Return of the Mayhem

Well after much deliberation and pondering and many requests (2), I have decided to continue with my sports blog. I hope nobody went through withdrawals from Utes homerism and Cougar hatred. Just a fair warning, I am not holding anything back this year. I have been a bit conservative in my speech lately and it is time for that to change. So without further adieu, lets get rolling.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

With the football season well underway, I thought it would be good to focus on the changing landscape of college football. This off-season brought a lot of excitement around the valley. Much more for those in the Salt Lake Valley as opposed to those in Utah County. Nevertheless, there was a lot of change that took place. The University of Utah received validation for everything that they had accomplished and the remarkable program that they have developed. The invitation to join the Pac-10 is a sign that the university has reached a status of an elite program. You can talk about research institution and the other sports all you want but this decision came down to football. Everything hinges on football. For the past 6 seasons, the Utes have made their mark on the college football nation. Busting the BCS for the first time, finishing with the highest AP ranking for any "non-BCS" school in the BCS era, and then busting the BCS again. The most pivotal accomplishment of the program has been one man, Kyle Whittingham. The key success of the program this decade has been the ability to continue its winning ways after the departure of Urban Meyer. Everyone knew that with any success, Meyer would jump ship at the first opportunity. The most impressive thing is how Whittingham has taken that success and continued to keep the program relevant. It took some bumps in the road, i.e. 27-0 beat down at UNLV, but the Utes keep winning. 34 of the last 38 games have been victories. The University of Utah is one of the best college football programs in all the west. I would argue that it is the best. Some may say Boise State is better. Well lets just look at this one aspect. Boise State has two BCS bowl wins by a combined total of 8 points. Utah also has two BCS bowl wins, against tougher opponents, by a combined total of 42 points. Boise is a tough team to beat, they always seem to be able to win games on the last drive or late in the 4th quarter. This is not how Utah does it, they just kick their opponents ass up an down the field for all four quarters and leave no doubt! To conclude I think it is important to see the move to the Pac-10 as a culmination to the unbelievable program that is the University of Utah.

Independence Day:

My views on the move to independence by Brigham Young University are split. On one side you can say that they really wanted to get out of the Mountain West Conference, on the other, you could say that they really wanted to try and keep up with the Jones's, I mean the Utes. My overall take on their decision is simply this. They are jealous. It is clear that BYU has a decent football program. Just as clear as it is that they are no where near one of the top programs in the West. Many may say that the reason they did not get a BCS Conference invite it is due to the no play on Sunday stance. This is a bunch of garbage. Any conference that wants a program bad enough would change its guidelines to allow that program to join their ranks. The reason that the Big 12 and Pac-10 passed on BYU is that they simply weren't worth it. As popular as they may be, they simply have not lived up to their self-perceived standards. Ten win seasons are great, but if that is your ceiling is it really that great? BYU is no better off now for a number of reasons. First, all their home games will be on ESPN. BFD! They are at home, 60,000 won't care what station it is on because they will be at the game. Second, even with the addition of a 6 game series with Notre Dame, it still doesn't make up for the schedule of New Mexico State, Tulsa, Central Florida, Utah State, and all other dogs that they will be playing. As much as I hate the Mountain West Conference, it was BYU's best chance at reaching a BCS Bowl game. Notice I said "chance". They have had their chances in the MWC and have fallen short, way short. But with the possibility of the MWC receiving an automatic bid with BYU in the mix, it would give them the opportunity by winning the conference.

To summarize, Utah makes a historic move and BYU is left in the wake wondering what it can do to stay relevant. I relate it the analogy of a couple of friends. One gets asked to the prom by one of the hottest girls in school and his buddy, in a jealous enraged fog, decides he too needs a date to the prom and asks the ugly girl with spots all over her face. Go Utes!


PREDICTIONS: This year I will be predicting a few games around the country, the 3 local teams, and also, new to this year, I will be predicting all Pac-10 games.

