Yes people, I know that everyone around here calls this weekends rivalry game the Holy War, but that is not accurate. The Holy War has long been the game played between BYU and Notre Dame (before Notre Dame backed out of playing BYU because they were scared). So the BYU/Utah game is the Unholy War, and there is nothing holy about it. Fans are brutal, players are dirty and the history of this game is marred with despicable acts. So here on this blog we call it The Unholy War.
Folks we need to understand first and foremost how lucky we are as either BYU of Utah fans. We are experiencing the best that this rivalry has ever offered. Both teams have been good to great for the past few years and the games have all either been fantastic or monumental on the BCS level. Both coaches at both schools are doing a marvellous job with the resources they are given. All of that being said makes these games even more important. If BYU wins this weekend they will have won 3 out of 4 meetings and maintain their "Big Brother" status in the state. However if Utah wins this weekend then Utah does the unthinkable in a down year. Coming into the year no one really expected the Utes to win on Saturday and if they do they show that in a down year they can beat BYU in an up year. The ramifications of either outcome are sure to be crushing to the losing teams fans resulting in a humiliation that can only be cured by a win the following year.
As for this years game this is how I see it... When breaking down these two teams you find some interesting differences. BYU scores 35.5 pts/game passing for 300+ yds/game and is first in the country in 3rd down conversion rate. Utah on the other hand scores 29.8 pts/game and rushes for 176 yds/game. What is strange about this is that BYU's offensive strength is going against the weaker aspect of the Ute defense their pass defense. Conversely, the Utah offensive strength of running the ball goes against BYU's better defensive aspect. Looking at the QB's, Max Hall is setting all sorts of records down at BYU but with that said he has struggled against teams with speed turning the ball over like crazy. This year however has been somewhat different. Against TCU Max wasn't responsible for the turnovers his receivers and offensive line were (bobbled ball and blow protection) against FSU the defense let BYU down and forced him into some terrible situations, when you are down by 30 all you can do is throw the ball and the defense then sits on it. The lackluster corners at Utah will have difficulty stopping Max the way that Sean Smith and Bryce McCain did last year. Conversely, Jordan Wynn has looked pretty good in his limited experience with exception of the TCU game. his inexperience could prove to be an issue in the big atmosphere of the rivalry game but he should be able to take advantage of the speed advantages of the WR's versus BYU's corners. Utah's defense is clearly more aggressive and has looked better throughout the year, but that defense has tripped up plenty of times. BYU's defense is better than they were last year and should show better than they did a year ago. Lastly, lets look at the last time this game was played in Provo. Max was a first year starter and that team did not have the seasoned weapons they have now, Utah had Brian Johnson, Sean Smith, Paul Kruger and Bryce McCain. The game went down to the final drive and was won on a drive that included the infamous "4th and 18" play by Austin Collie. BYU won by 7. I think this year will mimic that year in a lot of ways. It will be a close game and it will not disappoint. But my official prediction for the game this weekend is.....
BYU 27 - Utah 21
Feel free to argue with me all you want (if you can) and post your own prediction. Enjoy Turkey Day. And Go Cougs.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday Morning Thoughts
Here we are on a Monday, but not just any Monday, the greatest Monday of the entire year (this claim is void if my wife's birthday or our anniversary is on a Monday)!! The best holiday of the year is this week, and the greatest rivalry in college football that the national chumps don't really care about is going to be played this Saturday in Provo. That makes today the beginning of rivalry week! On sports radio all you hear is former players telling great stories and ripping the other school, fans being belligerent and bold predictions that are sure to go wrong once they actually step on the field and knock heads. With that in mind lets get into what happened this weekend.
The NBA:
This weekend was a pretty good weekend to be a Jazz fan, the Jazz had a nice run of 3 straight wins, which included a win in San Antonio on Thursday for the first time in over a decade!! (Never mind the fact that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli didn't play for the Spurs) The Jazz are looking a little bit more like a team that might be able to hold their own in the west. Don't get me wrong I am not saying they can compete with the Lakers or Nuggets, there are still a bunch of problems with this team. Paul Millsap is virtually worthless in about 4/5 games he has only played well maybe 3 times this year and sometimes the Jazz look like they were out partying until 5 in the morning and woke up just 1 hour before game time and dragged themselves down to the arena. With that said I really like what AK is doing out there and I still love the rookies, Wes Matthews and Eric Maynor are playing well and contributing on a team that desperately needs them.
