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2010 Utah Football Season Preview

Michael Rueckert — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:00:42 -0000

It's almost time.

September 2, 2010. The date Ute fans have had circled on their calendar's since Utah's Poinsetta Bowl victory over Cal is just one week away. After nearly eight months of waiting... and waiting.. the Utes farewell tour in the MWC is nearly here.

Fall camp is nearing the end and many question marks on Utah's depth chart have gotten sorted out. As expected, the offense is expected to be the strong point of this football team, but the defense is the biggest concern among media and fans.

On offense, the Utes will be led by Sophomore QB Jordan Wynn, who went (3-2) as a starter after replacing struggling QB Terrance Cain. Although his record wasn't outstanding, he turned enough heads with strong performances, most notably with his 338 yard passing game in the Poinsettia Bowl.

At running back the Utes have what should be the best tandem in the MWC with Eddie Wide and Matt Asiata. After taking over for an injured Asiata in 2009, Wide rushed for 1,069 yards and 12 TD's earning him All MWC First Team honors. With both players back, the Utes look to use both as a spit back style of offense.

The offensive line is possibly Utah's strongest position on the team. They return four of five lineman who started last year and combine for 89 career starts for all their lineman, 26th best in the country. They have two Outland Trophy candidates with Zane Taylor and Caleb Schlauderaff.

Wide Receiver and Tight End is a young, but talented group for the Utes. Starters look to be Shaky Smithson, Jereme Brooks, Luke Matthews in the latest depth chart with Kendrick Moeai and Brad Clifford both splitting the starting spot at Tight End. Also look newcomers like speedster Reggie Dunn, Dexter Ransom and Mo Lee to be in the mix along with DeVonte Christopher and Griff McNabb.

On the defensive side of the ball the Utes have less certainty but plenty of talent. The strongest point has to be the defensive line. Whittingham has said that the second string players are as good as first string and they feel confident starting about eight of the guys.

Look for Sealver Siliga to have a big year at DT. The Junior is coming off a good season in 2009 where he led all underclassmen at Utah with 49 tackles. He is listed as a first team DT on most Preseason All MWC teams.

At corner the star is Brandon Burton, who is being labled as an All America candidate. The Junior is on the Thorpe Award watch list and was named First Team Preseason All MWC by the MWC media. He'll have his hands full this season with matchups against the nations top WR's like Michael Floyd and Jonathan Baldwin.

Speedster Conroy Black (4.3 forty) and Lamar Chapman are currently tied at the other starting corner spot. No matter who wins, look for both to get significant playing time throughout the season.

At Safety Justin Taplin-Ross will replace Robert Johnson and true freshman Brian Blechen looks to be the starting strong safety. Blechen, who was recruited as a QB, turned heads with his strong fall camp performance to earn the starting spot.

The biggest concern is the linebacker position. The three new starters will likely be J.J. Williams, Matt Martinez and Chad Manis. Chaz Walker is also in the mix to start at Middle Linebacker. Depth is an issue there and inexperience is a big issue. They will be tested early against Pitt's Dion Lewis.

The schedule for the Utes will be difficult, but favorable with tough games at home. Starting the season will be a 2005 Fiesta Bowl rematch against the Pitt Panthers who are ranked 15th in the coaches and AP polls.

After the Pitt game the Utes have an easy stretch with games against UNLV, New Mexico, San Jose State, Iowa State, Wyoming and Colorado State.

Then the schedule gets very difficult. October 30th they travel to Air Force, who traditionally always gives Utah fits and looks very strong this season. Then they face a very good TCU team at home, travel to Notre Dame, pay SDSU at home and finish with a home game against BYU.

The Utes certainly have the talent to make a run at another undefeated season but it will be tough with games against TCU, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. My biased prediction as a University of Utah student is an 11-1 season with a loss to TCU, but there are certainly other opportunities to more losses.

After this, they are off to the Pac-10. They aren't looking ahead though, and are focused on leaving the MWC as champions.

Follow Michael Rueckert on Twitter @MichaelRueckert

Poll

How many game will Utah lose?

1

37 votes

2

40 votes

3

29 votes

4

12 votes

5+

17 votes

0

30 votes

165 votes | Poll has closed

Catching Up With The Cats

joenewby4040 — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 21:28:49 -0000

Only 12 days before the Cats take on the Rockets of Toledo in Ohio on September 3, 2010 at 8:00 E.S.T. The Cats are making their last minute adjustments before the start of the season and should solidify their starters within the week. The Cats look to continue their winning ways and build on their success from 2009. The Cats did not make the AP Top 25 but have a chance to quickly gain momentum into the rankings after the Iowa game early in the spring.

