Utah 42

Louisiana - Monroe 0

It's difficult to assess this game based on the weak competition. Anything I say, please take that into consideration.

I noticed that Mike Runge wasn't doing the P.A. work in the stadium. For once it actually sounded like the P.A. person knew the players names. Runge is a complete joke and so is the work he does on Fox 13. Here's hoping he doesn't come back. Maybe he'll take Brad Stone, Bill Marcroft, Mike Norseth, and Mike Brown with him.

QB) Offense play calling in the first quarter was ridiculous. The stubborn mentality of, "lets cram it down their throat" will never work. Every team we play will force Utah to beat them with the pass. The first quarter was run, run, and 3rd and long. Not once did we try any play action or passing on 1st or 2nd down. When we did pass it was the screen. Darnell looked bad but I'm not sure if he was fully to blame. When Croshaw came in the play calling completely changed. All the sudden for the first time of the year we started pushing the ball down field. I don't know if that was the coaches finally getting it or Croshaw style was more condusive to the down field pass. Know this, Croshaw looks better in the pocket, has a stronger arm, throws a better ball (long and short), and gives the Utes a passing threat. We'll see what he can do against Air Force. Why can't Darnell (don't squeeze the Sharmen) Arseneaux take a hit? It's embarrassing. He's so soft. Hopefully the Croshaw performance will make that foot feel better quicker.

OL) Didn't run block very well until the second half. Important to consider that it was a patch work OL without White and Cochran. OL did a great job pass blocking and picking up the blitz, giving T.D. time to throw. McKane and Moleni (77) got in late and looked good. We've got some depth on the line.

RB) Someone explain to me why people are high on Bacon? His running style isn't a fit with our offense. He's more of a outside runner as is Crockett. Morgan's style is more like Anderson's which is between the tackles. IMO Morgan should be the #2 back in the offense and get more carries. I realize that McBride has a huge loyalty to Omar. Morgan and Crockett looked good. I was hoping that we would get the ball to D'shawn in the flat. He reminds me of a poor man's Ronny Jenkins.

WR) Looked great, probably best game of the year (I think due to the play calling). Smith dropped a 1st down on Darnell which didn't help in the first quarter. Smith, Utu, Bendinger looked great. LMU was pressing the line of scrimmage with their corners all game, finally we took advantage. That streak from T.D. to Smith in the 3rd quarter gave me chills (great pass and catch).

K/P) Hunter had his first real good game of the year. I might be in the minority with this but I would've liked to see the coaches stick with Whetman. When you start pulling kickers I think bad things will happen. When Truhe struggles will Whetman be ready or will he be a head case? I'm not ready for the two headed dragon at kicker.

DB) The hole Defense looked great against a poor offense (although they looked better then us in the first quarter). Our corners may be the best in the MWC (time will tell). Hill had another good game and I don't even think he's our best cover guy. Andre is the man. We're four deep at corner. Having Dart back against AF will be key, I watched him work out before the game, I think he'll be ready next week.

DL) Put great pressure on all day (some due to DB's coverage). Pine, Frank, and Smith were real good. Smith looks undersized but gets great penetration. He's a real stud and is quickly taking over for Maake as the DL stud. It will be interesting to see him play against Air Force. He has great speed, just plays the whole field.

LB) Finally Lave broke the lineup. Hopefully he will stick. He's a big hitter and quick for his size. IMO he's better then Tufunga at the MLB spot and has been stiffed since he was a freshman by not getting into games to show it. Olevao was adequate not great. I keep waiting for him to have that break through game. I have a feeling it will be against AFA. Christenson has good speed at the WLB, made a few big plays.

Did the play calling change as a result of the coaches recognizing that they needed to pass more, or was it due to a better passer being the Ute QB. I don't think that there was any coincidence AT ALL that the Utes passed more, more effectively and the offense was much better with TD Croshaw in the game. He has proven that he is a better passer and that is really what Utah needs at the QB spot.

I am calling my shot right now. Utah will NOT win the MWC title with Darnell the starting QB, but will have a very good shot at it with Croshaw.

Utes Rule

KFAN played a sound bite from Boo after the LMU game. He said that the Offensive coordinator have got to figure out that they can't run against 9 man fronts. He sounded upset and said it in a very critical way. It sounded to me that he was blaming the past offensive lapses (BSU loss and 1st quarter against LMU) on Tommy Lee. The talking head said that he senced a feeling in the clubhouse of desention on the subject with other players. He went on to say if this was a major media market that statement would be all over the papers. He predictated that Boo would later say he was taken out of context to soften his statement. To me the comment (even though 100% correct), shows a lack of discipline and should be something that McBride addresses. Did anybody else hear the comment? If so, what did you think?

I heard this as well, and your opinion mirrors my own. I wouldn't argue with Boo about his view of things, but I question his judgement in making the statement publicly. I heard two other things he said as well. In the first, he basically said that he prefers Croshaw as a QB because the offense opens up. He then went on to say that when he's not involved in the game early on, that he tends to lose his concentration. With as many drops as he's had over his career, I'm already convinced that his concentration could be sharper.

The other thing he did that bothered me, was after his first TD on Saturday, he did just a little wiggle/shimmy/whatever. After the criticism he took last week about his dance after the BSU touchdown, I would have thought he'd be the last guy to do any kind of personal celebrating.

All of these things are selfish, and show a lack of respect for his teammates and coaches. McBride probably ought to react, but needs to be careful about how he punishes one guy for saying what many others may be thinking.

All things considered, Boo's timing sucks.

Mark

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