I like TCU in this one. Utah is not a very good football team and Hobbs should run all over them. Any one got some info for me??
ANY THOUGHTS ON THE THURS NIGHT GAME...
- Thread starter INEEDMONEY
- Start date
INEEDMONEY said:
I believe Hobbs is doubtful with a groin injury...
But you double check that...
I know he left saturday`s game in the 1st quarter
and did not return.
Utah (2-0 SU, 0-1-1 ATS) is 19-3 ATS as an away dog since 1994. Utes are 9-2 ATS the last 11 road openers. Utah has dominated the MWC the last 2 years going 13-1 SU & 10-4 ATS.
TCU (1-1 SU, 1-1 ATS) will have it's inaugural MWC game. Horned Frogs are 3-10 ATS in their conference openers since 1992.
Gary Patterson media luncheon quotes
Press conference quotes from Sept. 13, 2005
(Opening remarks): "It's our first Mountain West Conference ballgame and what a way to start going against a team with a winning streak of 18 games. They have a new head coach, but most things have stayed the same. Like all Utah teams when I faced them in the past, they're very athletic, they play together and they're very physical."
(On any history he has with Utah coach Kyle Whittingham): "He was at Utah when I was at New Mexico, so I've seen him a few times in that respect. He's done a fabulous job. He's a coach's coach. He likes to be a part of it."
(On Utah's offense): "I don't know how good Arizona or Utah State is, but it looked like Utah was running their game plan for us against Utah State last week. It's a new coach with a new scheme."
(On Utah quarterback Brian Johnson): "He's from the Houston area, throws the ball well and is very athletic."
(On Utah tailback Quinton Ganther): "Quinton Ganther is great. He's like a shorter Adrian Peterson. He runs over somebody every game. He's had a least two pancakes each game. You have to gang-tackle him."
(On how physical Utah is): "They're very physical. The teams in the Mountain West Conference that go to bowl games are the most physical ones. That hasn't changed."
(On coaching in the Mountain West Conference): "I'm excited about it. It's exciting to play someone new to see how you match up. The first year is how you out x-and-o them. The second year it becomes players, turnovers and how kids get up to play the game. You don't know the athletic level until you play a team a couple times.
"The rest of the schedule, besides Army, will depend a lot on coaching. Everything is new. I said going into Conference USA that it takes two years to get familiar with a team. You have to play once there and once here. It'll be interesting to see how well teams play when they travel here and how we do going on the road.
"You have to understand how competitive the Mountain West is. It makes a big difference with where people are playing. We could go from a warm climate to a snowstorm in Wyoming. All those things play an active part."
(On whether or not Utah's offensive system from last year has been influential in college football): "Everyone is doing it. There's four or five teams running it in the Mountain West. The advantage we have is we're used to playing against it every day."
(On Utah defensive tackle Steve Fifita): "He's a great player. He's very athletic, tries very hard and he'll make your life miserable if you don't account for him."
(On adjusting for a Thursday night game): "If any team in the United States can write a book on it it's us. You don't get much sleep. The first practice has to be shortened and you hope your team has good fundamentals because there isn't much time to work on them. The nice thing is it gives us a couple extra days to get ready for BYU."
(On the defensive chess match with Utah): "It's about finding a way to win. Both teams are very multiple on defense. If you keep all that stuff equal it'll come down to who can create turnovers and make tackles.
"You can use last year's tapes to see what defense they run. The offense is totally new. It's hard to get a feel for it. (Utah offensive coordinator) Andy Ludwig learned it from Urban Meyer. Each game he has gotten a lot better at it.
"They have to look at having a new quarterback and making sure he can handle everything new. They have to think about how many new things he can learn in four days. His first two starts have been in front of their crowd. His third will be in front of our crowd on national TV. If he handles it well then you have to give him a lot of credit."
(On making Chris Manfredini his starting kicker): "He kicked as a freshman at Cincinnati so he has experience. The last two weeks he's had good camps. Peter LoCoco kicked well in practice and at Oklahoma and we don't make changes until someone beats another guy out."
(On whether or not he's settled on a starting punter): "Brian Cortney is our starter. He's getting punts off faster each week. I think we're third in the Mountain West in net punting right now and we're punting in heavy humidity.
"I asked the team to get better at special teams after Oklahoma. Against SMU, we blocked a punt, returned a kick for a touchdown and covered better. I can't ask for much more than that."
(On what he's learned about his team): "I know what we're capable of at each end of the field. Initially, you think we didn't play with a lot of effort at SMU. That usually shows first in special teams. Focus and purpose is what hurt us. That's why you don't turn it over. Two penalties on defense kept two drives alive. It goes back to kicking as well. If we make two more field goals it's a whole different ballgame."
(On how much Cory Rodgers will be used this season): "We'll keep doing the same thing. We have three other really good wide receivers with Quentily Harmon, Michael DePriest and Donald Massey, and Marcus Brock comes back this week. If we don't start spreading it around enough they'll take catches away from Rodgers. You stop that from happening by being able to run the ball.
"We actually averaged more yards per carry than SMU. One of the big words last week should have been patience. We scored 44 points against them easily last year, and we knew coming in that every game at SMU has been close. We started pressing and forgot that we only needed to score one more point."
(On the status of running back Lonta Hobbs): "I would say he's questionable."
(On how much humidity will be a factor for Utah): "I don't know. We'll have to wait until game time."
