SB Nation - Darrell Mack

The Morning Blitz: Daily Utah links

JazzyUte — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:50:25 -0000

Instead of talking about the UNLV game Saturday, I thought I'd just post this because I think it really sums up what's on the line in this game.

It's really amazing how far the program has come since 9/22/07. Or as I'd like to call it: The Day of Infamy.

Frank Summers rushed for 190 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead UNLV to a 27-0 upset victory over Utah as the Rebels stopped an 11-game losing streak to the Utes.
Summers, who had 29 carries and 108 yards in the first half, caught his only pass of the game for a 29-yard touchdown with 14:51 left in the first half, giving UNLV (2-2, 1-0 Mountain West) a 10-0 lead.

Utah (1-3, 0-2) was coming off an impressive 44-6 win over then-No. 11 UCLA a week earlier.

The 11-game streak dated back to Oct. 20, 1979 when the Rebels beat Utah in Las Vegas in the teams' first-ever meeting.

It was the first time Utah was shut out since a 38-0 loss to Arizona State in 1993. It was UNLVs first shutout since 2000 against North Texas. That score was also 38-0.

Summers' second touchdown, a 4-yard run with 12:52 left in the game, gave the Rebels a 20-0 lead. His last touchdown came from 36 yards down the right sideline with 1:52 remaining. Summers' previous career high in rushing was just 43 yards in a Sept. 15 loss to Hawaii.

Utah quarterback Brian Johnson, who separated his shoulder in the first game of the season in a 24-7 loss at Oregon State, did not play in the first half, but started the second. Johnson went 12-of-19 for 78 yards.

Utes starting quarterback Tommy Grady finished 11-of-21 for 117 yards with an interception. Darrell Mack added 89 yards rushing on 21 carries.

UNLV quarterback Travis Dixon was 12-of-27 for 144 yards with two interceptions.

Utah was 1-of-5 on fourth-down attempts, including an attempt from the 1-yard line with 7:43 left in the third quarter. The Utes also fumbled three times.

The Rebels built a 13-0 lead at halftime. Sergio Aguayo hit two of three field-goal attempts, one from 28-yards, and the other from 20 yards.

In the first half, UNLV running back David Peeples was carted off after an injury with 1:27 left in the first quarter when he was hit by Stevenson Sylvester.

Peeples lost consciousness, but regained it while being taken off the field. He was taken to a nearby hospital and was undergoing tests and X-rays during the game.

Truly a nightmare. The program has grown so much since that game (they've gone 25-2) and I think it just proves the saying that you need to hit rock bottom before finding yourself.

Certainly what Utah did in that game constitutes as rock bottom. Wouldn't you agree?

Deseret News | Utah Utes football: Wide carrying the load

Utes want to avoid another Vegas letdown - ABC 4.com - Salt Lake City, Utah News

Deseret News | Cain looks an awful lot like the guy he replaced as Utes make run in MWC

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: College Football

TCU coach defends 'weak' MWC - Salt Lake Tribune

MWC Showdown: Utah Looking to Settle Score with UNLV | Bleacher Report

BCS still all about TV - Salt Lake Tribune

Utes ready for UNLV air attack - Salt Lake Tribune

Utah football: Wynn isn't playing, but he's not complaining - Salt Lake Tribune

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Local product sparks Utes - Sports - ReviewJournal.com

Louisville/Utah Q & A with Block U

Mike Rutherford — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:26:12 -0000

Sean of the fantastic SBN Utah blog Block U was nice enough to stop by, return season 1 of True Blood, offer up some generous praise for what we've done with our right sidebar and answer a few questions pertaining to tomorrow night's game. Enjoy.

Card Chronicle: You all just saw the nation's longest winning streak come to an end a week ago...How's everybody doing?

Block U: Surprisingly well. I think most Ute fans had already conceded they were going to lose a game this season. It's tough, obviously, but it didn't nearly feel like when they lost their last nation-leading winning streak in 2005. That was a kick to the crotch. This was more a slug to the arm.

CC: This year's squad features a lot of the same players who guided the team to an undefeated season a season ago, but the Utes have been fairly unimpressive through three weeks. What's the biggest difference between Utah in '09 and Utah in '08.

BU: Most certainly the offense. You can't really downplay the importance of a senior quarterback and Brian Johnson lived up to every aspect of what you'd expect from one. Replacing him was not going to be easy and that's pretty much what we're seeing right now. Utah's current quarterback, Terrance Cain, doesn't appear to be bad, but he still has a lot of growth left before he reaches Johnson's status.

