Alright , I don't mind sharing my opinions as you all know. Some slight differences between how i see this conference panning out. First difference would be that I think Utah and BYU are basically EVEN. I would rate them both at 100. If they played the byu at utah game tomorrow , i would be all over the utes. The reason being that BYU has to replace a ton of players on defense , and yes .... they are older more mature replacements than most programs get ( thank you missions ) but even then they have two young guys they are plugging into the defensive backfield. That byu team is just replacing too many guys. Now, they are lucky enough that they dont have to play utah until around thanksgiving or thereabouts. By then , those inexperienced defensive players might have matured and the utah qb might do his normal injury trick by then. Utah fits almost all my criteria for a team that should have success. 1. they return a stud qb in brian johnson. 2. they return a talented offensive line. this team pounded people last year and now they basically bring the whole line back , moving taylor to center. These utes are friggin huge. they are going to pound you and with johnson mobility , wow ... gonna be tough team to defend all year. 3. Their defensive line is formed properly. They have two VERY solid defensive ends returning and they have HUGE defensive tackles to plug up the middle. 4. They have the best defensive backfield in the conference. They are returning 33 starts from last year with the 11th ranked pass defense in the country.
If utah gets anything at all out of their linebackers , forget it. I think next year the sylvester kid might be the best linebacker in the conference and if he can improve even more than we would think he would this year , then he could really shore up that linebacking unit. 5. This team will get the hidden yards and points. The kicker/punter is awesome. Result will be a much higher percentage of made kicks for them and a lot more field switching punts. 6. coaching
Alright now that i have finished my utah is pretty frigging good rant. tcu i have slightly lower than you. I want them to prove to me that those major losses on the dl can be replaced and that dalton can really go a full game without making a dumb play that will be seen on sportscenter that night. we arent far apart there though.
You guys might be drinking the koolaid with unlv. I have heard this rebel song and dance before , and while the dance is sometimes entertaining the song is always a country song ... we dont lost just games , we lose wives, dogs , trains , pride. Why is this team that much better than last year ?? I am going to use the word "we" to describe unlv because i am a fan, for those whose sensibilities are offended by this ... F u.
We lose an incredible amount of talent on defense for a unlv team.
unlv secondary --We lsot everyone who showed anything last year ... everyone. Our best guy in the secondary was a safety named tony cade who transferred in from oklahoma. mil'von james was our version of a shutdown corner who transferred in from ucla , he is gone. Our most talented db that was to return for '08 was Horton and he transferred out of the school. And that leaves us with the guy who showed repeated problems last year back there as out only returning starter really ( pointers sucks but i guess he started alot ), that being forte. Forte was great in run support but questionable in coverage. And thats the rub. At unlv we don't get the ucla , oklahoma type recruits so to lose that type of talent is going to really kill us. It is NOT a coincidence that unlv had one of its better years agaisnt the pass last year.... it was a result of better talent than we normally have transferring in. No such luck this time.
unlv linebacking --We are ok here. Miller is solid and fuimaono is capable but shit ,.... Beau bell is playing in cleveland now ( grats steed ) and his ability to diagnose a play and use his speed in pursuit covered a lot of holes for our defense last year ... expecting the rebels to be better at this position just isn't feasible. Would like to be wrong but i don't think it will happen.
dl -- ok our dl will be pretty damn solid this year compared to last few years but not by much.
When i did my defensive unit rankings ....... unlv doesnt have a single defensive lineman in my top 6 in conference , a single linebacker in my top 6 in conference or a single db in my top six in conference. How the hell is this defense going to succeed or be improved. You have to have a lot of faith that the rebel offense can get the job done. We were 111th in the nation in scoring last year. Yes , some of that was because we had qb injuries and travis dixon couldnt throw the ball more accurately than half of CTG and couldn't read a defense if it was an open picture book. Omar clayton is going to start for us and he is an upgrade but lets be real gang. And while a lot of the locals like Frank summers because he has the cool "frank the tank" nickname, he hasn't shown much. He is big and tough and he will break some tackles and probably have over 1k yards rushing this year , but he doesnt have any speed or elusiveness in him at all. The fact that peeples didnt get more carries last year as a junior with summers as a feature back tells me all i need to know about him. He will always look to bounce the ball outside anyway and that isn't how our offense is designed. We are loaded at wr but i dont trust clayton enough to deliver the ball. He was alright last year when given the chance but was throwing an interception about 1 in every 20 times he dropped back to throw. brutal.
Now , how in the world can we expect unlv to finish fourth in the conference ?? We have lost 15 of our last 16 road games. The win was against a juggernaut ( see my avatar ) to open last season. How do we win road games this year ??? here is who we face
At utah -- wow , major revenge to go along with talent msimatch
at arizona state -- ouch
at colorado st -- one of col states more winnable games and i make them the favorite there.
at byu -- ouch , that pass attack against our secondary will be an ugly ass stomping of epic proportions.
at sdsu -- alright we have a chance there. losing coach might be out of a job.
For unlv to come in fourth we have to win EVERY winnable game. utah st , home to iowa st , home to nevada , at col st , home to air force, home to new mexico , home to wyoming , and home to sdsu. The only game where unlv will be favored by more than a field goal is utah state opener. Just too much to ask.
We have not won two consecutive games in the same season since 2004.
I will believe it when i see it.
just another thing to throw at ya ... but we have major major issues at the two kicking positions this year. From what i have heard it didnt look good in the spring. Arroyo was awesome for us and will be impossible to replace this year.
So , i disagree about unlv. prove it . prove it . prove it.
