After rushing for over 100 yards in the first half, Tate is benched by McBride. When your team is looking at 0-4 what point can possibly be important enough to make like that? Is there any one left who is willing to defend the crazy old circus monkey?

I defy anyone to make a good argument why we should not do the following:

1. Go on fourth down anytime we are inside 35. Whetman is now hitting 10% of his kicks. If we go on fourth down and only get it one of every five tries isn't that better? Besides, you sacrifice LESS field position than you do on a FG where you give up 7 yards if you miss.

2. Start playing one of our young quarterbacks. Darnell cannot hit wide open recievers down field even when he some how manages to make a decision about where he is going to throw. Croshaw is a turn over machine. How could giving our future QB's some experience possibly hurt us?

Finally, I don't think that during the season is the time to get ride of a coach. However, with the excellent work that Chris Hill has done and the commitment of our university to improving athletics, it will be very disappointing if they don't pony up, admit their mistake, and buy out McBride's contract. Beating BYU should not make any difference. This is one of the most talented Ute teams I have ever seen and responsibility for this abortion of a season rests squarely on the shoulders of the coach.

M.A.F.U.

McBride
Always
F***s
Up

Adam Tate was just interviewed by KFAN (AM 1320). He was pretty upset that he didn't play in the 2nd half. Apparently the coaches heard from somebody that Tate was tired, so instead of talking to him about it, they decided to bench him the rest of the game. How bleeping stupid is that??? None of the coaches spoke with Tate. None of them!

Thank God FlushBoy was ill and we didn't make the trek to R-E. I feel sorry for those fans who sat huddled in the cold watching another offensive debacle.

This has got to be one of the biggest underachieving teams in Ute history! More specific rantings:

Whetman forgets to go out to be the punter. When's enough enough? McBride did say on the postgame with Giggles Marcroft that we may pursue "other avenues" in the kicking game. What a great new thought.

Why on earth do we call passes to the line of scrimmage on 3rd and 13 (or similar downs)? That's stupid.

Attendence is pathetic. Why? Because the way they allocate tickets is honked up. It guarantees the geriatrics own the seats and they're either not going to go if the game time temperature is below 65 or if they think the game will end after their bedtime of 9:00pm. People who want to get a good ticket and will support the team in person (not just with a check) won't bother because they see they can't get a good seat and they're disappointed with the product on the field.

The stated case on pulling Tate in the second half was to give him a breather. In my book that's maybe a series at most, not the whole half. If they're in that bad of shape we're hosed for the rest of the year.

I'm pissed. I'm going to bed. I hope I'll be in a better mood come tomorrow, but if I watch the coach's show I'll likely be pissed again.

Bring on Oct. 15 and the basketball team!

As it trying to rush from the airport through all the typical hassles there isn't enough, then I attended another miserable game. The defense and special teams has scored as many touchdowns as the offense. Kicking game? I cringe every time they don't go for 4th and 13 from the 30.

This team has too much talent to perform this poorly. The offense is loaded with talent, yet the quarterback and the play calling does nothing to get them the ball. I can think of two instances where Russell and Smith had their guys beat. If there was a quarterback on the team (BYU has a few the Utes could use) that could deliver the ball to them, it is six. I was actually surprised to see a post route actually completed. Maybe Lee is feeling frisky and decided the middle of the field isn't forbidden territory. Tate was awesome for the 2 1/2 quarters he was used. The line actually gave him some creases to run. But all and all, the offense is floundering worse than I can ever remember (the Fassell days is all, so that isn't much). SOMETHING has to give.

I won't even get into the kicking game. Someone recruit some of the Freezz or Blitzz players that want a degree. They could do much better, and I wouldn't cry every time they were trotted out there.

Credit to Air Force though. That receiver (#5, don't recall his name) was nails. The TD on Dyson was actually very good coverage. He was right there, but the guy made a great play to get the ball. The play he wrestled it from Parker comes to mind as well.

