Seems like the perfect time to say thank you to everyone.

by UteThunder 2013-05-25 21:58:12

Thank you to everyone who posts messages with sexual images embedded, like the one below this message, without linking to it with an NSFW.

This past week Utefans.net was classified as "adult content" by my employer and it is due to these types of images being embedded. I am no longer allowed to access utefans from work during my down time because of this.

So a great big THANK YOU to everyone who had a hand in making this happen.

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Some opening weekend betting lines . . .

by UteThunder 2013-05-19 18:14:16

Games of interest:

Utah State
Utah -4.5

USC -24
Hawaii

Washington State
Auburn -14

Northwestern -6
California

Nevada
UCLA -13

BYU -4
Virginia

Boise State
Washington -3

UMass
Wisconsin -45

Colorado -4.5
Colorado State

LSU -4.5
TCU

More Lines

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Holy moly! Check out Weddle's 3 year old son doing pushups.

by UteThunder 2013-05-16 13:57:08

Future Ute Great?

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Most Important Player

by UteThunder 2013-05-15 17:16:44

A few days back, the question was asked: Who is the most important player for Utah?

I went with the LB's and O-line. I know, not an individual player, but I believe our team's success hinges on those two groups being significantly better than last year.

Here is Kevin Gemmell's pick.

Pac-12 Blog

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The Ute nickname is going away one way or another.

by UteThunder 2013-04-22 10:35:56

Not wearing head-dresses is NOT going to stop this from happening.

There are some people who think we shouldn't use the Ute name because it is offensive to Native Americans, regardless of whether or not it is done in a respectful way. And these people aren't even Native Americans.

There are others who are tired of trying to keep the Ute Tribal Council happy just so we can use the Ute name. These people think the financial agreements between the University of Utah and the Ute tribe are not worth continuing just to call ourselves Utes.

These two groups will eventually get what they want; a new nickname with no strings attached.

So, go ahead, get offended on behalf of the Ute tribe and do away with all Native American imagery. The only thing you are doing is preventing the Utah Admin from scapegoating the fans when the name change eventually happens.

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Colorado QB's dropping like flies.

by UteThunder 2013-04-21 15:42:22

First Jordan Webb tears an ACL earlier this Spring and now Nick Hirschman is transferring.

Nick Hirshman Transferring


On a side note, I'm sure byu fans think Coach MacIntyre is being petty by limiting his transfer options.

"Colorado is granting his release to any non Pac-12 school or any other school not on Colorado's 2013 & 2014 schedules."

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I have to ask . . .

by UteThunder 2013-04-18 09:17:17

When making a comparison, why do people say "better THAT" or "more THAT" instead of "better THAN" or "more THAN"?

For example: 'My football team is better that yours.'

I see it used so consistently there is just no way it is a typo.

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What did one math book say to the other math book?

by UteThunder 2013-03-25 21:07:12

-

"You've got problems, man."

-

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Former Ute Swimmer, Todd Bradley interviewed on 1280 this morning:

by UteThunder 2013-03-12 15:33:13

Todd Bradley, a former Ute swimmer from 2006-2010 was interviewed this morning about the accusations against Winslow and the University of Utah.

After listening to the interview I'm even more inclined to believe this whole thing is much ado about nothing(aside from the sexual abuse allegations that occurred in Arizona). And if not for a handful of disgruntled athletes and their helicopter mommies and daddies, this story would have started and ended with Winslow being fired for the Arizona charges.

The part that stood out to me the most from the interview is when they say SEVEN athletes filed complaints going back to 2008. The Yahoo article makes it sound like DOZENS of swimmers filed complaints and the University ignored a mountain of evidence. In reality it sounds like the University had a handful of athletes complain about a coach(likely 1 or 2 complaints/year over 5 years), the University looked into it and when they couldn't find anyone or anything to verify the accusations they decided not to take any action.


Bradley verifies that the PVC pipes and mesh bags were normal parts of practice, they served a legitimate training purpose, and he never saw anything he would consider wrong or abusive.

Todd Bradley Interview


I'll bet every University gets at least a few athlete complaints in several sports every year. If they suspended or fired the coach every time it happened, schools would be replacing coaches on a yearly basis.

