Hey there fellow Utes! I apologize for missing my deadline for last weekend. I was out of town and didn't get back in time. I will work on being better in the future!
Before I post the links, I have just a few thoughts on Utah football. Please keep in mind that these are my personal opinions, not the opinions of the MUSS board. And yes, I recognize I am no football expert. Just offering another perspective:
- On the craziness in the Pac-12: If this were the SEC, they would probably be commenting about how deep the conference is instead of questioning how legitimate it is. Despite my longtime Pac-10/12 fandom, I cannot argue with the dominance of the SEC. That many National Championships in a row deserves credit, and personally, Alabama looks like the best team in the nation by far right now. However, I think Oregon could close the gap if that defense keeps playing well. That being said, I'm not sure I ever imagined myself talking about both Oregon teams being at the top of the conference, along with Stanford beating USC for the 4th straight year. The old Pac-10 teams came to play this season, and the obvious result is a much deeper Pac-12 conference (6 teams in the Top 25). Sadly, our Utes are near the bottom feeders at the moment.
- On the Utes' offensive woes: That being said, those of you that know me well probably expect me to be one of the very last people to throw our team (coaches and players alike) under the bus. I've never been a fan of dissing on my own team, especially not early in the season and with so many injuries occurring. I think most of our offensive struggles start with the offensive line (not really a surprising statement, I know). I'm one to preach that the game is won and lost starting in the trenches, and throwing in new guys on the offensive line against Pac-12 caliber defenses (compared to the old MWC ones) is a tall task for any young lineman, especially at the crucial tackle spot. Everything starts from the big guys up front. The pass protection is one that obviously gets a lot of attention, but struggling with run blocking initially went under the radar this year's squad. Once our coaches and players can solidify the issues up front, I think the rest of the offense will begin to click. John White IV is a great back, no doubt, but it's hard for even him to run if the defense can hit him as soon as he touches the ball. I don't want to put all of the blame on the offensive line, because it's not their fault they don't have experience, so I'll add this: Our coaching staff needs to help them out and teach them up fast. I trust that they will. Turnover in coaching circles is always difficult to adjust to, and when you throw in inexperience, the task gets that much more difficult.
- On the defensive woes: Our defensive performance versus Arizona State & Utah State were uncharacteristic of Utah defenses: undisciplined. That will be fixed. If there's anything I've learned in my years watching Utah football, it's this: Never doubt a Kyle Whittingham defense.
Now, for the links! As usual, I'll try to highlight just some of the main ones that stuck out to me:
- Utah women's soccer is off to an awesome start this season! If you haven't been paying attention, perhaps you should. They road tripped up this weekend and swept the Washington schools.
- Utah volleyball is still winless in the powerful Pac-12 conference, but they are not losing sets by much. Recaps from Oregon and Oregon State.
- An update on Utah women's tennis and men's tennis too.
- Coach Whittingham's teams have been pretty good coming off bye weeks.
- As if you didn't already know, a fully loaded USC squad comes to Salt Lake City this Thursday.
- ESPN KALL 700's Bill Reilly's "View From the Booth."
- As mentioned above, the Pac-12 is making some noise in the national rankings
- Another article on USC's arrival to SLC
- It's a just couple months out from the season, but Utah men's basketball has been prepping for the season since their summer trip to Brazil
- Coach Whittingham's press conference after the ASU game
- Words of encouragement from a fellow MUSS member, Cody Belnap
- Some ticket info for the UCLA game at the Rose Bowl
- A link to all of the Utah Athletics sporting events for the month of October
Don't forget to follow the MUSS on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@utah_muss)!
Sorry, no picture for this past week. I hope you appreciated the thoughts and links, I'll do my best to improve on it each update! If there's something you'd like my opinion on, feel free to let me know! Go Utes!
Sean Davenport
Twitter: @SeanDavenport
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