(On the role altitude plays in a game): "It's an excuse. You can't tell altitude. You can tell humidity. Cramping can be caused by humidity, not altitude."
(On SMU's success running the ball): "We never prepared for the running back they brought in. He was faster and bigger, and we didn't handle it well. He did a nice job.
"SMU had three or four players that played against Baylor that didn't against us. I told our kids going in it would be SMU's Super Bowl."
Press conference quotes from Sept. 13, 2005
(Opening remarks): "It's our first Mountain West Conference ballgame and what a way to start going against a team with a winning streak of 18 games. They have a new head coach, but most things have stayed the same. Like all Utah teams when I faced them in the past, they're very athletic, they play together and they're very physical."
(On any history he has with Utah coach Kyle Whittingham): "He was at Utah when I was at New Mexico, so I've seen him a few times in that respect. He's done a fabulous job. He's a coach's coach. He likes to be a part of it."
(On Utah's offense): "I don't know how good Arizona or Utah State is, but it looked like Utah was running their game plan for us against Utah State last week. It's a new coach with a new scheme."
(On Utah quarterback Brian Johnson): "He's from the Houston area, throws the ball well and is very athletic."
(On Utah tailback Quinton Ganther): "Quinton Ganther is great. He's like a shorter Adrian Peterson. He runs over somebody every game. He's had a least two pancakes each game. You have to gang-tackle him."
(On how physical Utah is): "They're very physical. The teams in the Mountain West Conference that go to bowl games are the most physical ones. That hasn't changed."
(On coaching in the Mountain West Conference): "I'm excited about it. It's exciting to play someone new to see how you match up. The first year is how you out x-and-o them. The second year it becomes players, turnovers and how kids get up to play the game. You don't know the athletic level until you play a team a couple times.
"The rest of the schedule, besides Army, will depend a lot on coaching. Everything is new. I said going into Conference USA that it takes two years to get familiar with a team. You have to play once there and once here. It'll be interesting to see how well teams play when they travel here and how we do going on the road.
"You have to understand how competitive the Mountain West is. It makes a big difference with where people are playing. We could go from a warm climate to a snowstorm in Wyoming. All those things play an active part."
(On whether or not Utah's offensive system from last year has been influential in college football): "Everyone is doing it. There's four or five teams running it in the Mountain West. The advantage we have is we're used to playing against it every day."
(On Utah defensive tackle Steve Fifita): "He's a great player. He's very athletic, tries very hard and he'll make your life miserable if you don't account for him."
(On adjusting for a Thursday night game): "If any team in the United States can write a book on it it's us. You don't get much sleep. The first practice has to be shortened and you hope your team has good fundamentals because there isn't much time to work on them. The nice thing is it gives us a couple extra days to get ready for BYU."
(On the defensive chess match with Utah): "It's about finding a way to win. Both teams are very multiple on defense. If you keep all that stuff equal it'll come down to who can create turnovers and make tackles.
"You can use last year's tapes to see what defense they run. The offense is totally new. It's hard to get a feel for it. (Utah offensive coordinator) Andy Ludwig learned it from Urban Meyer. Each game he has gotten a lot better at it.
"They have to look at having a new quarterback and making sure he can handle everything new. They have to think about how many new things he can learn in four days. His first two starts have been in front of their crowd. His third will be in front of our crowd on national TV. If he handles it well then you have to give him a lot of credit."
(On making Chris Manfredini his starting kicker): "He kicked as a freshman at Cincinnati so he has experience. The last two weeks he's had good camps. Peter LoCoco kicked well in practice and at Oklahoma and we don't make changes until someone beats another guy out."
(On whether or not he's settled on a starting punter): "Brian Cortney is our starter. He's getting punts off faster each week. I think we're third in the Mountain West in net punting right now and we're punting in heavy humidity.
"I asked the team to get better at special teams after Oklahoma. Against SMU, we blocked a punt, returned a kick for a touchdown and covered better. I can't ask for much more than that."
(On what he's learned about his team): "I know what we're capable of at each end of the field. Initially, you think we didn't play with a lot of effort at SMU. That usually shows first in special teams. Focus and purpose is what hurt us. That's why you don't turn it over. Two penalties on defense kept two drives alive. It goes back to kicking as well. If we make two more field goals it's a whole different ballgame."
(On how much Cory Rodgers will be used this season): "We'll keep doing the same thing. We have three other really good wide receivers with Quentily Harmon, Michael DePriest and Donald Massey, and Marcus Brock comes back this week. If we don't start spreading it around enough they'll take catches away from Rodgers. You stop that from happening by being able to run the ball.
"We actually averaged more yards per carry than SMU. One of the big words last week should have been patience. We scored 44 points against them easily last year, and we knew coming in that every game at SMU has been close. We started pressing and forgot that we only needed to score one more point."
(On the status of running back Lonta Hobbs): "I would say he's questionable."
(On how much humidity will be a factor for Utah): "I don't know. We'll have to wait until game time."
(On the role altitude plays in a game): "It's an excuse. You can't tell altitude. You can tell humidity. Cramping can be caused by humidity, not altitude."
(On SMU's success running the ball): "We never prepared for the running back they brought in. He was faster and bigger, and we didn't handle it well. He did a nice job.
"SMU had three or four players that played against Baylor that didn't against us. I told our kids going in it would be SMU's Super Bowl."
Thanks for the info guys. I knew hobbs went out but I didnt know if he was still hurt. I will try to keep up with that. Thanks!!