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Yesterday's brief thread about WR depth heading into Spring.

by UteThunder 2013-03-01 10:05:49

It was mentioned that Norwood, Fitzgerald and Pedroza all return and all 3 had "moments of promise last season"; the point being that those 3 coupled with Scott, Dres, and Denham give us depth at the WR position.

I'm sorry, but I just don't see it.

Of those 3, only Fitzgerald caught a pass last year.

We have a couple of good WRs coming back...

Anderson: 36 Rec - 365 yds - 3 TD
Scott: 32 Rec - 360 yds - 3 TD

plus...

Denham: 11 Rec - 135 yds - 0 TD

After those 3, it doesn't look good for returning experience at the WR spot from a depth perspective.

Fitzgerald: 4 Rec - 61 yds - 0 TD
Pedroza: 0 Rec - 0 yds - 0 TD
Norwood: 0 Rec - 0 yds - 0 TD

Hopefully some guys will step up and become major contributors this year, but as it stands right now, we do not have any depth at the WR spot.

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I like the Erickson hire.

by UteThunder 2013-02-11 09:59:26

- Unlike Chow, I believe Erickson will finish out his career here. The only reason Norm left was to FINALLY become a HC, otherwise He would probably still be here. Erickson has been a HC many times over and I don't think he will leave for just any HC job that comes calling. In fact, I'll bet he has reached a point in his career where he would like to still be involved with the game but not have all of the pressures of being the HC. I can see DE sticking around for 3-5 years before BJ takes over the offense completely.

- Offensive production should improve immensely with his help. There were 8 games last year where Utah's offense failed to score more than 21 points*, and no surprise we went 1-7 in those games(the lone win coming vs. byu, 17 offensive points). In the 5 YEARS He was at ASU, the Devils scored 21 or fewer points ONLY 7 times.


I am very excited about this hire and the potential impact it will have on our offense.



*This includes the Arizona game where we scored 24 points utilizing a fake FG.

@ USU - 20
v byu - 17(24)
@ ASU - 7
v USC - 21(28)
v UCLA - 7(14)
@ OSU - 7
@ UW - 15
v UA - 17(24)

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Former Ute football player Cal Beck wins teaching award.

by UteThunder 2013-02-08 12:01:50

Cal Beck Award

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Who had the bigger impact on Ravens victory: Kruger? Or Pitta?

by UteThunder 2013-02-03 21:52:11

Statistically, their contributions were pretty even.

Kruger: 2 Sacks, 3 Tackles, 1 TFL, 2 QB Hits/Hurries

Pitta: 4 Rec., 26 yds, 1 TD, 1 Drop

Without Pitta's TD, the Ravens would have lost. However, Kruger's first sack was on a 3rd & goal that forced the 49ers to kick a FG. Obviously a SanFran TD on that drive could have been the winning points for the 9ers.

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Since nobody has officially squashed the KW looking for a Co-OC/Mentor to BJ rumor, I'm going to call my shot.

by UteThunder 2013-01-31 13:17:16

Hawkins will be announced as a Co-OC or Assistant Head Coach on signing day or the day after.

Similar to BJ's promotion last year, I believe KW is holding off on announcing until after signing day to help minimize any de-commits that might result from making another change at the OC position.

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I can only think of 2 reasons why KW would allow A-Rod to come back a 2nd time.

by UteThunder 2013-01-17 12:14:25

1) He believes A-Rod is a top notch coach and a valuable member of the staff.

2) To screw byu.

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Coaching Rumors

by UteThunder 2013-01-15 10:19:38

Has Roderick made his decision about whether he is staying or if he is taking one of the Wisconsin, Hawaii, or byu jobs he was rumored to be considering?

The Dan Hawkins as OC or Assistant HC rumor. Was/Is there any truth to that?

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Go vote for Utah!

by UteThunder 2013-01-09 11:04:11

Vote Utah For EA Sports NCAA Football Cover

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So, I know a guy who is loosely affiliated with the Utah football team. (He works in a capacity that requires him to travel with the team.) And he has been told to plan on going to a bowl game, most likely the Pinstripes Bowl in New York.

by UteThunder 2012-11-24 10:58:46

We need quite a few games to go our way(as Ute2004 has been posting), but looking at the matchups it looks like most of the games should go the way we need them to go.