• Utah 35 - New Mexico 13 (Not a contest)
  
• Florida State 28 - BYU 13 (BYU stays close in 1st half, not so much in the 2nd)
  
• Utah State 34 - Fresno State 28 (Anderson has his team playing really well)
  

• Tennessee 30 - Florida 28 (Upset, Florida has struggled early)
  
• Texas 35 - Texas Tech 24 (Rivalry game stays close)
  
• Notre Dame 24 - Michigan State 17 (Bounce back game for ND)
  
• Illinois 42 - Northern Illinois 10 (Special request from Jeff Garney)

• Nevada 24 - California 21 (Upset)
  
• USC 20 - Minnesota 17 (Minn is good, but not quite good enough)
• Nebraska 37 - Washington 20 (Another disappointing game for Sarkesian)
• Wisconsin 26 - Arizona State 14 (Too much Gray on the ground game for the Devils)
• SMU 17 - Washington State 14 (WSU is the MWC's version of Wyoming)
• Louisville 23 - Oregon State 20 (Another early loss for OSU)
• Oregon 55 - Portland State 10 (Blowout)
• Iowa 34 - Arizona 20 (Iowa is a great team, great and should compete for Big 10 title)
• Houston 24 - UCLA 23 (0-3 start for the Bruins is looming)
• Stanford 17 - Wake Forest 13 (Good opponent, quality win for the Cardinal)
  

College Football Week 10 Predictions

HIGH EXPECTATIONS???

When the season started, I said that if the Utes can make it past Oregon, they would be 9-0 going into the TCU game. Well I would have been right(assuming the Utes take care of lowly New Mexico Saturday). I came to a realization while I was watching the Wyoming game on Halloween night. For many weeks now, the Utes have not looked sharp on offense and have been very inconsistent. They are not putting teams away like they did last year. They are ranked #14 in the BCS poll and are on the right track for a program that was supposed to be rebuilding. But I was frustrated with the lack of the killer instinct that was so present last season. Then I realized that maybe I am expecting too much from this team. Are we as Ute fans spoiled? Do we expect the Utes to roll over any opponent they are favored to beat? At what point did a win in our program become something less than a win? To be honest with you, I felt disappointed in myself as a football fan. Winning is everything and it doesn't matter how you do it as long as you do it. There have been several close calls but the Utes always find a way to win. So what if they came from two touchdowns down at Colorado State to win, or that it took OT to beat Air Force at home, or that we couldn't score a touchdown until the 4th quarter against Wyoming. The fact is is that the Utes are 7-1, 8-1 after Saturday and that is amazing. If you disagree with me, I want you to think about this. Imagine if the Utes had lost to either Colorado State, Air Force, or Wyoming. Or even two or more of them. Would that make you feel better? No way! I find it comical how the rivals are down playing our wins. They say that we struggled against a bad team, we make a QB switch this late in the year, are Offensive Coordinator gets demoted. Well I will take all of those along with a win over a loss by 30+ points at home in the spotlight. GO UTES!

Week 10 Predictions: Record: (31-7 Overall, 5-1 Last Week)

Utes 34- New Mexico 13: I don't want to say this is the week for the offense to break out, but New Mexico is the worst program in the country this year and the Utes want to get a full head of steam going into the biggest game of the season next week. I look for Jordan Wynn to start and build confidence and the defense to play as solid as always.

BYU 31- Wyoming 24: I think this might be a tough start for the Cougars. They had a bye week last week and the week before that they were creamed at home by more than four scores. That has got to take a lot of wind out of your sails. Nevertheless, they should pull things together in the second half and keep the Wyoming offense at bay.

TCU 35- San Diego State 21: This might shock some people but I believe the Aztecs will be able to put some points up against the TCU defense. They have a good QB and two really good wide outs.

Boise State 42 - Louisiana Tech 24- Not very many possible upsets coming Boise State's way but this one could trip them up.

Hawaii 21- Utah State 13: I want to pick Utah State, but that is more out of hope that Gary Anderson can get to 6 wins, rather than thinking with my head.

Alabama 17- LSU 13: This one has a lot of hype around it but I think it will be a rather boring SEC game. They haven't had too many high scoring games and some of them have been real slog fests. Alabama's running game is too much for LSU.