By the way, Parker had a great game, IMO. He supported the run very well and made several good plays on the pass. The one play I mentioned, he was right there on an underthrown ball. The guys has star quality on defense. There are actually a lot of players on the team that have star quality, but the coaches don't set them up well. If I hear the coaching staff mention "execution" one more time, I'm going to puke. If you are the Packers of the 60's, all you need to do is execute on offense. At some point the coaches need to get inventive and call a game that most of us "feeble football minds" can't guess with tiring regularity.

It season will be very difficult to salvage. Next week against the Aggies is huge (did I just say that????). This team needs some confidence in a major, major way.

Jeromy in SLC

> "11-0 oops, we're all dyslexic, it was supposed to be 0-11"... from the editor of the Football publication that listed us to go unbeaten.

> The QB situation is awful... Arcenueax took off multiple times when he had recievers open downfield. Who taught him that once you start to scramble you can't look downfield. I have a feeling if anyone on the bench was better than Crowshaw he would be playing. We don't have anyone who can make reads and deliver the pill on target. It will be hard to win against good teams, unless Mike Anderson is in the backfield.

> Defense was good. AF dropped 31 on BYU and was leading the nation in offense. For the most part we contained the option, and the passing was only effective because......

> Someone needs to teach the DB's to knock the ball away instead of trying to intercept. AF's wide reciever made two great plays taking the ball out Dyson and Parker's hands, but if we would have tried to knock the ball down, instead of intercept, then those were two incompletions. Interceptions are flashy, but incompletions are effective. Too much selfishness going for stats.

> If Whetman had any balls he would give his scholarship back and join the fans in the stadium. Has any one player in recent memory caused more damage to the team on a consistent basis. He is going to be a ESPN highlight very soon...for the wrong reason. Forgetting to go on the field for a kick (the third time this year) is inexcusable. Kick him off the team now. There are people who can hit 100 straight free throws in a gym, but that doesn't mean they are basketball players. Whetman is not a kicker.

> Special teams plays were awful. My pet peeve is that everyone thinks Patrick Dyson is the hero for his TD, but Steve Smith sprung him with a block that took out two defenders. When Smith caught the ball on two kickoffs, I saw Dyson miss easy blocks on both occassions and those players caught smith both times. Our offense has trouble with this as well. Too many pretty boys.

> This excludes the o-line, which blocked reasonably well for the first time. Adam Tate was a discovery and I just can't believe that he was taken out because someone told the coaches he was too tired. Even they are that stupid (hard to believe) I think they were giving Hunter his time, just like bacon got it last year. Please tell me they weren't that stupid.

> Why is it that our punt coverage doesn't split wideouts like every other team in the nation? Are we just that much smarter?

> Why don't our punt return players block the other team's wideouts at the line of scrimmage? Their role appears to be to run along along side of the coverage player and either a) watch them kill steve smith, or b) block someone in the back once smith has sprung the return for a touchdown.

> I feel bad for the defensive warriors on the team, especially Kautai, Brandon Dart and the D-line. Those guys give up their bodies and play with full heart on every play and the offense is so pathetic it all goes to waste.

> You can see Tommy Lee try and be inventive. It just doesn't work. Copying WYO and giving a handoff to cliff russell was a nice idea, but since we faked it twice before we actually tried it, it wasn't new to AF. Not all the offensive problems are his fault. How much can you do without a good QB? But there are so many things wrong with the O that he can't escape the lion's share of the blame.

>I also feel for steve smith. Yeah he takes risks but he gives up his all on every play and he may be the most exciting player ever at the U (including errol tucker). He is also a complete player. Watch him block or run his routes when their is a run play...full out. And our dumb ass coaches or QB's can't get him the ball. Jerry Rice was a marked man for 12 years, yet he still managed to put up record numbers and they still got him the ball. Smith has to be the most frustrated man on the team.

I really have gotten past the point of caring, but venting helps. A couple of years ago, a couple of rows of us season ticket holders have been waiting for a year like this so that McBride would go. We realized he has gone as far as he can go, and to stay with him would just backslide. Well, it has finally imploded, and as much as I like Ronnie, the football program needs a different captain, and at least certainly a new OC

> the way to stop caring is to believe they suck and will lose every game. Now they are only fulfilling expectations. It worked well in the 80's and is an effective therapy this year.