CC: Running back Matt Asiata was out when Louisville hosted the Utes two years ago. How good is he?

BU: He's good. Matt Asiata was a big reason the Utes were successful in 2008, even though he split time with Darrell Mack, who graduated. Unfortunately, he was injured against San Jose State and though he played against the Ducks last week, he certainly wasn't at the level we need him to be if Utah is going to have a successful season.

CC: Do you own a piece of "Utah Utes: 2008 National Champions" clothing, and if you do, how often do you bust it out?

BU: No. I don't think I ever will. Even though Utah's argument for a championship is legitimate, the fact is, they're not champions (Ed. Note: If the shoe were on the other foot, I would never, ever be able to give an answer this mature). Now Sugar Bowl clothing on the other hand...

CC: Louisville's strength is its ground attack. How well does Utah defend against the run?

Well prior to Oregon, I think most Ute fans expected the run defense to be their biggest strength. But the Ducks really had their way with Utah's defense on the ground and so I really don't know what to expect. If they defend like they did Saturday, the Cardinals shouldn't have any problem moving the ball on the ground.

CC: The BCS in one word. Go:

Shit (Ed. Note: There we go)

CC: Talk a little bit about the atmosphere at Rice-Eccles Stadium. How much of a home field advantage is it?

Well the Utes have won 12-straight there, which I believe is the 2nd longest home winning streak in school history. Obviously this isn't The Swamp we're talking about, but the stadium can get loud and it's a pretty good atmosphere when filled.

CC: 11-1 season with a loss to BYU or 1-11 season with a win over BYU?

This really isn't up for question, I'd much rather go 11-1 and lose to BYU than go 1-11 and beat the Cougars. With that said, I take comfort in every BYU loss. Their epic fail against the Seminoles Saturday just may have been what got me through the ending of Utah's win streak.

CC: Saturday night prediction?

I predicted 42-28 on Block U. I still think Utah wins, but maybe I was being a bit too generous with the Utes. So we'll go 31-21, Utah.

Making the Rounds: Week One of Camp

Jeremy Mauss — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:33:04 -0000

Graham Watson, ESPN.com: ESPN has been running a short state of the conference and the league is off to a very good start with three teams in the Coaches Poll. That is as many as the Big 10 and the Big East has zero. The MWC is now in a great position to either join the BCS or take over the Big East's BCS bid. The blog entry has one line that seems to be off when considering the Mountain West wants to be in the BCS:

So while the nation is keeping a keen eye on the Mountain West Conference, the conference needs to show it's not a three-hit wonder.

Somewhat true when you look at the bottom of the league, because San Diego State and Wyoming were terrible last year. If for some reason Air Force or UNLV come out of no where and win the league this next year and all of the nay-sayers would start shouting and saying how good is the league if this team last year who had a losing record won the league.

What is best for the league is the top three --BYU, TCU, and Utah-- to keep winning conference titles and contending for the BCS, with the rest of the league winning their out of conference games and getting six teams bowl eligible.

Now for Air Force or an other team to win the league is every know and then is great, but the top three need to be the schools who win the league during the current evaluation cycle; that would provide the Mountain West to have the best shot at becoming an automatic qualifying league for the BCS.

Mark Anderson, Las Vegas Review Journal: Defense has been a huge problem for the Rebels in recent years, more specifically last years meltdown against San Diego State that left the Rebels one win short of mediocrity -- or a bowl berth if one prefers to be positive.

Yesterdays first full padded practice left the defense looking very, very good:

The defense outplayed the offense in two full-team drills, especially the first one with players such as sophomore cornerback Will Chandler making an interception, senior linebacker Jason Beauchamp batting down a pass and senior nickel back Terrance Lee making a sack.

Not a surprise since defenses typically outplay the offense early in camp, but any confidence the UNLV defense can gain is gold. Especially since the spread attack the Rebels run is going to be one of the better offenses in the MWC.

Jay Drew, Salt Lake Tribune: BYU tight end Denis Pitta is now the go-to guy on the offense, even though he was behind former Coug wide out Austin Collie, Pitta put up huge numbers and is one of the best tight ends in the country. This year he will

"If I am playing my best football, and we are doing well, the numbers will come," he said. "The position I have in our offense, I will be able to get a lot of balls, and be the focal point of that. That's my job -- to get open and catch a lot of footballs."

Pitta will have help with receiver McKay Jacobson coming back from a two year mission, but Pitta has the most sure hands on the team. Also, look for Pitta to be on the short list of the All-American lists once the season is over.