College Football Week 8: Week 9 Predictions

HOW THE MIGHTY SHALL FALL!!

My oh my how things can change in just a matter of weeks. It wasn't but a mere 7 weeks ago BYU and all their fans were talking about how this was going to be the year of the Cougars. They were going to bust the BCS (which the Utes have done twice, Boise State once, and even Hawaii, it isn't really "busting" anymore) , they may even have a shot at the National Championship. That is the glory of College Football, you have to decide things on the field. Talk is cheap, please refer to my post "Season of Bliss", and don't say I told you so. The Cougar contingent build themselves up into something more than they can ever live up to be. With high expectations comes greater disappointment. Good thing BYU has a bye week to let this most recent disappointment sink in. I would hope they would learn from their mistakes but the thought of their hated arch rivals making it to two BCS bowls while they can't even get close to one, has to be killing them. Will they learn? Doubt it.

Utes:
Every year the game against the Air Force Academy makes me nervous. For some reason, these two teams always gear up for a close, hard fought game. Like I said all last week, Air Force has the ability to keep games close. They run the ball almost every snap and that in effect runs the clock down, which limits possessions. You have to be flawless against Air Force to blow them out of any game. This year, the Falcons have added a new scheme to their football team, Defense. All game long, their defense kept the Utes at bay. Terrence Cain looks rattled and a little gun shy at times. Nevertheless, I would rather see what I saw on Saturday, than see him force passes when he is unsure of the coverage. That will lead to INT's and more of what Air Force wants you to do. It is hard for me to say but I was not worried much about the injury to Matt Asiata. I knew Eddie Wide was fast and would be able to handle the load just fine. The only thing that concerned me was his pass blocking. Over the past few games, he has fixed that problem. The Utes have two fairly easy games before the big matchup with TCU. If I were Coach Whittingham I would open up the play book a little bit these next two weeks and get Cain's confidence back just in time for the big game in Texas. Meanwhile how good are the Utes?!?!? It shows what a team is really made of when they play horrible on offense and can still pull out a win. The team has a remarkable 28 WINS out of their last 31 GAMES. Never has their been a time that I have been more proud of my Utes.

Max Hall Interception Watch: 11 Interceptions- through 8 games


Week 9 Predictions: Record (26-6 Overall, 4-2 Last Week)

Utah 37- Wyoming 14- I expect a break out performance from our offense this week in the Blackout. Wyoming is 4-3 which is respectable, however, their wins have come over two FCS teams (Weber State, FAU) and MWC cellar dwellers UNLV and New Mexico. This one really shouldn't be close, and if it is then I will be concerned.

TCU 34- UNLV 10- TCU has a two headed monster- Great Defense and a fast and flashy Offense. UNLV can't defend and won't be able to score on TCU much. Not much of a contest.

Boise State 49- San Jose State 24- Another WAC barn burner. Boise State is just going through the motions. It must be hard on their fan base to watch them play these lousy teams. Of course, maybe they enjoy it because it is a scheduled win.

Utah State 24- Fresno State 21- I am going out on a limb here but I think Utah State keeps their small hot streak going.

Oregon 27- USC 20- I think there is a change in power for the PAC 10. Oregon seems to be on a mission since the first week debacle.

Texas 42- Oklahoma State 31- Shoot out in the Big 12. I think Texas may be the best team in the nation. The SEC is overrated again and nobody talks about Texas.

College Football Week 8: Predictions

This is a huge week for both Utah and BYU. The news came this week of College GameDay's visit to Provo for the Saturday morning show. This is huge for the conference. The last time GameDay was in Utah was for the Utes undefeated season in 2004 and that was more for Urban Meyer than it was for the Mountain Wed Conference. I am excited for both of the school's matchups this week. Utah has a difficult game against Air Force, based on the fact that the last three games have all come down to the last possession. BYU has a make or break game for their season at home against undefeated TCU. If BYU can win, it will vault them into the standings back to BCS talk. If they lose, well then they will most likely drop from the rankings with their second home loss of the season and put them in third place for the MWC championship. The Utes have three straight home games. All of which they should be able to win. Then the big rematch with TCU looms following the home stretch. This is a stepping stone week for the teams and it will be interesting to see how both deal with the pressure. I am predicting 1-1. Can you guess who?



