Comments about ‘Utah Utes football: Utes to play Fresno State in 2014-15’

Utah'95

"Utah IS afraid to play BYU....Utah IS killing the rivalry.....everyone IS laughing at Utah,"

After all of the chest beating about how "superior" the Utes had become because of nothing but a conference invitation, the truth that Utah simply isn't good enough to play two strong OOC opponents, and still qualify for a bowl, hurts.

According to your own AD, Utah IS afraid to play two strong OOC opponents - BYU and Michigan - in the same season, because the Utes are afraid that they could lose both games and not qualify for a bowl.

Of course, after this season, Hill may want to revise that plan to play NO strong OOC opponents.

It's becoming increasingly clear that the Utes are in way over their heads in the PAC and four conference wins may be the best they can hope for, making winning at least two OOC games absolutely essential to Utah's bowl chance.

The truth hurts, but there it is.

Happy about this addition to our non-conf schedule. A good mid-major program to compliment Michigan, who was a nice two-year upgrade from BYU.

Love how upset some byu "fans" still are about, well, everything. But I guess they're a lot more desperate to try to prove something with the rivalry right now. Keep squawking ute-haters!

nosaerfoecioveht

LOL at how Utah fans continue to desperately spin Utah's cowardice.

I couldn't care less about Utah playing BYU, but it is like USC dropping Notre Dame and scheduling Eastern Michigan. This is an in-state, traditional rivalry. There is a hidden agenda and it may be a yellow streak down Chris Hill's back or trying to settle an old score. Hill should go.

It's too funny reading comments from Utah obsessed Cougar fans. Guys, the day BYU plays as difficult of a schedule as Utah is now playing in the PAC 12 is the day we'll listen to what you have to say.
Until then, be content with your meaningless bowl game that came due to wins over Hawaii, NMSU, Idaho, and Weber State.

You want to get real BYU fans? Laugh at Utah scheduling Fresno all you want, but they have a 40th ranked Sagarin rating which is almost identical to BYU. So essentially Utah is replacing BYU with another BYU, only Fresno resides in fertile recruiting ground.

Want to get even more real? Utah beat BYU again this year ... when you look at SOS ratings and Sagarin ratings it's not hard to see that if BYU played as difficult of a schedule as Utah, they too would finish with a lower Sagarin rating and would definitely not be bowling.

Utah SOS = 27 / Sagarin Rating = 51
BYU SOS = 56 / Sagarin Rating = 34

Your incessant whining is growing old and your over-inflated egos are laughable. As said before, feel free to laugh at missed bowl games or "scheduling down", when you've actually played a schedule as difficult as Utah's and in turn make it to a bowl. The silence would be deafening if every BYU football fan had to live by that rule!

motorbike

"... meaningless bowl game"... bitter words from a jealous 'I wanted my team in a bowl game too' Ute fan.

It must be difficult to have watched that New Mexico Bowl today just wishing that your Utes were there instead of Arizona. I'm sure Arizona is pretty stoked about being there coming up with the win in the last 2 minutes.

I bet you're watching USU about now, then next week you'll be watching BYU and also checking out to see who Jabari will be playing for.

Tough Ute football season but like you said last week there's much to look forward to...

"The message has been sent though, the best basketball school in the state is on it's way back!"

LOL

motorbike

I've been to Utah's sports hall of fame, but I've never seen your SOS trophy. Where do they keep it?

Sagarin Rating
#34 BYU(7-5) bowl > #51 Utah(5-7) no bowl

Your incessant excuse-making is laughable; it's time for Utah fans to just admit that the Utes are only the 3rd best team in the state.

To the majority of the whinny fans posting on this article, I have a question for you.

Back in high school, when you asked that cute girl to the prom, and she turned you down to go with someone she liked better; did you write letters to the school paper with insults about her decision?

Pretty much the same thing here. The U vs. Y game will continue next year, take a 2 year break, and continue again. Quit complaining and get over yourself. Utah is free to schedule any teams they want and choose not to schedule the Y for 2 years. Deal with it.

@sammy

Sure all Utah fans wish our team would have won one more game and made it to a bowl game. Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

Let me point something else out to you that should be obvious as well. The Utes have beaten your lousy cougar team for three years in a row now. You talk about Utah "scheduling down" with Fresno State and yet if they were to play your mighty cougars the odds are Fresno wins that game. I no it's hard to accept but byu hasn't had a good win all year. You got beat by San Jose State. You only qualified for a bowl game because you had a very weak schedule with Idaho State, New Mexico State and Hawaii.

