RavenousUte

If you want to watch a team similar to Utah, watch Stanford. Probably the two most consistent defensive teams in the Pac-12.

LSU, Utah, and Wisconsin... too bad you don't have them scheduled after that gauntlet.

Very sloppy makes me very optimistic

Seisay used to be an Oregon Duck... if PSU didn't have talented corners they would be getting crushed in the run game without the safety help. As it is BYU lines are manhandling PSU pretty much.

Their 1's might be able to hang with our 1's I'd give Utah the edge in talent BYU the edge in experience... we had 8 players drafted by the NFL and 8 more UDFA. Utah is definitely deeper on talent. So we can rotate players with little drop off. If BYU has to play their 1's all game they will tire out.

Damn it geaux you jinxed them....

You still on that SOR list??

Downvoting count?

Game is Thursday, not Saturday

Vuvuzelas... that way they aren't in the ear of the person in front of you...

No no no... Lets be honest... win or lose next Thursday its not going to effect your conference or FCS Championship run. And just because FBS teams are expected to beat FCS teams that's never a guarantee. Appalachian State beat Michigan in 2007 and should have beat Tennessee in 2016. You play the game for the glory and for the exposure. Sure odds are against an FCS team, but Thursday night you are going to be in some 15+ million homes. You might get the upset, you might not... win or lose if you play a great game that's a lot of exposure. This is how you build recruiting pipelines. ESPN is giving the Fighting Hawks a 3.5% chance to win. I'd say that is definitely low but that is National media bias. But even at 10%, not odds I would bet on, but still will be an exciting game 1) because upsets happen and 2) its the first game of the year. As a Ute fan, I expect we will lose to USC and Washington this year. Yes, a loss will hurt just as much because I love my team... but because I love my team I am going to watch and cheer them on even if we are getting hammered. But with that expectation the pain subsides just a bit and the excitement is so much more when you do get the upset. Trust me... I and every other longtime Ute fan gets the disrespect card. 2009, we should have been National Champions... Only team 13-0 and we ended the season stomping Alabama. But because we were an Non-automatic Qualifier in the BCS era we weren't voted #1. But that was a stepping stone for us to move into a Power 5 conference. Now we are getting the recruits and TV time and almost everything we fought for as the little guy. Still a whole lot of disrespect from the East coast media but that's par for the course.

I'll leave this for when you guys wake up... Block U Season Preview Podcast

Do a search on the Apple Store for Sling TV... popped up on my iPad right away...

FYI... You guys are more than welcome to come visit us at Block U. Come by, introduce yourself, start a fanpost (you do have to register first but no waiting period) and get to know our fanbase (including the schizophrenic optimist/pessimist, who denies he is the same person). People have been asking about you guys and links have been posted, but some cross interaction would be great.

This was really good interview, though the information is a little out dated now. Amazing how things change in just a week.

Oooh I want one...

Can get you a toilet ring for free....

I'll ask one of the guys I know on Twitter... not sure he'll save the game if it's a loss though.

And this is why teams use hurry up offenses... so you can't rotate defenders.

Wow this is one of the first posts I have seen on this forum past 6pm CST. I was starting to wonder if they turned off the internet at 6pm in ND.

Defensive battles are fun to watch for me like 2 swordsmen fencing... Some people say they are boring but I like them.