Max Hall Interception Watch: 10 Interceptions ( I suspect he will throw a few this week)


Week 8 Predictions: Record (22-4 Overall, 6-0 Last Week)

Utah 27- Air Force 14- Utah's defense is getting better and better as the year goes on. The offense needs some work. I think it is more on the coordinator than the Quarterback. I look for Utah to run the ball well and keep it pretty conservative. Air Force is very good in takeaways. Utah will jump on the lead early and keep it. Air Force does a good job keeping the score close due to their option attack. They limit possessions which makes it difficult for teams to build big leads.

TCU 26- BYU 23- TCU's defense is amazing. Max Hall has struggled against sub par secondaries. I think that a lot of people around here underestimate TCU. I imagine they will probably win the conference. They also may jump Boise State for the race for the BCS if they win out due to the piss poor schedule of Boise.

Boise State 34- Hawaii 21- This might be a tough game for Boise due to the travel but I don't see it holding them up past the first quarter.

Utah State 24- Louisiana Tech 20- Believe it or not, I am picking Utah State to win this game. It has been a tough road for them and I thought they would be bowl eligible this year but it appears as if I am wrong. This should be a game they can win based on how they have played so far this year.

Colorado State 20- San Diego State 14- Bounce back game for Colorado State after playing the conferences big three opponents.

New Mexico 26- UNLV 21- I would find it ironic if New Mexico gets their first win here with their new head coach suspended for this game. The Lobos are horrible but UNLV isn't much better. I can't imagine this will be a blow out either way. I would like to see New Mexico win at least one game.

NFL Week 5: Week 6 Predictions

At this point in the season we have a pretty good idea of how good teams are. For instance, at 2-0 we all thought the Broncos were just an average team. Now at 5-0 everyone keeps talking about how great they are. At 0-2, everyone though that Tennessee would be okay, now at 0-5 their season is pretty much in the can. So I thought for this week's post on the NFL, I would rate the top five teams, Quarterbacks, Running Backs, and Wide Receivers up to this point in the season.

Top 5 Teams (According to Midge)

1. Indianapolis Colts
2. NY Giants
3. New Orleans Saints
4. Denver Broncos
5. Minnesota Vikings

Top 5 Quarterbacks

1. Peyton Manning- Indianapolis Colts- MVP?
2.Drew Brees- New Orleans Saints- Started Strong, faded a bit
3. Eli Manning- NY Giants- Solid QB, nice WR's
4. Matt Ryan- Atlanta Falcons- Franchise QB, who just keeps getting better
5. Brett Favre- Minnesota Vikings- If team not 5-0, he doesn't make the list.


Top 5 Running Backs

1. Adrian Peterson- Minnesota Vikings- Another solid year.
2. Ronnie Brown- Miami Dolphins- Is the engine that keeps that team running.
3. Cedric Benson- Cincinnati Bengals - Surprise team and a decent start to year
4. Michael Turner- Atlanta Falcons - Great complimentary back for Matt Ryan
5. Chris Johnson- Tennessee Titans - One bright spot on lousy team.

Top 5 Wide Receivers

1. Reggie Wayne- Indianapolis Colts
2. Brandon Marshall- Denver Broncos
3. Steve Smith- NY Giants
4. Andre Johnson- Houston Texans
5. Vincent Jackson- San Diego Chargers


Ute Player Watch:

Paul Kruger: NA
Sean Smith: 2 Tackles, 1 Solo Tackle, 1 Pass Deflection
Eric Weddle: Bye


Week 6 Predictions: Record (19-13 Overall, 4-4 Last Week)

