Salt Lake City, Utah
Division 1
Mountain West Conference
Utah Utes and National Championship talk. Can they bust the BCS yet again? Add Comment Sep 13, 2010
Not to be too optimistic, but with a series of fortunate events.i.e. Virginia Tech losing to James Madison, and the Utes jumping 6 spots in the National Rankings this week. Utah could very easily find itself in the talks of yet another BCS busting year. Not to get too far ahead of our selves but it is a possibility.
This weekends game against UNLV had some very good and yet very bad signs of things to come.. Shaky Smithsons shaky start in the Pitt game has been rectified having returned the first punt for a touchdown since Utahs 2007 season, and getting another one by air on a long pass from Terrance Cain. However, on the other side of our not so special special teams, Utah has had 2 blocked punts in as many games. If the special teams play doesnt shape up soon, it could end up costing us one of the tougher games towards seasons end. Those types of mistakes will not be as easy to overcome against a TCU, Notre Dame or an Air Force team that seems to always give Utah a run for its money.
Air Force could easily find itself ranked when they face the Utes in Colorado this year, and that will be a very intense game to gauge where Utah is at that point of the season. That being said I go back to the BCS talk. If UtahIFUtah wins against a ranked Air Force team, and Pitt continues to win out and not pull a Virginia Tech on us. History could repeat itself having a home gamea black out home game against TCU, another ranked team. Win against Notre Dame, beat up on the team down south, and next thing you know we could be right up there with all the Boise State talk. Now if you want to compare schedules.the Utes would have the tougher scheduleV.T. was ranked when Boise beat them yes, however, after losing to James Madison, Im not thinking they are as good as everyone thought they would be. Put an Oregon State team on the schedule which TCU already beat, and all Boise State has left on their schedules are powerhouses like Utah State and Hawaii.
Even a 1 loss Utah team could find its way into a BCS game given the right circumstances. The key to doing this, take EVERY single game as the one that will decide our fate. New Mexico needs to be treated just like TCU. The first half of the UNLV game was very unnerving. As a fan, I was very disappointed with our showing, and the second half made me feel much better. Utah had their backs against the wall in a couple of situations and still came out only allowing 3 offensive points. We have had some unproven guys step up and show they belong. Chaz Walker being one of those guys who is in the top ten in the nation with tackles. Blechen has also showed some promise getting some Weddle comparisons from the coaches.
One game at a time, but you couldnt ask for a better schedule for the next couple of games to work out some of the kinks. It is a great time to be a Ute fan!
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