GAME PREVIEW: Utah

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For the first time since September 2008, the University of Utah football team is not in the Top 25 rankings. Utah also no longer holds the longest winning streak in the nation. Last Saturday's game at Oregon brought forth evidence that Utah has some work to do to become a serious contender in the Mountain West Conference Championship race.

About the Utes

Although Utah did not play well in any phase of the game, the Utes still had a chance to win, which is a credit to their overall talent on the field. This week the Utes play Louisville, which is another program from a BCS conference. Both teams are unranked and are coming off a loss.

Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham pointed out in his weekly press conference that his Utes "did not play particularly well in any phase of the game." Again, there were bright spots in every phase, but in order to beat teams like Oregon and Louisville, Utah needs to play a cleaner game. Utah can win games against Utah State and San Jose State playing sloppy, but can't against Oregon, and if the Utes cannot get some of their problems ironed out, they will lose to Louisville. Terrance Cain looks to be evolving into a fine quarterback. Playing in his second road game of the season and having it be at Autzen Stadium was a difficult break, but better to get thrown into the fire now rather than later. One bright spot seemed to be that he settled down in the second quarter. He went through a very difficult stretch in the first and second quarters until the defense game him a short field. Cain called his own number and scrambled up the middle and scored. The game started to slow down for him, but he needs to become more and more of a leader.

The more he becomes the leader on the field, the faster he will be able to get the plays out, allowing the offensive line to make their blocking or protection calls, resulting in fewer delay of game penalties or wasted timeouts. This is an evolving team with players learning to be leaders. This team has a familiar feel to the 2005 Utah team, where there were new coaches, and new leaders on offense and defense. Coach Whittingham knows what he is doing and has a system in place for the players to succeed. As Coach Whittingham put it, "this is not time to panic?" He is right. Utah lost one game at a place that is historically tough for any program to play in. All college football teams lose games. What Utah did last year was not the norm. Out of 119 teams in FBS, Utah was the only one that didn't have a loss. The team that won the BCS National Championship (Florida) even had one loss! As the coach said, it is not time to panic. Utah fans should not be panicking either.

The defense has also had many bright spots, one of which has to be the opposing teams 3rd down conversion rate. In three games the Utes have held opponents to a combined 6-38 (0-12 USU, 3-12 SJSU, and 3-14 Oregon). The Utes D is killing drives at an almost 85% rate! That is spectacular. Most of the time the defense is getting off the field. In the Oregon game, the offense went three and out 10 times, so they gave it right back.

What is comforting to know is it takes Utah a few games to put the whole package together. Even last in 2008, it wasn't until week 8 against Colorado State when Utah played a complete game.

About the Cardinals

Louisville comes into this week having lost a heartbreaker to bitter rival Kentucky 31-27. Louisville is now 1-1 overall having had a bye in week two. Louisville employs Utah's Head Coach Kyle Whittingham's good childhood friend Steve Kragthorpe. Kyle and Steve's fathers coached at BYU in the late 70's. In listening to the Cardinals weekly press conference, Kragthorpe was well aware of what Utah has done since Whittingham has taken over as coach of the Utes. He has a high respect for Kyle and expects a tough battle come Saturday evening.

Louisville tries to keep a balanced attack on offense as opposed to what Oregon did against Utah last week. The Cardinals ran the ball 40 times and gained 133 yards on the ground. They threw the ball 29 times and gained 245 yards and scored 2 touchdowns off the pass. This will be a much tougher week for Utah's secondary as any other week this season so far. Louisville will throw the ball around.

Wrap up

With both teams coming off losses, this will be a game of resolve. Louisville had an extremely emotional loss against Kentucky and Utah had their 16 game winning streak snapped at the hand of Oregon. Look for Utah to get back to basics this week and try to become more physical at the line of scrimmage. Utah has been unhappy with their push off the snap, especially on offense. There is no more reason for the Utes to feel entitled to a win. A loss is never good, but to give many of the players a new perspective on how much it means to win a game is huge. These wins do not come unless the effort and focus is there, look for Utah to renew their effort, focus and communication. The Utes will also be looking forward to playing in Rice-Eccles again, where they are 20-5 under Coach Whittingham.