Quarterbacks
The Cats return 12 starters (8 on offense and 4 on defense). There may be some question as to who the starter is due to Matt Scott's impressive performance in the scrimmage last week. However, after Foles' impressive season last year and his performance in practice, he will be behind center on September 3 against Toledo. Look for Matt Scott to come in only on mop up duty or to give the Cats a change of pace should we find a team where his feet can exploit him. The Cats added Cameron Allerheiligen from Keller, Texas late in the recruiting process after Matt Brown decommitted from the Cats after Sonny Dykes' departure.

(Starter)

Offensive Line
The offensive line brings back Adam Grant, Conan Amituanai, Colin Baxter, Vaughn Dotsy and Phillip Garcia. All of them have experience from last year and Colin Baxter is on the preseason Outland Trophy Wasch List. This will be the Cats strongest group and should allow Foles to have plenty of time in the pocket and give huge holes for our running backs. Look for leadership to come from this unit. The Cats added Mickey Baucus, Fabbians Ebbele, Carter Lees, and Trent Spurgeon to their already solid underclassmen class. Arizona is really building on their successful 2008 recruiting class and new blood is in the pipeline.

(Leader of the OL this year)

Running Backs
Senior Nic Grigsby and Junior Keola Antolin return to this year's team. Greg Nwoko, who contributed well last season, also will come back to the Cats this season. The Cats still look to be a pass-first type of offense after racking up 407.5 yards per game last year and 29.7 points per game. Most of these yards and points came through the air. These guys should have a huge year on yards per carry but depending on Foles' arm and our receiving corps, their overall yardage numbers could be down. The Cats did not sign a running back in the 2010 class.

(Senior this year!!!!)

Wide Receivers
Delashaun Dean was arrested on June 22, 2010 and charged with one count of suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon. He was suspended indefinitely from the team. One week later, he transferred to Texas A&M Kingsville. How quickly things can change. The Cats will utilize Juron Criner, William Wright, and Dave Roberts, David Roberts, and Travis Cobb at receiver this year. Tyler Slavin, a true freshman, may contribute off the bat as he blazing speed. The Cats added Tyler Slavin, Dan Buckner (One of my favorites from the University of Texas who must sit out this season), Austin Hill, Dexter Ransom and Garic Wharton. The Cats will use A.J. Simmons and Jack Baucus at Tight Ends. RE-LOADING....

DEFENSE

Defensive Line
Ricky Elmore and Brooks Reed. Enough said. The outside of the defensive line is covered. Watch out for these guys. The inside will be covered by Sione Tuihalamaka and Lolomana Mikaele. Good luck to the announcers this year. Sione is a redshirt freshman and should step up big time. They can't be any worse than our guys last year who were exposed early in the year by Iowa's massive offensive line. These guys will once again be tested by Iowa on September 18, 2010. These guys are going to be crucial to the Cats due to the departure of all three linebackers from last year. Hopefully, the front four can keep opposing offensive linemen dealing with them and give our linebackers the room they need to make the plays. The Cats added Saneilia Fuimaono, Willie Mobley, Dan Pettinato, Kirifi Leuta-Taula, and Mohammed Usman to their roster for the class of 2010.

Linebackers
New blood! All three linebackers from last year are gone and the Cats are filling the void with some unproven players and a stud in Jake Fischer. Fischer, along with Derek Earls and Paul Vassallo will be the starters this year. This unit is going to have to step it up big time this year and show that there will be no drop off from last year's squad. I don't think that's going to be an issue considering how out of place our linebackers were all season last year. The Cats added Kyle Benson, Derek Earls, and Paul Vassalo to their squad.

(Fischer needs to step it up big time this year)

Secondary
The Cats return Robert Golden, Trevin Wade, Joe Perkins and Anthony Wilcox. Golden and Wade received huge chunks of playing time last year. The Cats will utilize their 5 star recruit from last year, Adam Hall, to be the nickel back in passing situations. There are a lot of newcomers waiting in the wings who need to get some experience this year. The Cats added Marquis Flowers, Jourdan Grandon, and Josh Robbins to the squad in the 2010 class.

Special Teams
The Cats return Keenyn Crier at punter, Alex Zendejas at kicker.

Overall, the Cats are bringing back 12 starters from last year but others that will get playing time this year were effective in backup roles last year. It's going to be a fun season with the kickoff on Friday night on ESPN. Let's hope the Cats can take care of business as the Rockets are no slouch of a team.