It is interesting to me after reading an article on the Cougars to find that the first four or five people who commented on the article were Ute fans, and yet here on a Ute article there is not a single comment for Uteville. interesting.

We're No. 1, we're No. 1. Well somebody thought so and voted that way.

I'm probably going to that game. Anyone else?

Equal opportunity...continuing the conversation started over on the BYU blog...

How many weeks has it been since Utah beat Michigan? How many wins does Michigan have this year?

so what does it matter. take care of todays business and one game at a time, b y woo will get its chance
to prove or disprove its self soon enough

That game was the first game of the year when teams are generally more or less equal. Even if Michigan loses all the rest of their games, it was a good win for the U and the Mnt. West conference.

I hope Utah kicks BYU out of the BCS this year.

Man oh man! (Happy thought)

Go Utes!

Michigan has the same number of wins as Washington AND UCLA combined. Just so you know...

Go back a few weeks and read the comments after the Oregon St. v. Utah game. That might interest you as well, and cause you to take your foot out of your mouth at the same time.

The Utes are primed for an 8-0 start. I just hope they take Colorado St. more seriously than us fans are.

Michigan LOST to, by far, the worst team.

Winless Washington at least has the #1 SOS in the country. UCLA just barely lost at Oregon, a pretty tough place to play, from everything I've heard.

Michigan lost at home, in the "Big House," to a not very good, 1-4 MAC team.

Stats, like W/L records, can be deceiving if you don't dig a little deeper, especially in analyzing losses.

Just out of curiousity, to which "BYU" article were you referring? I just checked the Y articles and there are only 2 articles with posts of 5 or more. Neither one has the 1st 4 or 5 comments that screams "Utes". The article titled "Dreams can be dashed at TCU" starts the 1st FIFTEEN comments as follows: ONE Ute fan wishing BYU "good luck" in the 4th post, SIX Y fans, and EIGHT fans posting neutral remarks such as where Thursday's game will be played, how challenging that game may be, and the implications on the conference race.

Just FYI, the Deseret News writes for, and caters to, an LDS/Utah County audience. It shouldn't surprise you a lot of people will comment on BYU articles. NOBODY comments on BYU articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer...but to be fair, that's probably because that publication never writes about your team. I only check the DesNews and SLTrib because they don't write about MY team either.

Try not to be so dense and full of yourself in the future. It makes you look...simple.

A BYU fan with a chip on his shoulder made the following prediction:

"There's no way Utah is going to beat Michigan, so it's up to the Y to win big OOC games this year."

Guess he/she was way off. First, the "Y" hasn't plaed any big OOC games this year. Second, we all know that Utah did in fact beat Michigan.

Also, because you obviously have short term memory loss, please allow me to remind you that Michigan happened to beat a good Wisconsin team, ranked #9 at the time, on the road. So yes, you are correct; stats can be deceiving unless you dig a little deeper.

BYU still only beat Washington by ONE point. Irrespective of how strong UW's SOS is, your sauce was still weak! THAT stat and W/L analysis is unmistakable.

GO ZOOBS!

TCU is the only MWC team that has played an OOC team currently ranked Top 25.

Most of the OOC teams BYU and Utah have played don't even have a winning record.

Arguing about whose weak schedule is better is like arguing about whose ugly dance partner is the prettiest.

Besides Oklahoma, the toughest teams BYU, Utah and TCU will face during the regular season are each other. The round robin between those three teams will determine the MWC championship and any BCS or NC possibilities.

Stop trying to prove your ugly dance partner is the prettiest.

Re: OOC games

I totally agree. The bickering about who played who and who has more SOS is worthless. I've said it before and I'll say it again here. NOTHING matters until the Utes and Cougars settle it ON THE FIELD on 11/22. Here's to hoping that both win out until then. BTW, any talk of either team playing for a national title is ridiculous. Simply not gonna happen. Enjoy the ride, and hope for a meaningful BCS bowl game. That's about all any of this will amount to in the end. Go Utes!

"Utah did in fact beat [as in squeak by, a very weak] Michigan" by two points.

Which will mean exactly, zilch, when BYU and Utah play on November 22nd.

SOS will be meaningless, even if BYU and Utah both finish with 11-1 records.

For that to happen, one team would have to lose to another conference team, probably TCU, and then that team would have to beat their rival.

If that were to happen, and Utah and BYU both somehow managed to finish in the Top 12 with one loss each, the BCS would most likely choose the winner of the head-to-head matchup, even if one team was ranked ahead of the other in the final BCS rankings.

Remember, highest ranking only applies to the top 2 teams for the NC game.

Re: SD Ute Fan

Finally, some sanity in these postings. The constant bickering and trash talk between Utah and BYU fans needs to end.

Does that mean we can't have a spirited rivalry? No. But comparing strength of schedule, who played whom, etcetera doesn't mean much. If it did, USC would not have lost to Oregon State.

To anyone who thinks it does matter ... why bother playing the game? We'll just let the polls and comparison stats determine the winner.

This is also why the fictional BCS championship game is just that ... fiction.

We need a playoff.

Byu stinks. Simple as that.

You're right, neither SOS of either team is anything to brag about. But it sure is fun to watch BYU fans rankle anytime Utah fans bring up their SOS. It's fun to watch BYU fans desperately attempt to downplay any win the Utes have, and any quality wins their opponents have had. It's all especially gratifying since BYU fans know there is nothing they can do prop up their own schedule so they're obligated to blast Utah's. They search rigorously for any weaknesses in Utah's SOS to make themselves feel more secure about their own. How is that not relevant to a rival fan?