It is still a bowl game and yes I do wish my team had continued their streak of going to bowl games but maybe a little less pounding of your chest would be more appropriate when your team just wasn't that good this year.

Go Utes!

Just the FAX,

You said, "the truth that Utah simply isn't good enough to play two strong OOC opponents, and still qualify for a bowl."

Do I need to point out that it has become commonplace for the Utes to beat BYU, whether at RES or in Happy Valley?

The Utes did look like they were "in over their heads" in the Pac 12 this season, and it was frustrating to watch it. But do you REALLY believe that the Cougars would have fared any better had they played Utah's schedule?

Let's talk again next December - after BYU has played Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Texas, Utah, Utah State, Boise State. You might have a different perspective.

It's the BYU fans that I can't stand...otherwise the game was ok!

sammyg & TheSportsAuthority ...

I notice both of you had to run a different direction with your comments versus staying on topic. And yes, I do wish Utah was in a bowl game ... but at the expense of playing in a great conference and a tougher schedule?? Absolutely not. We know that doesn't bother Coug fans though, so no big deal, enjoy your bowl game.
And yes sammyg, it's nice to see Utah basketball making their way back ... but was there something about that comment that was supposed to be an insult to me or Ute fans? Once again, you're side-stepping so fast that you're not making much sense.

Utah'95

"Do I need to point out that it has become commonplace for the Utes to beat BYU, whether at RES or in Happy Valley?"

Which is why it's all the more laughable that the Utes are running away from BYU to play Fresno State.

Utah fans make themselves look ridiculous trying to spin this in any way other than the Utes are afraid of losing to BYU - just like the Utes are running away from the Aggies in football and basketball.

@Motorbike

You are spot on, amen Bro! Haven't we beat BYU the last year or two; on the grid iron?

@ thesportsauthority,

Seeing as you are the authority, what's it like to lose 3 in a row, and 8 out of the last 11 to your rival? Whats it like to watch your rival go to two BCS bowls, while you go to the Taco Bowl, again, and again, and again.....?

Just askin.........

@sportsauthority

Utah fans aren't spinning anything and you are naive to think any fan has anything to do with scheduling. The byu game was originally put on hold to have a home and home with Michigan.

The hypocrisy down south never ceases to amaze me. It was the byu athletic department that downplayed carrying on the rivalry game when they announced their independence saying that they would consider it but that it wasn't their top priority. But now that a few years of filling the schedule with powerhouse programs like Idaho State and New Mexico State, the cougars realize they need Utah on their schedule to help thir strength of schedule.

The rivalry will be back soon enough but try not to forget that your team has done the same thing to USU as well. The fact is Fresno is a good game for Utah mainly for recruiting purposes but they are also aligned with a conference so they are just as legitimate as byu if not even more so.

Utah will have one of the best schedules in the country with home games with Michigan, Oregon and USC in 2014 having byu or not doesn't change it.

TheSportsAuthority,

In another Deseret News article just released, Randy Hollis writes:

"In all seriousness, with the huge emotional drain and all the off-the-field, fan-generated baggage that the Utah-BYU rivalry brings nowadays, it's no wonder the Utes decided they'd rather take a breather from all that and face somebody else for a change."

Utah no longer HAS to play BYU annually as an in conference rival. Why would they? Do you, and the other offended fans voicing their frustration above, "sound" like the kind of guys that would be fun to hang out with?

Let's just see how the two years without the rivalry go. Maybe we'll like it.

Good luck on Thursday.

@utah'95

I don't think any of the BVYU fans posting here are "frustrated" by utah running away from the game, I think most of us are simply using it to mock you guys. Kinda like utah "fans" use whatever they can to mock BYU fans.

You see that is how the game is played on these boards, and frankly between the fan bases. The big difference is that BYU fans don't whine about it, we just happily participate. utah "fans" are not only incredibly thin skinned but also extremely hypocrtical about how the comments on thes boards play out. Go ahead and read the BYU articles, and try to do it with a non crimson perspective. If it helps simply replace the "BYU" with "utah" in the comments by the utah "fans" and then tell us that this is not a fairly even back and forth.

I understand that in athletics right now BYU has the upperhand, overwhelmingly so, and it makes it hard for utah "fans" to make decent retorts, but they still try.

You guys just need to quit whining and have fun with how it goes BOTH directions.

How long will Utah fans say, it doesnt matter how bad we are, we are in the PAC 12, and youre not. Na na na na na, and thats all that matters? . Why do Ute fans ASSUME that BYU is jealous of their PAC membership? The PAC didnt invite BYU because it has an honor code and wont play on Sundays. However the chips fall, I'm proud of that. Proud to be peculiar for those reasons.