The Trib lists attendence at 37,400 or so last night. Pure BS. I'll stick with my 25K max estimate, and for Homecoming no less. I'm sure all those HS kids watching on TV are just thrilled about getting a recruiting letter from Utah and the chance to play in front of 20,000 empty seats 11 of 12 games every two years with the 12th one filled with Zoobs every other year.

I think we're getting what we deserve based on our fan "support."

But I thought it was god punishing me for gambling (every week--always on Utah--always losing). Now, I discover that the dismal season is the fault of people like me not showing up to use our tickets. Well you may have a point--perhaps with a full stadium yelling helpful reminders maybe the players would remember when to go into the game.

If everyone showed up AND crammed themselves into a single endzone perhaps the field would tilt causing the ball to roll into the endzone. Once the team saw that the big bad end zone monster didn't come out and eat the ball maybe they would be willing to take the ball in on their own.

With a full crowd we might be able to find enough strong guys to rip the goal post into two separate pieces after which one upright could be stationed near the Hunstman center and the other down around Hires. Maybe then someone could kick it between the two.

In fact, I think that more than just a crowd is needed. A university is a diverse place, and each Department is going to have to start sharing the blame for this rather disappointing season. For instance, it is apparent that no one on the team is capable of actually starting a play within 25 seconds of the previous one. Where are the computer science nerds? You guys need to get on the case and SLOW DOWN THAT DAMN CLOCK. Hack into the system and get it done. If you can get some help from the Physics boys and figure out a way to alter time itself then all the better. The Business school can get involved--I don't really know what it is you fellas learn over there but it seems to require a multitude of day-timers and PDA's so howzabout donating some of those little reminder helpers to the team so they know where they are supposed to be on Saturday afternoons (and hopefully what they are supposed to be doing).

Even the Dance people can get involved to get this thing turned around. Let's have some girls down there dancing to distract the other team (and I'm not talking about BALLET if you know what I mean--yet--perhaps BALLET would be distracting--figure it out and do whatever helps the most). You folks at the Law school--figure out someone to sue and then SUE THE BASTARDS. I'd ask President Machen to help but we all know how busy he is looking for an alcohol problem to solve so I don't think he'd have any extra time.

Anyway, with everyone just pitching in a little harder the problems that have prevented the sweet sensation of victory will be overcome and all will be well in Utedom. Oh, but we will need help from one other department first. Can anyone at the Medical center provide some help in removing helmets from the rectal region (please be advised that heads are in them)?

WHY ARE WE SO BAD?

We have some outstanding athletes like: Russel, Smith, Dyson Olevao,Dart, Parker, Kaufusi, etc. etc. The coach doesn't know how to get it done. There is NO excuse for our play. Mac refuses to take responsibility. He always finds an excuse. He says something like, "The game plan was correct, we just didn't execute it right." Come on Mac, give me a break.

I was a season ticket holder in 74 and 75 when we went 1 - 10. The difference was that we had no athletes and a coach trying to build the program. Everything is much different now. I am so ticked off about this season. I suspected we wold have some troubles, but I did not suspect anything like this.

In conclusion Mac must go and he must go now. We blame Lee much too much. Mac is the one ultimately responsible. I'm sorry because Mac is a nice guy, but we can no longer wait. Buy him out and get on with rebuilding this football program.

In his post-game comments, Mac said that Tate did not play much in the second half because he was tired and not in condition. Now I read in the Tribune that Tate was not tired, but someone told the coach he was. I don't know what would be worse, a player who could not get himself into playing shape after being on campus for almost 5 weeks, a coaching staff that couldn't get a player in playing condition in 5 weeks, coaches who rely on second hand information in making player decisions, a teamate who would lie to get PT. Something is terribly wrong.

I have been critical of play-calling in the past, so in an attempt to be fair, I thought the play-calling was good. I also thought that playing Morgan as the H-back was a good way to improve the running game.