Lya Wodraska, Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah is looking to revert back to the true spread with new offensive coordinator Dave Schramm and to increase the play count to 80 per game. Here is what Schramm said on the change for 2009:

Some of the changes the Utes are making to their offense under new coordinator Dave Schramm is going back to more of a true spread offense than the Utes used recently.

That loud cheering is the collective Utah fan base. Besides the Sugar Bowl last year Utah has rarely used the spread attack that made them famous in 2003 and 2004 season under Urban Meyer, Mike Sanford, and Dan Mullens.

This means more quarterback read option, shovel passes, and receivers running the ball in end around plays. This could benefit Corbin Louks because he is the speediest of the quarterbacks, but the fan base on the hill should be excited.

Dirk Facer, Deseret News: Utah running back Matt Asiata is finally the man for the Utes after splitting time last year with Darrell Mack. Even in sharing time Asiata gained over 700 yards and had 12 scores. Asita was looking to add more speed to his game and shredded off a few lbs:

Running back Matt Asiata took it upon himself, though, to make a good thing even better. The senior wanted to make the most of his final college season by improving his speed. In order to do so, he decided to shed some weight — dropping 10 to 12 pounds through summer conditioning and work with the team's strength and conditioning coaches.

This could be huge for Utah because Asiata should get a large increase in touches; last year Asiata had 146 carries which was just over 11 per game. Look for that number to easily be fifteen plus carries per game.

Jeff Call, Deseret News: The early take on stud wide receiver McKay Jacobson is that he looks to be back in great shape after being gone the past two seasons while on a church mission. In the spring Jacobson practiced sparingly because of a pulled hamstring, but Jacobson looks to be back after the annual pre camp race up the mountain:

He [Jacobson] and his teammates awoke in the early morning hours and started their annual race up to the "Y" on the mountain that serves as the campus backdrop. Jacobson, who returned from a mission last winter, arrived first.

This could be great news for BYU fans since it even took the best receiver in school history Austin Collie a full year to get back to his level. Take this news by being cautiously optimistic toward McKay Jacobson’s upcoming season.

Kelly Lylell, The Coloradoan: The Rams are in search of anyone to be able to play running back with the loss of Kyle Bell and Gatrell Johnson. One of the replacements could be an over looked Ram who has had success on special teams:

Johnny Square, has been used primarily on punt and kickoff returns the past three seasons. But this year, he's getting a serious look at running back, the position he starred at in high school, running for 1,684 yards and scoring a school-record 29 touchdowns to earn all-state honors his senior year.

The running back position is so wide open for the Rams it seems that Square has a shot for some playing time.

Gil Lebreton Fort Worth Star Telegram: The Horned Frogs have their highest ranking in school history, and the difference this year is that the coaching staff is embracing the ranking. In years past the team would downplay their ranking or feel they do not deserve it, but coach Gary Patterson is trying a new approach this year:

"We have the highest preseason ranking at TCU [17th in the coaches’ poll] since 1960," Patterson pointed out. "If we’re smart, we’ll just keep things in perspective."

While TCU is in a great position for a potential BCS bid they do need to be reminded that in the history of the MWC only two teams have won the league who were preseason favorites.

Eric Schmoldt, Casper Star Tribune: Under the previous regime with Joe Glenn the Cowboys practices were run like a show for the fans and alumni with Cowboy Joe playing master of ceremonies. This new coaching staff which features former Missouri offensive coordinator Dave Christensen as the head coach is getting in the much needed conditioning that the Cowboys have lacked in the past:

"For the first time I can honestly say since I've been here, we looked like a football team and we practiced like a football team," Christensen said at UW's fall sports media day. "[Friday], we finished with conditioning ... and the guys struggled immensely getting around the field. It was an embarrassment from my standpoint.

"Today we practiced for two and a half hours, extremely fast [and] upbeat. That's the way it's supposed to look in Division I football."

With this type of coaching and work ethic the Pokes should be able to outlast more opponents late in the games. This conditioning could make the all ready good Cowboy defense even better then Wyoming could surprise a few teams this year.

Quick Hits: Colorado State has a wide open quarterback battle with four vying for the position. BYU signs best offensive lineman in Arizona for 22nd commit, but loses one who leaves team. The Utes receiving corp looks good... new OC wants fans to criticize. SDSU has at least one loaded position while seniority means nothing, and the offense must find a balance. At TCU corners could lead to team success in 2009.