started to pick up towards the end, that was nice to see. Who knows if they'll be able to keep doing that. Seems like Hine won that job (at least in my mind he did). Not a fan of having to win on Hail Mary's, but I give credit to Mangum for being calm enough in those situations to have a chance. Mangum had some issues tonight, but that is to be expected from a freshman. All in all, BYU struggled with some things, but Boise did too and BYU kept it close enough to strike at the end and make big plays.


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## GaryFish

when you have 3 receivers that are 6' 5", throwing it up for grabs isn't a bad strategy.


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## Rspeters

GaryFish said:


> when you have 3 receivers that are 6' 5", throwing it up for grabs isn't a bad strategy.


True, although ironically last night's play was to Juergens (under 6 ft if I remember right).


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## LostLouisianian

If just half the players for the Utes played with the fire, grit and tenacity of Covey they would be unbeatable


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## HighNDry

LostLouisianian said:


> If just half the players for the Utes played with the fire, grit and tenacity of Covey they would be unbeatable


Wait isn't that a quote from the movie "Rudy"?

Speaking of Rudy (who had the motivation, tenacity, grit and fire) but didn't see only a couple of plays for Notre Dame, would little Covey have made a Notre Dame team and seen playing time, or is he lucky to be a Ute? (Not knocking the kid, just trying to put things in perspective.)


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