As a Utah fan fully engaged in the rivalry, count me as one who finds it wholly entertaining to watch BYU fans try to discard any SOS talk. Their only saving grace is Nov. 22, and after BYU's performances the past two weeks, that's hardly a viable option to fall back on now.

There's no way a one loss Utah or BYU team will make a BCS game. Boise State is unlikely to lose this season (with the ugliest of the ugly dance partners) so they'll slide ahead and there will be several one or two loss BCS teams that would be taken ahead of a one loss MWC team.

It's really irritating, and somewhat unfair, but if Utah and BYU each finish with one loss they're probably looking at playing bottom feeder teams in the Las Vegas and New Mexico bowls.

right on. I've always posted one thought on these boards and it revolves around the idea of why they actually play the game. Just go back into the archives and both sides have rival fans posting about weaknesses and how so and so will expose such and such, but guess what, both teams have a 0 in the loss column which is great for the state and the mwc. Oh, perhaps the best stat I've heard recently about the teams (even though it makes me cringe with bad memories) is that both teams are a combined 31-1 in their last 32 games, we know the one loss and it still hurts. That being said, imagine if both are undefeated come Nov, that would be an insane statistic, and even so after, no matter who wins. Here is another opinion, both teams have to play like this on a consistent basis, Utah can't claim it is back until it has at least two years like this, and BYU needs to finish this season strong (hopefully with one loss on the 22nd) THEN we can start getting real respect.

...don't forget about how entertaining it is to watch TDS fans talk up their OWN schedules with comments like how they got the "best team available" for their season opener, what an AMAZING 1-AA team they were, and how they would beat Michigan and half the other 1-A teams they DIDN'T schedule. Then, they would point to how they ORIGINALLY scheduled Nevada...as if Nevada was ORIGINALLY mentioned among the pantheon of college football's elite teams...as if Nevada routinely challenges for a BCS bid. That's good stuff!

"Utah can't claim it is back until it has at least two years like this..."

Why not? When BYU one the 1st game back in '06, they started calling it a Dynasty. The Utes won 4 in a row from '02 thru '05. Does BYU have to wait until 2010 to claim THEY are back?

um, pretty sure I said byu needs to finish off this season strong, not wait till 2010. your post is confusing and full of assumptions that I don't really understand

Better head to LV quickly if you're so sure Boise St is a lock to go undefeated.
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And what was utah's rationale for scheduling Weber St? Weren't there a few BCS teams who would have been willing to schedule the Utes at their place for a one and done?

I know, I know; the Wildcats are a in-state school and the Utes were doing Mac a favor. Since they were in such a magnanimous mood then, why not add SUU to the mix of future opponents. I'm sure there are a few people in Cedar City with ties to the Utah football program.

It's fun watching the Utes try to prop up their schedule when they suspected before the season that it wasn't going to be that difficult to begin with.

likewise to the cougs. Thats all anyone has to say. I think any sane utah fans or kewg fans for that matter, realize that sos is nothing for either team without the other (and TCU).

Utes! Cougars! Utah! BYU! Blah blah blah. You guys are worse than a political blog.

As for this article, I'm not surprised to hear Vroman has such fantastic stats for touchbacks. I was watching him in the Wyoming game wondering if any of his kicks were ever going to be returned. Go Ben!

he was even booming 'em into the wind! They weren't for tb, but he got em down to the ten. Thats pretty impressive in a wind like that.

Nobody want to comment on what this article is actually about?

To bad we cant put it together for four. STill 7-0 no compalints

Utah has put together good offensive quarters and great defensive performances stuffing opponents when they had to and delivery offensive gems on winning drives. But the Utes have not shown a dominant game of four quarters over a worthy opponent.

Their lack of offensive consistency worries me, regardless of the great 7-0 start. The defense while dominant in general has been complacent for short periods, and it may cost them if a game is close, near then end of a game.

Utah - needs to dominate the next three games, culminating with TCU. Utah’s next true test my come one week earlier at the Lobos, both teams will have plenty of time to prepare. But I hope they are focused on CSU at home on Saturday – Letdown? – hope not.

Utah is one loss away from national and BCS irrelevance, BYU on the 22d is the ultimate test, but based on the less than dominant wins, I wonder if the Utes will have a let down between now and then. Winning on the 22d, means very little outside of Utah, if they lose to another team between now and then.

"And what was utah's rationale for scheduling Weber St?"

Ute fans were not excited to play the Wildcats. None of us -- fans, coaches, AD -- ever boasted OUR 1-AA opponent was top drawer. None of us ever presumed Weber St. was a better team than Washington or UCLA...unlike the TDS' fans who claimed UNI would take down Michigan. Even after Weber State's recent successes, we STILL don't.

Cougar fans talking about Utah's schedule is a joke. Your Coach has stated that he is intentionally "dubming" down his schedule. Utah has consistently played more BCS teams over the past several years and also has the wins to show it. "Dumb" is a term most of you zoobies should be familiar with because that is what 100% of you are.

If we atually respond to this article, some interesting points on how Utah wins in multiple ways and has weapons in all phases of the game. More offensive consistency and they be even more dominant.

I would like to see both teams unbeaten at the end of the year, but coug fans make it tough for me not to hope TCU wins to shut them up.