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Well, if you all will recall, I speculated a few weeks ago that Utah would not play byu again during the Whittingham/Hill era. And yes, that includes canceling the "scheduled" games in '13 & '16. Looks like my prediction is getting closer to reality.

by UteThunder 2012-10-29 20:22:27

My original prediction


I'll spare you the link to cougarboard, but apparently Holmoe has had 1 or 2 teams back out of a game in 2013 with them. One of the deals was "basically a done deal, handshake agreement."

FYI, Holmoe said the '13 & '16 game contract with Utah still hadn't been signed as of September of this year. This sounds like our agreement with them is the "handshake" agreement.

I am convinced byu won't be on our schedule next year.

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Reasons for optimism tomorrow and why I'm predicting a Utah win.

by UteThunder 2012-10-19 14:38:34

1) We will get pressure on their QB. Vaz isn't a runner and won't escape like Hundley did. And when we pressure him, he won't be nearly as effective as he was last week when byu was getting absolutely no pressure on him, making it easy for him to find open WRs.

2) Their WRs are good, but they played out of their minds last week to make some amazing catches. I doubt they will repeat that kind of performance tomorrow, especially when Vaz is throwing under pressure all game.

3) With the exception of a couple of games against horrendous defenses, byu's offense has been pretty much as bad as ours, yet they moved the ball with relative ease against OSU. Our offense is going to be able to move the ball and finish drives tomorrow.

4) QB improvement. They say a football team makes it's biggest improvement between game 1 and game 2. I believe that will be the case for Wilson as an individual. After getting his first start and playing decently at UCLA, I expect him to play better in his second start tomorrow.

I'm sure some of you will ask to have some of what I've been smoking, and to you I say . . . . "Get your own, dammit!"

But seriously, Utah is going to beat Oregon State tomorrow.

Utah 28
Oregon State 20

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One definite improvement I saw yesterday @ UCLA . . . . . Sustained Drives

by UteThunder 2012-10-14 11:37:17

Our inability to sustain drives has been killing us this year.

Against USU(11 of 17), BYU(6 of 12), ASU(9 of 11), and USC(8 of 12) we have had a total of 34 possessions that lasted 5 plays or fewer before punting or turning the ball over. 22 of those were 3-and-outs or turnovers within the first 3 plays of the drive. Note: This doesn't count possessions at the end of each half where we weren't really trying to do anything but run out the clock.

Yesterday at UCLA we had only 2 such possessions out of 10 total possessions.

Now we just need to start scoring on those sustained drives and the Wins will come.

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QB prediction vs. UCLA

by UteThunder 2012-10-12 09:58:45

Hays will start and Wilson will play.

Wilson's playing time will be dictated by Hays' production.

As long as Hays moves the offense, He will play.

After the first 3-and-out or first turnover, Wilson will get his chance on the next possession. Unless he is a complete train-wreck, Wilson will be given at least 3 consecutive series to show what He can do.

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9 - 14 - 13

by UteThunder 2012-10-10 14:21:48

A couple of weeks ago I posted my theory that we have played byu for the last time during the Whittingham & Hill era.

No More byu

Looking at future schedules, it looks like September 14 of next year is the only option to play byu. IF we play byu.

Because of the Pac-12 scheduling rule, as I understand it, if we are going to play byu it must be in the first 4 weeks of the season. Currently, byu has open dates during week 1 and week 3.

We have Utah State scheduled week 1(Aug. 29), so that isn't an option. This leaves week 3(Sept. 14) as the only option for playing byu.

Until Hill announces that the contract has been signed, I will stick with my theory that we won't play them again in the foreseeable future. But, if we do play them next year, their opening schedule will most likely be:

@ Washington State
vs. Texas
vs. Utah
vs. Boise State

I can't see them coming out of that stretch better than 1-3 and most likely they would be 0-4.

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I defended Jay Hill's special teams coaching a few weeks ago, but I won't do it anymore.

by UteThunder 2012-10-05 08:48:00

- Fielding punts inside our own 10.

- Bad decision making on bringing kickoffs out of the endzone.

- Difficulty fielding kickoffs.

- Stupid penalties on special teams, including a substitution infraction on a punt.

These are problems that are all correctable and have been happening all season long with absolutely no improvement. And when the substitution infraction happened, they showed Hill on the sideline and he looked as lost as the players. Whittingham needs to make a change here. I'm not saying Hill needs to be fired, but he definitely needs to be re-assigned.

