Utah Football

This Saturday really is going to be a special day because we will have the Grand Utah College Football Quinfecta: What is the grand Utah College Football Quinfecta, you may ask? Well, every division 1 football team in the state(yes Weber and SUU count) have home games all on the same day. And I will be going to all of them. Just kidding. But anyways in celebration of this special day, I will preview all of these games, like what they will have to do to win, how it will affect the season and whatever else I feel like saying. Also, mother nature is clearly not a fan of the Grand Utah College Football Quinfecta because have you seen the weather for Saturday? Smh. 

Utah St: vs. Nevada @8:15 2 weeks ago Big Blue ill-advisedly got stuck in a cage with Mike the Tiger and got thrashed around for 3 hours. But luckily they had last week off to put on some bandaids and heal some wounds and they should be ready for Nevada. The Wolf Pack come to Logan with Last Chance U quarterback Malik Henry and are hoping to ride some momentum off their win against ...

Purple Mountain Haze is back up and running! Look for new posts on the upcoming college football season with plenty of analysis and opinion on BYU, Utah and Utah State. All three teams are expected to have good years. As well, there will always be a little baseball and Utah Jazz/NBA sprinkled in. And don’t be surprised if you come across an occasional human/community interest story. My son Jacob will be one of the contributors going forward. This blog has always been a fun hobby but other priorities have preempted it for the past 3+ years. Thanks for coming back and here’s to a great college football season in the Beehive state!

Utah has jumped up to a #5 ranking in the AP Top 25 college football poll. The Utes were ranked #10 heading into the weekend. They had a bye but several teams ahead of them lost; namely:

#3 Ole Miss

#6 Notre Dame

#7 UCLA

#8 Georgia

And then the Utes leapfrogged LSU.

The complete top 25 now looks like this: AP College Football Top 25

Enthusiasm is through the roof for this weekend’s game against #23 CAL.

Only adding to that enthusiasm, ESPN announced they will bring their traveling Saturday morning pre-game show, Game Day, to Salt Lake City and the campus of The University of Utah.

America was re-introduced to Utah Football and Coach Kyle Whittingham in a big way last night. The Utes absolutely destroyed Oregon 62-20 in Eugene on FOX. There were so many positives for Utah and the win was monumental for the program. Probably the most notable take-away is that the contest started at 5:30 Pacific, which of course meant 8:30 Eastern. Rather than the typical Pac-12 7:00 Pacific kick-off (10:00 eastern) that none of the SEC honks watch or the all-important sports writers in the Northeast wouldn’t watch, this was Fox’s prime time game for all the country to see.

And a changing of the guard in the Pac-12 is what they were treated to. I don’t know how else to say it other than this game was program defining for both schools. Oregon played in the national championship just 4 games ago. Sure, Michigan State got them last week, but Michigan State may be the best team in the country. However, Utah blew in to town and put the country on notice that Oregon’s fun n gun offense is no longer the gold standard in the Pac-12. Utah showed their team is far better than Oregon and that the Utes’ defense ...

Utah is off to a 2-0 start and will likely be 3-0 after they pummel Fresno State this weekend. Utah’s defense is as good as we all thought it would be. However, their offense is just plain boring. It’s kind of like watching paint dry. Their quarterback play is dreadful and there’s nothing to really get up out of your seat and cheer for. Nobody’s going crazy over the Utes on local radio shows. There’s just not a lot of buzz around town.

Part of the Utah buzz kill along the Wasatch Front is due to BYU grabbing all the headlines. Heading into the season all the chatter was about the Utes coming off a great year and looking to build on that. BYU was heading the wrong direction with a really tough schedule. I certainly thought that was the case. And it may be still. The magic could run out in a hurry this weekend for BYU against UCLA and give the Utes credit – they have taken care of business so far.

However, what’s gonna happen in week 4 when Utah heads to Eugene, OR and really starts their season. I just don’t think Utah has the quarterback play or ...

The University of Utah is set to open their season Thursday night at home against Michigan in what will be one of the most anticipated games of the opening weekend of college football. Expectations are high after the Utes went 8-4 last year and won their bowl game as well. They have several key players returning this year. So what are realistic expectations?

• I believe Utah will be an even better football team this year but may win the same number of games. It’s important to remember Utah won several close ones last year. It is quite possible a few of those games don’t go their way this year and they end up only 7-5 or 8-4 again.
• I heard a crazy stat on the radio a few weeks ago that Utah had not beaten a Pac-12 opponent by more than a touchdown in the past two years. It is true. Those numbers speak to how good the Pac-12 is. The conference is easily the second best after the SEC and the Pac-12 South has five incredible teams. Colorado is the only non-powerhouse in the division.
• Close games and all, I think Utah is talented enough to be a top 15 or even ...
• Pre-Season Thoughts on BYU Football

  More interesting than the win/loss record this season will be the attitude of the BYU fan base: seeing what attendance is, gauging the growing dissatisfaction with Bronco, the reaction to watching their rival have a solid year again in a power conference.

  • It is highly likely BYU will be 1-3 after the first 4 games of the season
    • Nebraska is the most winnable game but you don’t just waltz into Lincoln and beat a storied program. BYU will also be missing players due to suspension from the Miami Beach Brawl. BYU gets Nebraska in their first game with a new coach so that may help.
    • I think Boise State is a flat-out better team and program than BYU. This is essentially BYU’s only real home game of note. If the Cougs do win at Nebraska, Lavell Edwards Stadium will be a mad house for that Boise game and perhaps they’ll have a chance.
    • Though they are getting too much hype, UCLA will be more talented than BYU
    • Michigan is a winnable game…..if you’re playing them week one like Utah is. However, I think Harbaugh may have that ship turned around by the 4th game. Could spell trouble for BYU
  • Because of what will likely be a ...
  • The Identity or Brand of Each Major College Football Team

    Great read here from Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated. He states the current “brand” of each major college football team in the country, and more importantly – what their brand should be. His comments on BYU and Utah I think are spot-on. He lays this all out on an interactive map. It’s really well done.

    Branding in college football: Identity goes beyond just uniforms and logos

     

  • College Football Conference Realignment – 5 Years Later

    BYU and Utah fans remember it well – five years ago Utah received word they were joining the Pac-12 and leaving BYU behind. BYU football decided to go Independent. Check out this link to a fantastic read from Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports, one of the premier college football writers. He provides a great summary of all the conference changes and how the affected teams have fared in the 5 years since. It’s a really fascinating break-down. Hard to read if you’re a BYU fan.

    Biggest winners, losers five years after realignment hell broke loose