The NFL:
Some good football in the NFL this weekend. The Colts barely hung on in Baltimore, which is a good win, despite them not going to my boy Austin Collie very often (1 time in fact). The Saints blew the doors off the Bucs, which is no surprise. Both the Colts and Saints are 10-0. I can't believe that either team goes undefeated but just if they could, imagine the hype going into the super bowl if 2 teams faced off, both unbeaten! That would be great. Elsewhere in the NFL, the Vikings look awfully good, with the exception of not giving the ball to Adrian Peterson enough because Brett Favre is hogging all the glory. The Steelers and Bengals both suffered humiliating losses to the Chiefs and Raiders respectably. My fantasy team however continues to dominate moving to a 10-1 record with a close win this weekend.
MLS:
I know I know, everyone I have no intention of getting into soccer very often if ever, but Real Salt Lake won the MLS cup on penalty kicks last night. They were huge underdogs and beat a team that has Landon Donovan and David Beckham on it, so that is pretty cool. Good for them. (That is probably the last time we will ever mention soccer on this blog).
College Football:
There were some exciting games this past weekend, but as for the ones we care about, there were 4. TCU blew the doors off Wyoming despite playing awful. Good for the Mountain West, TCU now just needs 1 win to be guaranteed a BCS bowl berth and if by chance Texas slips up a shot at the national championship. Boise St blew out Utah St, this game was tied at 14 with 5 minutes left in the first half, and at half time it was 35-14 Boise St. Ridiculous outburst there, BSU looks good, but how about they play someone at least kind of good maybe. Utah slaughter-housed San Diego St, defense looked good, offense looked good, they are playing well. BYU meanwhile dominated Air Force. Max Hall looked good, Pitta looked better, bottom line here is that BYU's running backs are bigger than Air Force's defensive lineman, there is no way that a scenario like that ends well. Both teams are ranked in every poll, BYU is about 3 or 4 spots better in every poll. But throw it all our this weekend, this game will be a good one, I am not sure of the last time these two teams were more evenly matched. Should prove to provide some great fireworks this weekend. More will be coming over the coming days about the "Unholy War".
That's the View from the Upper Bowl for now.
The NBA:
This weekend was a pretty good weekend to be a Jazz fan, the Jazz had a nice run of 3 straight wins, which included a win in San Antonio on Thursday for the first time in over a decade!! (Never mind the fact that Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli didn't play for the Spurs) The Jazz are looking a little bit more like a team that might be able to hold their own in the west. Don't get me wrong I am not saying they can compete with the Lakers or Nuggets, there are still a bunch of problems with this team. Paul Millsap is virtually worthless in about 4/5 games he has only played well maybe 3 times this year and sometimes the Jazz look like they were out partying until 5 in the morning and woke up just 1 hour before game time and dragged themselves down to the arena. With that said I really like what AK is doing out there and I still love the rookies, Wes Matthews and Eric Maynor are playing well and contributing on a team that desperately needs them.
The NFL:
Some good football in the NFL this weekend. The Colts barely hung on in Baltimore, which is a good win, despite them not going to my boy Austin Collie very often (1 time in fact). The Saints blew the doors off the Bucs, which is no surprise. Both the Colts and Saints are 10-0. I can't believe that either team goes undefeated but just if they could, imagine the hype going into the super bowl if 2 teams faced off, both unbeaten! That would be great. Elsewhere in the NFL, the Vikings look awfully good, with the exception of not giving the ball to Adrian Peterson enough because Brett Favre is hogging all the glory. The Steelers and Bengals both suffered humiliating losses to the Chiefs and Raiders respectably. My fantasy team however continues to dominate moving to a 10-1 record with a close win this weekend.
MLS:
I know I know, everyone I have no intention of getting into soccer very often if ever, but Real Salt Lake won the MLS cup on penalty kicks last night. They were huge underdogs and beat a team that has Landon Donovan and David Beckham on it, so that is pretty cool. Good for them. (That is probably the last time we will ever mention soccer on this blog).
College Football:
There were some exciting games this past weekend, but as for the ones we care about, there were 4. TCU blew the doors off Wyoming despite playing awful. Good for the Mountain West, TCU now just needs 1 win to be guaranteed a BCS bowl berth and if by chance Texas slips up a shot at the national championship. Boise St blew out Utah St, this game was tied at 14 with 5 minutes left in the first half, and at half time it was 35-14 Boise St. Ridiculous outburst there, BSU looks good, but how about they play someone at least kind of good maybe. Utah slaughter-housed San Diego St, defense looked good, offense looked good, they are playing well. BYU meanwhile dominated Air Force. Max Hall looked good, Pitta looked better, bottom line here is that BYU's running backs are bigger than Air Force's defensive lineman, there is no way that a scenario like that ends well. Both teams are ranked in every poll, BYU is about 3 or 4 spots better in every poll. But throw it all our this weekend, this game will be a good one, I am not sure of the last time these two teams were more evenly matched. Should prove to provide some great fireworks this weekend. More will be coming over the coming days about the "Unholy War".
