Undefeated match still a long shot
That's the day the undefeated BYU and Utah football teams will be squaring off in Rice-Eccles Stadium. It's all but a done deal, a foregone conclusion.
Uh, not so fast.
While both local schools are still undefeated, the Utes at 6-0 and the Cougars at 5-0, both are coming off less-than-impressive victories last week and have shown enough chinks in their armor to make us wonder.
Sure, Utah's comeback in the final two minutes was thrilling, but what about those dreadful minutes before, especially in the third quarter and much of the fourth when the offense stuttered and sputtered? What about all those long plays an otherwise solid Ute defense allowed?
Then there were the Cougars, who many assumed would roll to a 40-point-plus shutout victory over lowly Utah State. Instead they were outscored 14-10 over the final three quarters by a team that had lost to Utah by 48 and Oregon by 42.
Instead of Nov. 22, the Ute and Cougar faithful should be keeping their eyes focused on a couple of Thursday nights before then, Oct. 16 and Nov. 6 to be exact. Those are the dates each school must face what could be the best team in the MWC, the TCU Horned Frogs.
Did you see what the Frogs did to San Diego State Saturday night? Granted, the Aztecs are not very good this year, although they did come close to beating Notre Dame. But the guys in purple made them look like a high school team. Or junior high school.
For the entire game, the Aztecs picked up just four first downs, compared to 28 for TCU. They had just 85 yards compared to 498 for TCU. While TCU had five players rush for more than 40 yards, SDSU finished with minus-13 yards rushing with their top back getting five yards in four carries.
TCU ran 90 plays to San Diego State's 41 and had the ball for more than 43 minutes compared to about 16 for SDSU. Of the Aztecs' 12 drives, 10 ended in punts, of which eight were three-and-outs. Talk about utter domination. No wonder TCU ranks No. 1 in the nation in total defense and rushing defense.
While BYU has had some impressive-size victories, it hasn't beaten a good team yet. The combined record of BYU's opponents is 8-18. Take away Northern Iowa's three wins and loss against FCS opponents and it's just 5-17. The latest Sagarin rankings put BYU's strength of schedule at No. 126 in the nation.
Utah's schedule has been tougher (No. 49 according to Sagarin), but Ute opponents are only 16-17 to date, including Weber State's four wins over FCS opponents.
I know what you're saying. Who the heck has TCU beaten? Their opponents have a combined 15-18 record, including Oklahoma's 5-0 mark.
Recent comments
RE: TCU?
The reason TCU isn't ranked is because they were beaten…gomer | Oct. 9, 2008 at 8:10 a.m.
Wow! It is amazing how far from the article these comments have strayed…
True Blue | Oct. 7, 2008 at 5:24 p.m.
Lets stop making up names like "USU Player" and "Weber State Player…
Get Real | Oct. 7, 2008 at 11:30 a.m.
