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Who are you rooting for. USC or Utah?

M-I-Coug

M-I-Coug

Hall Of Fame
Oct 13, 2002
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Game is on tonight @ 6pm, FS1.
.
Easy to choose, after careful consideration:

Assuming we take care of business Saturday night, (yeah I'm looking ahead to Utah---TRAP GAME because of this post). Do we want to go into Salt Lake showcasing two undefeated teams being 4-0, with the possibility of GameDay in Salt Lake, facing a ranked undefeated Top-10 opponent?

or...

Root for SC.

I'm going with UTAH tonight. Tough in the Coliseum, but if we can beat the Utes on the road, a ranked Top-10 team, no brainer on what it can do for our program.
.
Your thoughts?
 
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I buy the moderate Utah preference. But a win by SC might result in them keeping Helton for another year, which I would like to see. So it is a tougher call than it might seem on the surface.
 
M-I-Coug said:
Game is on tonight @ 6pm, FS1.
.
Easy to choose, after careful consideration:

Assuming we take care of business Saturday night, (yeah I'm looking ahead to Utah---TRAP GAME because of this post). Do we want to go into Salt Lake showcasing two undefeated teams being 4-0, with the possibility of GameDay in Salt Lake, facing a ranked undefeated Top-10 opponent?

or...

Root for SC.

I'm going with UTAH tonight. Tough in the Coliseum, but if we can beat the Utes on the road, a ranked Top-10 team, no brainer on what it can do for us and our program.
.
Your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Normally I’d say USC. As I’ve often said, a strong USC is good for the conference and ultimately good for the Cougs. But...
  • They’ve already lost at BYU
  • We don’t play them
  • We do play Utah
  • Utah is highly ranked
Have to go with Utah this year. Ultimately, that sets us up better.
 
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Utah for sure...... If they win and the Cougs handle business against UCLA, I am almost certain College Gameday will make its way to SLC next weekend. That will be the highest profile game on the schedule for that Saturday. Depending on what happens this weekend with teams ranked above us and how badly we manhandle UCLA, it could be a game featuring two top 15 teams.
 
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Utah is the clear answer from our perspective. Makes our matchup bigger, likely gets Gameday there, and results in more credit for us no matter how the game in SLC goes. As usual, though, I have some mixed feelings, since I wouldn't mind seeing all teams other than WSU beat each other up, don't want Utah to get too much hype to help it with recruiting, etc., and think it would be great if Clay could pull off keeping his job. I don't give a damn about a strong USC being good for the Pac-12.
 
Two ranked, 4-0 teams having an early P12 title showdown in SLC with the possibility of Gameday would make a Cougar win a HUGE national affair. But it would not likely even put us in the Top 10, with plenty of season to play.

It would also be a far more difficult outing than would be a deflated 3-1 Utah team. Utah is very good and very emotional, especially at home. Being undefeated, being at home, hosting a title contender and possibly even having Gameday would mean we get Utah (already good) on steroids.

I would rather play Utah when their tail is between their legs (perhaps 60%+ chance of a win) than Utah playing to make a national statement (perhaps 30-40% chance of a win).

Forget the statements, I'll take a win.
 
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If that was just a live look I saw 15 minutes before the kick the Coliseum looks empty. I guess @ 6pm it might be a late arriving crowd in LA.
 
We play Utah, not USC. Utah’s #10, USC isn’t ranked. A USC win does little for us. A Utah win gives us a shot at beating a top 10 team in their house. This is a no-brainer...even if I didn’t already hate USC.
 
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I've never been impressed with Utah. Don't get me wrong though, they always have a really good solid team, but I don't have confidence in them in these types of games. They've wasted so many good defenses with bad QB play over the recent years. They're like most good teams in the Pac, beat someone you don't expect and lose to someone they shouldn't lose to. I hope they get it together and boat race the Condoms though.
 
Some of my observations:

Utah's D line is good - big and strong
USC's D line is good - big and strong
USC's secondary is bad - they are young
USC's WR's are really good, but we knew that already
USC's RB is slow
Huntley is dangerous, and looks improved throwing the ball.

Zach Moss went to the locker room with a shoulder injury.

USC would be a pretty darn good team if they had a better secondary IMO.
 
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KingTrump said:
Some of my observations:

Utah's D line is good - big and strong
USC's D line is good - big and strong
USC's secondary is bad - they are young
USC's WR's are really good, but we knew that already
USC's RB is slow
Huntley is dangerous, and looks improved throwing the ball.

Zach Moss went to the locker room with a shoulder injury.

USC would be a pretty darn good team if they had a better secondary IMO.
Click to expand...

The OL better show up against Utah. They have a few beasts on their DL.
 
KingTrump said:
Some of my observations:

Utah's D line is good - big and strong
USC's D line is good - big and strong
USC's secondary is bad - they are young
USC's WR's are really good, but we knew that already
USC's RB is slow
Huntley is dangerous, and looks improved throwing the ball.

Zach Moss went to the locker room with a shoulder injury.

USC would be a pretty darn good team if they had a better secondary IMO.
Click to expand...
I think Huntley while improved, is still not good enough to win you many of these types of games. He's gonna flee the pocket and run every time at the first sign of pressure. He's not a real threat to throw when he breaks the pocket. Without busted coverage, he can't hurt you throwing the ball at all.
As I write this USC just scored. 21-10. Huntley can't get them more than 21. I expect to see him throw 2 picks the rest of the way now that they can't afford run the ball much anymore.
 
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OrangeGravy said:
I think Huntley while improved, is still not good enough to win you many of these types of games. He's gonna flee the pocket and run every time at the first sign of pressure. He's not a real threat to throw when he breaks the pocket. Without busted coverage, he can't hurt you throwing the ball at all.
As I write this USC just scored. 21-10. Huntley can't get them more than 21. I expect to see him throw 2 picks the rest of the way now that they can't afford run the ball much anymore.
Click to expand...

Good points and I agree, but we don't have the DL and LB's like USC up front.

If I was USC, I would continue the "F it go deep" the rest of the year with that WR group. It's working with their 3rd string QB.
 
KingTrump said:
Good points and I agree, but do we don't have the DL and LB's like USC up front.

If I was USC, I would continue the "F it go deep" the rest of the year with that WR group. It's working with their 3rd string QB.
Click to expand...

Utah is a really tough team for us because we can't stop the run or tackle and at times will struggle handling their DL. Utah is almost an automatic loss to any team with more talent than them and it's all due to not being able to complete a legit forward pass. They took their one shot deep and the USC corner took the flag instead of giving up the TD. They won't attempt anything down field until it's too late. If USC throws 5 more deep jump balls they will win by 3+ TDs
 
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Key is to get up early on Utah and force them into 2nd and 3rd and long. Our screen game needs to be on point next week. Wrs need to win on press coverage and some 50/50 balls will be key.
 
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