That's the View from the Upper Bowl for now.
Monday, November 16, 2009
It's Never Too Early For Rivalry Talk
Now that TCU has effectively drubbed both BYU and Utah into submission, we college football fans in the Beehive State can turn our attention to the "Unholy War" which will be played in approximately 12 days. The BYU/Utah down in Provo looks to be a classic. If both teams take care of business this weekend, they will both go into the match up at 9-2 and both will be ranked in the top 20.
So to kick off our coverage of the rivalry lets do the whole comparative scores thing (even though we know it doesn't work out that well). We will list their common opponents and the results of the game and see if we can come up with anything good.
Utah State: BYU won 35-17 Utah won 35-17
Not much of a difference there.
Colorado State: BYU won 42-23 Utah won 24-17
If we do the differential BYU is +12 (Won by 19 versus won by 7)
UNLV: BYU won 59-21 Utah won 35-15
Differential BYU +18. Running differential BYU +30
TCU: BYU lost 38-7 Utah lost 55-28
Differential Utah +4. Running differential BYU +26
Wyoming: BYU won 52-0 Utah won 22-10
Differential BYU +40. Running differential BYU +66
New Mexico: BYU won 24-19 Utah won 45-14
Differential Utah +26. Running differential BYU +40
Those are the common opponents of BYU and Utah to this point. The real crazy scores are the Wyoming and New Mexico games. BYU killed Wyoming while Utah barely scraped by. Likewise Utah killed New Mexico while BYU barely scraped by. TCU meanwhile exposed both teams. BYU's offense was supposed to be their strong point, they only scored 7 against TCU. Utah's defense is their best phase of the game, they gave up 55 points to TCU. I would submit that right now we have no idea which of these two teams is better, although the common opponent comparison leans heavily in BYU's favor. More will be coming on the Unholy War, but for now feel free to disagree with me however you wish.
**Just as a side note going into the rivalry game in 2008, the running differential showed Utah as a +88, in 2007 it had Utah as a +16 and in 2006 it had BYU as a +97**
So to kick off our coverage of the rivalry lets do the whole comparative scores thing (even though we know it doesn't work out that well). We will list their common opponents and the results of the game and see if we can come up with anything good.
Utah State: BYU won 35-17 Utah won 35-17
Not much of a difference there.
Colorado State: BYU won 42-23 Utah won 24-17
If we do the differential BYU is +12 (Won by 19 versus won by 7)
UNLV: BYU won 59-21 Utah won 35-15
Differential BYU +18. Running differential BYU +30
TCU: BYU lost 38-7 Utah lost 55-28
Differential Utah +4. Running differential BYU +26
Wyoming: BYU won 52-0 Utah won 22-10
Differential BYU +40. Running differential BYU +66
New Mexico: BYU won 24-19 Utah won 45-14
Differential Utah +26. Running differential BYU +40
Those are the common opponents of BYU and Utah to this point. The real crazy scores are the Wyoming and New Mexico games. BYU killed Wyoming while Utah barely scraped by. Likewise Utah killed New Mexico while BYU barely scraped by. TCU meanwhile exposed both teams. BYU's offense was supposed to be their strong point, they only scored 7 against TCU. Utah's defense is their best phase of the game, they gave up 55 points to TCU. I would submit that right now we have no idea which of these two teams is better, although the common opponent comparison leans heavily in BYU's favor. More will be coming on the Unholy War, but for now feel free to disagree with me however you wish.
**Just as a side note going into the rivalry game in 2008, the running differential showed Utah as a +88, in 2007 it had Utah as a +16 and in 2006 it had BYU as a +97**
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The War of 18 & 12
The Peyton Manning lead Colts represent everything that is good in this world. Their uniforms are blue and white...the same color of the blessed Cougars of BYU. Their owner is a devout god loving Christian. Their new coach Jim Caldwell is a quiet unassuming guy much like his predecessor. The Colts pride themselves on playing the game the right way...within the rulebook. They win by executing better than their foes...by being smarter.
The Patriots are the polar opposite. Their wins come from being sly, cunning and devious. All aspects that are direct reflections of their wicked coach Bill Belichick. They gain victory from exploiting other teams, by looking at the rule book and then conveniently forgetting certain pages. When it comes down to it the Patriots cheat....plain and simple. Yeah they don't film practices anymore, but a zebra can't change his stripes. The Hoodie is smart and I'm sure he's found other advantages outside the realm of honesty and honor.
