Utah finds themselves in a strange position as they open their season at home on a Thursday night. The Utah Utes will likely be near double-digit favorites heading into the kickoff. Seldom will a Mountain West Conference team find themselves so heavily favored against a Big 12 opponent not named Baylor or Kansas, but closer inspection of both teams reveals the reason why.
Last season each of these programs went in opposite directions. Texas A&M finished a miserable year at 4-8 and completely out of the bowl picture. Utah finished 10-2 including a Liberty Bowl victory over Southern Miss. A&M did however win a squeaker over Utah at Kyle Field early in the season 28-26.
A&M took advantage of 9 Ute fumbles (only 3 lost) and the absence of Paris Warren to jump out to a 21-0 halftime lead. As Utah got their legs under them they fought back into the game eventually losing on a failed 2-point conversion with just seconds left on the clock. Utah controlled the time of possession and yardage stats, although A&M had the advantage where it counted. If this game had taken place later in the year there is no doubt Utah would have beat A&M by double digits.
Utah’s offense returns a very experienced and talented offensive line. Four of the five projected starters either started last year or received significant time in back-up roles. It should not take this unit much time to gel, which will be bad news for an A&M defensive line that was pushed around by most teams last year.
The Aggie defense undoubtedly will improve as the coming year unfolds. However doing so against a Utah team returning most of its potent offense should prove a tall order. Do not be surprised to see an experienced offensive line push around an A&M defensive line that may have to turn to several RS freshmen to provide depth and quality snaps.
Returning dual threat QB Alex Smith will stress the Aggie defense with his feet, arm and mind. Last year Smith surprised many Ute observers by becoming the perfect QB for Meyer’s system. His TD/Int ratio impressed, his decision making ability proved outstanding, and the 450 yards and 5 touchdown on the ground showed Ute fans a dimension not many thought Smith possessed.
Utah also returns three very experienced receivers. Paris Warren and Steven Savoy will be threats to score any time they touch the ball against an A&M secondary that struggled last year. If the Aggies load the box to stop Brandon Warfield’s replacement Mike Liti, Utah’s wide receivers should have a field day against an overmatched secondary. If A&M plays Utah to pass then Mike Liti or QB Alex Smith should be able to gain yards on the ground behind the experienced offensive line.
A balanced offense will test even the most stout of defenses. Utah should exploit A&M both on the ground and through the air. Although the Aggie D will be more talented than last year, they probably won’t be as cohesive as needed in the first game of the year. Certainly it's debatable if they would be a solid enough unit to stop Utah even at years end.
A&M’s offense last year was inconsistent at best. Although they showed the occasional flash the unit played in fairly pedestrian style outside of returning RB Courtney Lewis. A healthy A&M offensive line will get a test against a good front four of Utah. I don’t expect their sieve like play to continue from last year, but as always it will take this group longer to gel due to the lack of playing time together as a unit. It likely won't happen in game one on the road.
Courtney Lewis should be able to make decent yards, but the big question mark will again be Reggie McNeal. Will McNeal be able to consistently make good decisions to keep drives alive? Will the line give McNeal the time he needs? Can he pass accurately enough to take advantage of what could be a very good group of wide receivers? How did his shoulder injury that sidelined him during the spring affect his development?
The Utes shuffled around the secondary in the off-season and their corners are largely untested. Their front seven should be strong although their options at middle linebacker appear undersized. However both DT’s are great against the run and weigh over three hundred pounds, which might limit the MLB exposure to the offensive line. I do not expect Utah to shut down the Aggies offense all night long, but until Reggie McNeal plays well consistently I have little faith in him to get the job done. The fate of the entire offense rests on his shoulders.
Summary
Utah returns a very experienced team that performed well last year. A&M’s returning starters come from the worst Aggie football team in over two decades. Utah will not need the time to gel that A&M will require. While Utah played as ugly a game as possible last year they almost pulled out a victory in Kyle Field. A&M’s defense will not be solid early in the year especially against Utah given the Utes ability to run, pass to experienced wideouts, and dual threat QB Alex Smith.
Regardless of the respective conferences of each team, Utah appears to be the more talented of the two teams. They are the more experienced team. They are the home team in a nationally televised game on ESPN against a historically poor road team in A&M. Coach Urban Meyer in no way takes a back seat to Franchione. They are simply the better team and in my opinion they should be able to collect a double digit win.
If you click the link and scroll down a bit I also have a Texas A&M season preview for anyone interested. As I said on another thread this is just my personal, absolutely free, no touting, no service, and certainly no way to give me money even you really wanted to personal website that I work on simply because I like to write.