 

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Utes will use Asiata more



Team hopes he can make plays on first down to avoid third-and-long scenarios.


Utah coach Kyle Whittingham has emphasized improving the Utes' poor third-down conversion rate against Louisville.

Utah has converted on just 17 of 44 third downs to rank 67th nationally out of 119 teams.

The Utes believe they can help that percentage by avoiding the many third-and-long situations they've found themselves in by using running back Matt Asiata more extensively in first-down situations.

Asiata said he was all for that plan.

"You love to hear coaches say they rely on the running backs," he said. "But whatever coaches put down on the play call, you just have to do it and see."

While Utah's third-down percentage isn't acceptable for the Utes, it is at least better than those of the opponents they've played.

Oregon ranks No. 113 (8 of 36), Utah State is No. 118 (5 of 30) and San Jose State is tied with Kent State for last at No. 119 (6 of 41).

Louisville isn't much better, ranking behind Utah at No. 69 (10 of 26).



Injury report

Asiata said on Wednesday his injured shoulder felt better than it did against Oregon, although he hesitated to rate how close he was to 100 percent. ... Louisville safety Terrence Simien will miss Saturday's game after suffering a lacerated kidney against Kentucky. He had 10 tackles and an interception in the Cardinals' two games.

He'll be replaced by senior Richard Raglin or senior Daniel Covington .

 

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Seniors will replace Cards? Simien

Ex-starters Raglin, Covington will play



The University of Louisville football team plans to replace one starter with two.Strong safety Terrence Simien is out indefinitely with a lacerated kidney. At least the Cardinals (1-1) won't miss him from an experience standpoint. Seniors Richard Raglin and Daniel Covington ? both former starters ? will try to make up for the loss of Simien against Utah.

?We're going to move those guys around,? defensive coordinator Brent Guy said. ?We'll roll through and use different guys and get the right mix, because it's all different packages that he's (Simien) involved in, too.?

Simien, a junior-college transfer, was quickly developing into a standout player, although he had played in only two games. He had an interception and fumble recovery and was tied for third on the team with 10 tackles.

Raglin, a fifth-year senior, was the starting free safety last season until a wrist injury sidelined him. Covington, who replaced Raglin last season, started the final nine games in 2008.

?It's the same situation I was in last year,? Covington said. ?We had Latarrius Thomas go down and Richard Raglin go down, and I had to step in and make plays for the team.?

Simien beat out Covington in August camp for the starting spot. Covington was listed as his backup and will likely start against the Utes. Raglin was used more at free safety, but the Cards have no reservations about switching him to strong safety.

?We have four senior safeties, and any one can start at any moment in time,? Raglin said. ?I just look at it as you have to capitalize on your opportunity when it's put out there for you.?

Utah, which ranks 29th in the FBS in total offense (438.3 yards per game), could give them both a chance to make an impact. The Utes average 201 rushing yards per game, and they expect running back Matt Asiata to be closer to full strength after injuring his shoulder. Asiata leads the Mountain West Conference with 101 ypg.

Both Covington and Raglin should play and will be counted on for run support close to the line of scrimmage. But they will have to be on the lookout for more than the Utes' running game.


Utah uses the spread offense, and its passing game has relied heavily on slant patterns. However, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham hinted that he would like to get receivers on deep routes more often.


?I look at Utah's offense as high-powered,? Raglin said. ?We just have to be fundamentally sound when we're out there, because they can take any play and turn it into a big gain.?

It hasn't been an easy transition for the Utes following an undefeated 2008 season. Most of the skill players that fueled their 31-17 Sugar Bowl win over Alabama are gone ? including quarterback Brian Johnson.