1. Cincinnati 20- Houston 13

2. Baltimore 27- Minnesota 23

3. New Orleans 34 - NY Giants 24

4. Tampa Bay 17 - Carolina 13

5. Arizona 21- Seattle 17

6. New England 26- Tennessee 20

7. Chicago 14- Atlanta 10

8. San Diego 23- Denver 17

College Football Week 6: Week 7 Predictions

Utes:
What was supposed to be an easy game, turned into a frustrating nail-biter. With the chilly conditions, it was thought that this would be a close game but I didn't think it would be as close as it actually was. The Utes offense was atrocious in the first half. We had fumbles, interceptions, absolutely lousy play calling, and at the end of the half we were still tied 3-3 with how bad we had played. I felt like we weren't really into the football frame of mind coming off of the bye week. The second half was much better. Even though we didn't score until late in the third quarter, the Utes did a good job offensively. Down 17-3, they started playing with a sense of urgency and pretty much had to score and every possession to win the game. They did exactly that winning 24-17 thanks to two Eddie Wide scores and three Robert Johnson Interceptions. One of the best second half performances I have seen in a long time to secure the come from behind victory. One thing that is very evident to me is that lack of experience at play calling this year. The offense was moving the ball running Eddie Wide. Then when Colorado State showed they could not stop it, we try something else, it doesn't work. Okay, that is not a problem. If something doesn't work, go back to what does. But we didn't. We kept trying different things instead of going to what was working well and that was handing the ball off to Wide. Hopefully the Utes learn before it proves to be too costly to come back.

Cougars:
This one was a sleeper from the start. I underestimated how poor UNLV's defense was. BYU has a really good offense and it seemed as if UNLV knew they couldn't stop it. They couldn't tackle, they couldn't fill gaps, they couldn't pressure Max Hall. Consequently Max Hall threw his first interception free game. Therefore, the Max Hall Interception Watch stays at 10 for this week (Nation High 10 INT's). I have to hand it to the Cougars, they did a good job with UNLV and it looked as if they had their best offensive outing of the season. Things get even easier as they travel to San Diego State on Saturday.

Week 7 Predictions: Record (16-4 Overall, 3-2 Last Week)

Utah 38- UNLV 13- I am still waiting for the Utes to put together a complete game. This one should, and I say "should", be over early. However, if the Utes don't put them away early, and they allow the Rebels to hang around, it could get a little interesting in the second half.

BYU 42- SDSU 10- Not much to this game. Run the ball, don't turn it over, and play solid defense. The Aztecs are one of the three or four horrible teams at the bottom of the MWC. Another easy win for the Cougars as long as they don't look ahead to the matchup with TCU.

Boise State 31- Tulsa 24- A Wednesday night matchup, Tulsa may offer a little more resistance than other Bronco opponents have. Don't be surprised if Tulsa has the lead in the second half here. Nevertheless, I feel like the Boise State offense is very explosive and should win this game on the road.

TCU 27- Colorado State 10- TCU battled the cold and wind to hold on to the win against Air Force, with them returning home, they should win this one easily and get ready for BYU.

Nevada 24- Utah State 21- Gary Anderson is having a hard time getting his players to believe that they can win. They have a good team but always start the season off playing non-winnable games. They should keep this close but Nevada is too much for them.

Texas 33- Oklahoma 27- Sam Bradford is back but Texas has too much fire power behind Colt McCoy. With two losses and out of the National Championship picture, if OU falls behind early, they may get down on themselves and this one won't be close.

NFL Week 4: Week 5 Predictions

The Art of Whining:
Some very interesting things happened following the Patriots-Ravens game on Sunday, lots and lots of whining and complaining. Naturally, players are upset after suffering a loss in a tight, hard fought game. However, the some choice Baltimore players showed their true colors and true intellect with their post-game comments. The controversy was over "Roughing the Passer" penalties that occurred on Tom Brady during the second half of the game. One thing I always find interesting is how stupid some NFL players are. For instance, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Ray Lewis said, "Those penalties were ridiculous, he is a man just like we are, he can get hit." He then continues to say, "Both of their touchdown drives had personal fouls that kept the drives alive. Did that win or lose the game? No, but it got them 14 points." Hmmm, did the penalties themselves award the Patriots 14 points, No. Did the Ravens hit Tom Brady, Yes. Should the penalties have been called, maybe. It was you Ray Lewis, that did not stop the Patriots from scoring, it was your defense that could n't hold them. It wasn't the referees that awarded a touchdown for a 15 yard penalty. It may have kept the play alive but it did not give them 14 points.