Other games I like:
Texas Tech
Texas
Oregon State
Houston (still researching this one)
Either way let me hear your thoughts about the thursday night or weekend match-ups. I'd love to get a good discussion going on the merits of either side and I certainly don't mind being wrong since I've done it so often
please leave the leading statements to your site, and the links out of our forums please.....we have a promotions area for that.......thank you
Last season each of these programs went in opposite directions. Texas A&M finished a miserable year at 4-8 and completely out of the bowl picture. Utah finished 10-2 including a Liberty Bowl victory over Southern Miss. A&M did however win a squeaker over Utah at Kyle Field early in the season 28-26.
A&M took advantage of 9 Ute fumbles (only 3 lost) and the absence of Paris Warren to jump out to a 21-0 halftime lead. As Utah got their legs under them they fought back into the game eventually losing on a failed 2-point conversion with just seconds left on the clock. Utah controlled the time of possession and yardage stats, although A&M had the advantage where it counted. If this game had taken place later in the year there is no doubt Utah would have beat A&M by double digits.
Utah’s offense returns a very experienced and talented offensive line. Four of the five projected starters either started last year or received significant time in back-up roles. It should not take this unit much time to gel, which will be bad news for an A&M defensive line that was pushed around by most teams last year.
The Aggie defense undoubtedly will improve as the coming year unfolds. However doing so against a Utah team returning most of its potent offense should prove a tall order. Do not be surprised to see an experienced offensive line push around an A&M defensive line that may have to turn to several RS freshmen to provide depth and quality snaps.
Returning dual threat QB Alex Smith will stress the Aggie defense with his feet, arm and mind. Last year Smith surprised many Ute observers by becoming the perfect QB for Meyer’s system. His TD/Int ratio impressed, his decision making ability proved outstanding, and the 450 yards and 5 touchdown on the ground showed Ute fans a dimension not many thought Smith possessed.
Utah also returns three very experienced receivers. Paris Warren and Steven Savoy will be threats to score any time they touch the ball against an A&M secondary that struggled last year. If the Aggies load the box to stop Brandon Warfield’s replacement Mike Liti, Utah’s wide receivers should have a field day against an overmatched secondary. If A&M plays Utah to pass then Mike Liti or QB Alex Smith should be able to gain yards on the ground behind the experienced offensive line.
A balanced offense will test even the most stout of defenses. Utah should exploit A&M both on the ground and through the air. Although the Aggie D will be more talented than last year, they probably won’t be as cohesive as needed in the first game of the year. Certainly it's debatable if they would be a solid enough unit to stop Utah even at years end.
A&M’s offense last year was inconsistent at best. Although they showed the occasional flash the unit played in fairly pedestrian style outside of returning RB Courtney Lewis. A healthy A&M offensive line will get a test against a good front four of Utah. I don’t expect their sieve like play to continue from last year, but as always it will take this group longer to gel due to the lack of playing time together as a unit. It likely won't happen in game one on the road.
Courtney Lewis should be able to make decent yards, but the big question mark will again be Reggie McNeal. Will McNeal be able to consistently make good decisions to keep drives alive? Will the line give McNeal the time he needs? Can he pass accurately enough to take advantage of what could be a very good group of wide receivers? How did his shoulder injury that sidelined him during the spring affect his development?
The Utes shuffled around the secondary in the off-season and their corners are largely untested. Their front seven should be strong although their options at middle linebacker appear undersized. However both DT’s are great against the run and weigh over three hundred pounds, which might limit the MLB exposure to the offensive line. I do not expect Utah to shut down the Aggies offense all night long, but until Reggie McNeal plays well consistently I have little faith in him to get the job done. The fate of the entire offense rests on his shoulders.
Summary
Utah returns a very experienced team that performed well last year. A&M’s returning starters come from the worst Aggie football team in over two decades. Utah will not need the time to gel that A&M will require. While Utah played as ugly a game as possible last year they almost pulled out a victory in Kyle Field. A&M’s defense will not be solid early in the year especially against Utah given the Utes ability to run, pass to experienced wideouts, and dual threat QB Alex Smith.
Regardless of the respective conferences of each team, Utah appears to be the more talented of the two teams. They are the more experienced team. They are the home team in a nationally televised game on ESPN against a historically poor road team in A&M. Coach Urban Meyer in no way takes a back seat to Franchione. They are simply the better team and in my opinion they should be able to collect a double digit win.
If you click the link and scroll down a bit I also have a Texas A&M season preview for anyone interested. As I said on another thread this is just my personal, absolutely free, no touting, no service, and certainly no way to give me money even you really wanted to personal website that I work on simply because I like to write.
Other games I like:
Texas Tech
Texas
Oregon State
Houston (still researching this one)
Either way let me hear your thoughts about the thursday night or weekend match-ups. I'd love to get a good discussion going on the merits of either side and I certainly don't mind being wrong since I've done it so often
please leave the leading statements to your site, and the links out of our forums please.....we have a promotions area for that.......thank you
