Welcome to the Pac-12, Utah Utes. The first BcS buster in history now has a seat at one of the big boy tables. Hopefully, this trend continues and we get some super-conferences going. Then, an actual legitimate post season, with playoffs will be the next logical progression. So thank you Utah!
But enough f the macro, and back to the micro. The Utes should fit in quite well in the Pac-12, with their high octane passing attack. Offensive Coordinator supreme Norm Chow converts the O from the spread-option to a “multiple formation” West Coast system.
For the Utes season preview in basketball go here
2010 was: perfect…until November. They were ranked in the top 5, before back to back blowout losses to TCU and Notre Dame. Still 10-3 is nothing to sneeze at. They did lose to Boise St. in their bowl game, but last fall was another year in the program’s upward swing.
BMOCs: QB Jordan Wynn, he should thrive in Chow’s new system. WR DeVonte Christopher is the main target. RT Tony Bergstrom is NFL bound.
2011 will be fruitful if: Head Coach Kyle Whittingham plays nice with Chow. No reason to think they shouldn’t. But there is a huge concern on defense, zero starters return in both the secondary and on the DL. That’s right zero. They were 11th in the nation against the run last year. That number will probably drop down some.
2011 will be awful if: They can’t adjust to a BcS conference opponent every week. They’re ready, but it’ll still be a major adjustment. They have a lot of talent at RB, but depth is not settled. They’ll need to see who the feature ball-carrier will be among “the two Utes” (said in My Cousin Vinny voice) Thretton Palamo and Harvy Langi who might win the starting job.
Bottom Line: Probably a re-loading year, but there’s still enough to get to 7-5. Better and brighter days ahead.
Utah Rankings: #48 Athlon, #42 Lindy’s, #55 Phil Steele
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Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports You can follow him on Twitter