Ed Reed went ahead and made himself sound even more foolish by commenting on the spots given by the referees on two instances. First was on a fourth and 1 by Balitmore RB Willis McGahee. He says, "When Willis had his fourth-down try, it probably wouldn't have been a first down, but it probably should have been a little closer." Are you serious? If you get stopped short on fourth down, whether by two feet or one foot, it is still a turnover on downs Mr. Reed. That is elementary my friend. He then further makes himself out to be a fool by saying, "The Patriots spots, the guy stepped out of bounds, EVEN THOUGH WE GOT THE PENALTY ON THAT 4TH DOWN, the guy stepped out and reached the ball across for the first down." (Emphasis added). Once again, are you seriously arguing this? So what he is saying is that the Patriot player reached out for a first down after being out of bounds for the first down. The problem here is that he also states that it wouldn't have mattered because the Ravens got a penalty on that play that would have given the Patriots an automatic first down anyways. So why even make these comments? Both of the plays he was referring to had to impact on the game whatsoever, and he was simply digging for something to complain about because they could not get the job done against New England.

I just have to say, show a little class Baltimore. You guys played hard and you lost. Take that for what it is worth and don't embarrass yourselves by making these ridiculous comments that have no real bearing on the game. Own up to it when you lose, give credit to the other team and don't go sulking to the media about how you lost and it wasn't your fault because the refs let them score, the refs made us commit penalties. It is so unfair to the Ravens, poor guys, how will they ever come back from this. Man up, play like men, win like men, and lose like men.


UTE PLAYER WATCH:

Paul Kruger: 1 Tackle.
Sean Smith: 2 Tackles, 2 Solo Tackles, 2 Pass Deflections.
Eric Weddle: 7 Tackles, 5 Solo Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss.




Week 5 Predictions: Record (15-9 Overall, 5-3 Last Week)

Philadelphia 31- Tampa Bay 17: McNabb is back and the defense should have no trouble with the lowely Bucanneers offense. May see more of Michael Vick in this game. The only question is whether Brian Westbrook will be healthy, even if he is not they have rookie LeSean McCoy who can fill in.

Washington 17- Carolina 10: Jake Delhomme is still struggling and I feel like the Redskins took that loss to the Lions as a bit of a wake up call. It wil be low scoring and close but I look for Washington to force enough turnovers and control the ball enough to hold on.

Baltimore 24- Cincinatti 14: Carson Palmer is not Tom Brady, so the Ravens shouldn't have to worry about what they are going to say if they lose. This will be a good division battle however but Baltimore's offense is too much for the Bengal defense.

San Francisco 24- Atlanta 20: This will be a close game throughout. I don't expect the 49ers to do much on offense other than run Glen Coffee. With Michael Crabtree signing, much of the media focus will be on that but little will be done on the field with him. 49ers defense wins this for them in the second half.

Arizona 37- Houston 31: I think that this game will have a lot of points scored. Neither defense is very good and both teams have explosive receivers and the QB's to get the ball to them. I have always thought the Cardinals would win this division. It will be tough with SF being 3-0 in the division.

New England 20- Denver 13: All the hype has been with how the Broncos are 4-0. They have a really good defense, but the truth is, they haven't really played anybody tough. This will be a huge test for them. It will be a fairly low scoring game but Brady finds a way to expose the Denver defense.

Indianapolis 35- Tennessee 21: I keep thinking that eventually the Titans are going to find a way to win a game. Unfortunately they play one fo the best teams in the league and the best offense. With Tennessee's defense showing very poor early this season, I expect Manning to pick them apart.

Miami 23- NY Jets 17: I like Miami in this game. I think that even without Pennington, Miami can move the ball with the wildcat format. The Jets defense is good but the Miami defense will get to Sanchez enough to make him press in the 4th quarter and the production will be limited.