I still think Mac should check out women soccer players for the kicking position.

A new marketing ploy. Use the field goal kicker position as a contest for students. Win the contest and have the opportunity to drill a field goal attempt into the back of the offensive line.

It has been a long time since I missed a game in Logan. Afraid I just don't have it in me to go this year. Oh well, I'm probably not alone.

I am still trying to decide where to begin...I thought it was just turnovers in the first three games...I was wrong. The Utes came out +1 against AF, and it still did not come out with a victory. It's not bad enough the team is playing shitty, they have to come out in white pants at home thinking this is some kind of karma changer. PATHETIC!

Play calling is still horrible. The QB is getting worse every year. Darnell made bad reads, and when he made the right reads he overthrows the receiver by 10 yards. I know it is easy to be a armchair coach or QB, but T.L. doesn't know his head from his ass about running an offense. run, run, pass again through 3 quarters, and then all of the sudden pass, pass, pass.

I didn't take stats this time because I was expecting rain, and trying to stay warm. The impression I got though was they ran that stupid formation with Morgan lined up over the tight end just about every play. Do they know how to line up two backs in and I formation, or split on either side of the QB? Very little motion, and no imagination. They tried the Wyoming play after they faked it 2 or 3 times. DUH! Where is the pass to the running back underneath? Do we have a tight end to throw to or is he just there to block? Deception, and misdirection to keep the other team guessing what weapon you are giving the ball to would be nice. Mix up the play calling more. Use more formations other than 2 a game. Someone posted the running backs line up 5 yards if it is a run, and 3-4 yards if it is a pass. I hope they are not that predictable, but that would explain alot. T.L. does not know what sudden change means. The Utes recover the punt fumble on the 13 yard line. What does he call? A dive up the middle as if they were on the 3 yard line. What about the quick slant which they tried on 3rd down but Darnell palmed the ball 1/2 second too long. INCOMPLETE! The quick slant should have come on first down for the quick strike IMO.

I also heard a caller on the post game on 910 saying on a punt return the Utes only had 10 players on the field. Forget illegal participation, these guys don't even want to be on the field! Just ask Golden Wetbed about that. This is a sorry excuse for a football team. They have major disciplinary problems, and I don't care what anyone says not being on the field when you are supposed to is a discipline problem. The Steve Smith deal that is playing out now is a prime example of favoritism, and the politics that seem to be melting this team down. This is a team with no identity, and it is hard to believe with almost everyone returning from last season.

I don' have percentages, but the Utes have done a flip flop from last season. I think it was Aflons that said the Utes scored a TD 78% of the time in the red zone, and the defense was allowing something like 32% last year. I would say the Utes red zone is at 5%, and the defense is giving up about 60% this year. The blame doesn't solely go to the offense. If they would put some points on the board(17-21 oh who am I kidding no field goals lets just say 21 points which I would consider an average showing)it would mean a world of difference. I expected it to happen by now, and it hasn't. This team is in serious trouble, and is imploding. Mac better make some changes to his staff(McNabb,T.L.)or he will get run. I still support Mac, but am growing tired of the excuses. "Football Gods"? come down to earth Darnell, and smell the coffee. I think the dreadlocks have infected his brain.

Sorry for the negativity, but there are so few poitives with this team right now. I don't want Mac to go, but if he doesn't make some changes he must go. He is the head coach, over recruting, assistant coaches etc... I still think the players are responsible for making the plays to win the game. The coaching however has to give them an opportunity to succeed. All phases of the game are hurting right now.
Offense gets an F
Defense gets a C
Special teams gets an F

I was expecting 7-4 from this team, not 3-8 or 4-7. The wheels have come off, and I don't think they have any spares to put on. I just don't see any promise form this team yet. I am now throwing in the towell, and just enjoying the comedy of errors. Keith Jackson was making fun of the Wetbed situation. How embarassing for him, Mac, and the U. I'm just venting, and rambling now so NUFF SAID

GO UTES!!!!!! not a big basketball fan, but I am looking forward to it after an 0-4 start.

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