Tom Brady is no different. This guy believes he is above the rules of the game and with Belichick as his coach why shouldn't he believe that? Brady thinks it a serious penalty if his jersey gets dirty and I've heard rumor that he's petitioned for getting his own yellow flag so that if anyone brushes his knees he can call the penalty himself instead of waiting for the ref to do it for him. Tom has won championships on the leg of his kicker and the whistle of refs who he has manipulated into thinking he's anything more than a frat boy with a hot girlfriend.
Once again Brady will square up against Manning and the War of 18 & 12 will add another chapter to it's story. A story not only of football, but of good vs evil and I'm telling you that good will prevail.
Peyton to Collie has such a nice ring to it....
Guys read this article. It has so much insight into what goes into the Colts offense and how impressive the play of Austin Collie really is. BTW the Colts will beat the Patsies this coming Sunday. I would say more, but I'm saving that for later. Anyway...just click on the title of this post and it will take you right to the article. I'm interested in what you guys think.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Group Disagreement
Alright this is an idea I want to try out and see how it goes. Each week I want to post a topic with 3 general questions pertaining to that topic, and then have anyone who reads this blog or stumbles across it debate the issues and see where it takes us.
This weeks topic: College Football
1. In light of ESPN's College Gameday coming to a Mountain West school for the 3rd time this year (a remarkable fact) is the Mountain West gaining credibility nationally? Or is it just the Big 3 (TCU, BYU and Utah) that are getting the recognition? Does that credibility put them on the same level as some of the BCS conferences? Will this eventually lead to an automatic bid for the Mountain West into a BCS game?
2. Considering the national landscape of college football this year, will 2 non-bcs teams (Boise St. and TCU/Utah) break the barrier and get into BCS games? Could one play for a title this year? Ever?
3. Finally, how would you fix college football? Playoff? How big of a playoff? Keep everything the same? Why?
Ok feel free to debate any issue that I came up with or create your own as you debate, hopefully everyone will jump in on this. We need some good clean debate going on.
Ready.... Set... Debate!
This weeks topic: College Football
1. In light of ESPN's College Gameday coming to a Mountain West school for the 3rd time this year (a remarkable fact) is the Mountain West gaining credibility nationally? Or is it just the Big 3 (TCU, BYU and Utah) that are getting the recognition? Does that credibility put them on the same level as some of the BCS conferences? Will this eventually lead to an automatic bid for the Mountain West into a BCS game?
2. Considering the national landscape of college football this year, will 2 non-bcs teams (Boise St. and TCU/Utah) break the barrier and get into BCS games? Could one play for a title this year? Ever?
3. Finally, how would you fix college football? Playoff? How big of a playoff? Keep everything the same? Why?
Ok feel free to debate any issue that I came up with or create your own as you debate, hopefully everyone will jump in on this. We need some good clean debate going on.
Ready.... Set... Debate!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
These Are a Few Of My Favorite Things
Guys I'm feeling a bit better since the Jazz manhandled the Spurs the other day. I'm not satisfied by any means, but like Deron, my mood is a little lighter and I feel like singing. Since I'm not a song writer I just took another song and bent it to my jolly will. If you don't know already these new and improved lyrics go to the song "Favorite Things" from the musical the Sound of Music.
Trey balls by Memo and sick D-Will handles
His floater, his dishes, CP3 can’t hold a candle
AK’s bad hairdos and the F bombs Sloan sings
These are a few of my favorite things
When the refs suck
When the Lakers win
When I’m effing mad
I think of a few of my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad
Dwight Freeney’s spin move and Bob Sanders’ blitzes
Hit Brady so hard, give him 48 stitches
Peyton to Reggie, another victory it brings
These are a few of my favorite things
When the refs blow
When the Pats win
When I’m effing mad
I think of a few of my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad
Sporting my jersey, the game on the tube
Cheerleaders in short shorts and shaking their…pom poms
The Jazz, Colts and Cougars all play my heartstrings
These are a few of my favorite things
When seasons over
When the game ends
When I’m feeling sad
I think of a few of my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad.
Trey balls by Memo and sick D-Will handles
His floater, his dishes, CP3 can’t hold a candle
AK’s bad hairdos and the F bombs Sloan sings
These are a few of my favorite things
When the refs suck
When the Lakers win
When I’m effing mad
I think of a few of my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad
Dwight Freeney’s spin move and Bob Sanders’ blitzes
Hit Brady so hard, give him 48 stitches
Peyton to Reggie, another victory it brings
These are a few of my favorite things
When the refs blow
When the Pats win
When I’m effing mad
I think of a few of my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad
Sporting my jersey, the game on the tube
Cheerleaders in short shorts and shaking their…pom poms
The Jazz, Colts and Cougars all play my heartstrings
These are a few of my favorite things
When seasons over
When the game ends
When I’m feeling sad
I think of a few of my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad.
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