Ok some stats from last year... RUSHING YARDAGE 2782 1673 Yards gained rushing 3093 2093 Yards lost rushing 311 420 Rushing Attempts 570 428 Average Per Rush 4.9 3.9 Average Per Game 214.0 128.7 TDs Rushing 26 13 OPPONENT TEAM GAME HIGHS Rushes 47 at Arizona State (Nov 10, 2016) Yards Rushing 251 vs Oregon (Nov 19, 2016) Yards Per Rush 6.5 vs USC (Sep 23, 2016) TD Rushes 2 vs BYU (Sep 10, 2016) vs USC (Sep 23, 2016) at Arizona State (Nov 10, 2016) So opposing teams averaged 128.7 per game. Talent differential aside not withstanding... Our front 7 returns a lot of starters including Lowell Lotulelei, younger brother of Star Lotulelei. Probably a first round NFL pick and pretty much demands a double team. Also back is Kylie Fitts, who missed most of last year due to injury, he is a pocket collapsing machine and not prone to overcommitting. Our weakness is the DBs who only return Chase Hansen. First consideration is opening holes in the line. Unless you can pull our guys to create holes or have your fullback punch a hole for your RB, you aren't going to have success up the middle. You will more likely have better luck on the edges if you can keep our Sam back in the nickel to help with pass protection. Kyle is very good at teaching player to swarm to the ball. Best guess is you get between 80 on the low side and 150 on the high side rushing. I don't think its going to be more than 150 because you will have to do a lot of passing to keep the defense honest. Basically, its going to be your strength (rushing) versus our strength (front-7) and 8 out of 10 we win strength vs strength based on talent. UND can definitely win... but you will need to exploit our weaknesses. This year that is our secondary and our inexperienced O-line. Also we have a position battle at placekicker. If you can hold us to field goals, that's winning. But beware the rest of our special teams. They are Utah's hallmark and we are returning the Ray Guy award winner from last year at punter. I've tried to be as objective and fair as possible. If you think I am way off base let me know where I error in my assumptions.

Sorry I couldn't find a spreadsheet with sizes so I was lazy and provided one with links that lists the size of each... I'll try updating it. Height Weight Height Weight LDE 56 Anae, Bradlee SO/1 6’3” 259 92 Tupai, Maxs RS FR 6’1” 249 LDT 45 Mokofisi, Filipo RS SR/3 6’3” 285 99 Fotu, Leki SO/1 6’5” 318 RDT 93 Lotulelei, Lowell SR/3 6’2” 317 53 Havili-Katoa, Alani RS JR/2 6’3” 304 RDE 11 Fitts, Kylie RS SR/TR/1 6’4” 254 47 Repp, Caleb SO/1 6’5” 216 MLB 10 Tauteoli, Sunia SR/TR/2 6’0” 227 48 Liljenquist, Karsen JR/TR 6’1 233 ROVER 5 Luafatasaga, David SR/TR/1 6’4” 225 30 Barton, Cody JR/2 6’2” 225 LCB 21 Smith, Tyrone JR/2 6’4” 205 18 King, Nygel RS FR 6’0” 178 SS 22 Hansen, Chase RS JR/2 6’3” 220 FS 15 Ballard, Corrion JR/TR 6’3” 205 2 Afia, Philip RS SO/1 6’1” 195 RCB 23 Blackmon, Julian SO/1 6’1” 187 39 Call, Tanner FR 5’11” 165 NB 26 Burgess, Terrell SO/1 6’0” 188 1 Hobbs, Boobie SR/3 5’10” 180

Are your backs inside or edge rushers? Do you guys utilize a fullback? How good is your O-line at stunts and adapting to defensive shifts? How good is your passing game to keep the defense honest? How does your size compare to the defense below? DEFENSE LDE 56 Anae, Bradlee SO/1 92 Tupai, Maxs RS FR LDT 45 Mokofisi, Filipo RS SR/3 99 Fotu, Leki SO/1 RDT 93 Lotulelei, Lowell SR/3 53 Havili-Katoa, Alani RS JR/2 RDE 11 Fitts, Kylie RS SR/TR/1 47 Repp, Caleb SO/1 MLB 10 Tauteoli, Sunia SR/TR/2 48 Liljenquist, Karsen JR/TR ROVER 5 Luafatasaga, David SR/TR/1 30 Barton, Cody JR/2 LCB 21 Smith, Tyrone JR/2 18 King, Nygel RS FR SS 22 Hansen, Chase RS JR/2 FS 15 Ballard, Corrion JR/TR 2 Afia, Philip RS SO/1 RCB 23 Blackmon, Julian SO/1 39 Call, Tanner FR NB 26 Burgess, Terrell SO/1 1 Hobbs, Boobie SR/3

Yeah we don't hate you guys... but still we have a rep for creating false starts to uphold...Nothing personal.. USC even preps for trips here by having "crowd noise and static piped into practice (this week) to prepare players (for Saturday)." I hope you guys are pleasantly surprised at our intensity for every opponent. We won't be overlooking or disrespecting you Hawks, neither the team, nor the fans. Don't be shocked, if it is the loudest environment you have played in.