Utah's offense, led at quarterback by junior-college transfer Terrance Cain, is searching for consistency. In the Utes' 31-24 loss to Oregon, they went seven straight first-half possessions without a first down.

?They had a veteran in Brian Johnson ? they don't have the experience now,? Guy said. ??They lost a few more playmakers, but they're developing guys as they go.?

Guy hopes they don't develop any new ones at the Cards' expense.

U of L has done a good job of limiting big plays this season, allowing just one run and two passes longer than 20 yards. The longest play they have given up from scrimmage was a 27-yard completion against Kentucky.

Eliminating big plays was a point of emphasis for the Cards throughout the preseason. Covington said safeties coach Antonio Goss always talks about ?absolute accountability.?

?You don't compromise your absolutes, and one of ours is stopping the big play,? he said. ?You have to be real disciplined. I think that's a real big factor in what we've been able to do so far.?

 

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Red zone too often dead zone for U of L

Only five TDs on 14 trips inside 20



The University of Louisville football team has marched into the red zone with relative ease this season. Getting into the end zone once inside the 20-yard line has proved to be much more difficult.


The Cardinals (1-1) are tied for 92nd in the Bowl Subdivision in red-zone efficiency, scoring points on 10 of 14 trips. Only five of those have been touchdowns.

That has to change if UofL hopes to snap Utah's 12-game home winning streak on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

Fullback Joe Tronzo contends the Cards are not far from putting it all together. He said they simply have to execute better.

?Sometimes it came down to not attacking the right shoulder (blocking) or making the right read,? he said about last Saturday's 31-27 loss at Kentucky. ?That was probably the most frustrating thing. You look on tape and you realize how close we were to scoring a lot more points than we did.?

On one hand, UofL is at least getting points. Kicker Ryan Payne's five field goals already have matched the Cards' total from last season. His 42-yarder against Kentucky was the team's first of at least 40 yards since Art Carmody hit a 41-yarder in the 2007 season finale against Rutgers.

But the Cards would rather score touchdowns than see Payne restoring confidence in the kicking game. Missed opportunities summed up the loss to UK. UofL scored touchdowns on just two of its six trips to the red zone.

Some of that was a credit to UK's defense. The Wildcats stuffed Bilal Powell for a loss on fourth-and-one from the 12, and cornerback Trevard Lindley stayed locked up with receiver Scott Long on an end-zone pass. But more often it was the things the Cards did not do.

Tight end Cameron Graham, who cashed in on one drive with a 5-yard touchdown reception, was penalized for a false start on third down from the UK 5, and quarterback Justin Burke was called for intentional grounding on the next play.

?We just made some mental errors down there,? Burke said. ?The thing about the red zone is everything is magnified. You have a shorter field; you have the 12th defender in the back line. You don't have as much room, and it's faster.?


It's so fast that a mistake seemingly as innocuous as not sending a receiver in motion can turn out to be costly.


?We had one error where we didn't get a guy in motion on a hot play where they brought the two inside backers,? coach Steve Kragthorpe said. ?We would have thrown the ball to him, and it probably would have been a touchdown.?

Burke claimed responsibility for that mistake and admitted that he ?lost focus? a couple times in the red zone, including rushing a would-be touchdown throw.

He vowed to relax a little more once the Cards get inside the 20 at Utah.

?You want to be so precise in the red zone that sometimes you put a little pressure on yourself to make everything perfect, and that's not football,? Burke said. ?It's not going to be that way.?

The Utes (2-1) have been far from perfect defending the red zone. They rank 76th nationally in red-zone defense, allowing TDs on five of eight drives.

Burke is confident the Cards can take advantage. He chalked up the red-zone problems to on-the-job training.

?I'm a freshman-junior, as I like to put it, without much experience,? he said. ?I'll learn that, and as an offense we'll grow from that, but that's something you can fine tune.?