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Has the team gotten their wake-up call yet? Maybe, maybe not.

by UteThunder 2012-09-25 14:15:45

After the Cal loss last year, people were hoping it would have an impact like the 2007 UNLV loss.

It didn't happen.

After the Colorado loss last year, people were hoping it would have an impact like the 2007 UNLV loss.

It didn't happen.

After the Utah State loss this year, people were hoping it would have an impact like the 2007 UNLV loss.

It didn't happen.

After the Arizona State loss Saturday, I think it might finally have the same "wake-up call" impact the 2007 UNLV loss had.

The difference between the first 3 games I mentioned and the 2007 UNLV game is the fact that losing 27-0 to UNLV FORCED Kyle to evaluate everything the team was doing from top to bottom and make changes. Kyle also met with all upperclassmen after that loss and asked for their input on what needed to change. None of the other losses have had that impact yet.

My hope is that getting drilled by ASU 37-7 has once again FORCED Kyle to evaluate everything from top to bottom during this bye week and make the appropriate changes to be successful.

Coincidentally, that 27-0 loss @ UNLV occurred on September 22, 2007, exactly 5 years prior to Saturday's 37-7 loss @ ASU.

Go Utes!

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Scheduling Conspiracy Theory: We have played byu for the last time.

by UteThunder 2012-09-24 14:15:30

The games in 2013 & 2016 won't be played, and we won't schedule byu again as long as Kyle Whittingham and Chris Hill are at Utah.

Since joining the Pac-12, Whitt and Hill have made it well known that scheduling byu on a frequent basis is something they would not like to do. But, they went ahead and scheduled a home-and-home for 2011 & 2012. And this past summer it was announced that we would play them in 2013 & 2016.

But, according to Tom Holmoe, that contract has yet to be signed as of a couple of weeks ago.(I'm assuming the contract has been signed by Holmoe and not Hill)

I believe Hill worked out an agreement with byu for the 2 additional games but was only going to sign it if we lost to them on September 15. Hill knows the fans would never let him end the rivalry on a loss, so he had to have a backup plan for future games in case we lost. I say backup plan, because I wouldn't put it past byu to pull the same thing(refuse to play us again) if they had won. But because there is an agreement with Holmoe's signature on it, if byu had won, Hill could have signed it as soon as the game was over and byu wouldn't have the option to back out.

Now that the game is over and Utah won, Hill is likely trying to find an attractive enough opponent that he can say "we just couldn't pass this up" and the byu agreement will be tossed in the trash. On top of that, the fans rushing the field and getting into it with BronKo and Falslev will make it easier for Hill to do this because he can also say "the rivalry needs a break" and the media would look foolish to attack him for it.

I don't have any inside info on this, I'm just trying to read the tea-leaves here. But I can't think of any other reason for our agreement to play in 2013 & 2016 not to be signed yet.

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34 - 20 - 17 - 7

by UteThunder 2012-09-23 00:06:20

The offensive production is moving in the wrong direction. Yes, the opposition has improved each week(debatable with USU to byu), but our offense has looked terrible so far this season. Even against our weakest opponent, the offense looked mediocre.

BJ might be a good OC eventually, but I think we are in for a loooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnng season.

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At least our players looked spiffy in their alternate helmets/uniforms . . . %)

by UteThunder 2012-09-22 22:56:56

Whit should ban the players from wearing alternate uniforms anymore.

I realize the uniforms don't matter when it comes to performance, but with all of the tweets this week about the uniforms/helmets, it sure seems like the players were focused on the wrong thing this week.

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Did anybody else notice Boise State stole a couple of pages out of the Utah playbook?

by UteThunder 2012-09-21 12:53:02

1. The fake punt we ran early in the game against byu. BSU had similar field position and ran the exact same fake punt we ran, however they were unsuccessful with it.

2. On our final possession, our first play was a play-action roll out with a throw to the TE or FB(I can't remember which) for a first down. BSU ran the exact same play against byu on the first play of their final possession and it got them a first down, which essentially ended the game.

Hey Boise! Get your own damn plays!

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If JW4 isn't 100% healthy, should we hold him out tomorrow? I say yes.

by UteThunder 2012-09-21 11:15:44

The main argument being that if we hold him out, he will then have the bye week to get 100% healthy for our 8 remaining Pac-12 games.

We beat Graham's Pitt team last year with a one-dimensional offense and a tough defense. Maybe we can do the same thing to his ASU team tomorrow.

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