Meyer doesn't think Utah in 2004 or 2008 could handle the SEC grind
by JazzyUte on Jul 16, 2009 4:23 PM MDT
in Football
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PrintHe straddles the fence pretty well when it comes to talking about Utah's beef with the BCS, but I think he's made his opinion on this quite clear.
"They're doing what they are supposed to do and fighting for the team in state and I can't argue with that," Meyer said. "That Utah team this year and the Utah team we had in '04 -- I don't think they can survive the grind of the SEC, but there are other conferences out there who can't survive the grind, either.
Isn't that nice. Utah is doing what they're supposed to do, but when you get down to it, their claim just doesn't work because they could never handle the mighty SEC.
Maybe they wouldn't go undefeated, but that didn't matter for Florida in all three of their championships, right?
Even the Gators can't handle the grind of the SEC, apparently, but no one dare question their claim to the title.
What's more, does anyone really think Utah would have done worse than Florida with this schedule last year:
Hawaii
Miami
@ Tennessee
Mississippi
@ Arkansas
LSU
Kentucky
Georgia
@ Vanderbilt
South Carolina
Citadel
@ Florida State
Alabama
Outside of Florida State, there were zero tough road games for the Gators. Tennessee was crap last year, Arkansas was mediocre and Vanderbilt is still Vanderbilt.
Imagine if Utah only had four road games in 2008 instead of their six.
Yeah, exactly.
It's unfortunate Urban Meyer forgets what he was battling four years ago.
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Looking at the schedule alone…I don’t really see how we could have lost any of those games. If we got the teams at home they got at home…there would be no way we would have lost those games. Florida State and Arkansas were the toughest games on the schedule and still Arkansas was…just that…Arkansas. So really only Florida State would be tought but they weren’t as good as Alabama so I would give us the edge on that one.
GO UTES!!
yeah, but...
He also went on to say
“To tell me he’s not a BCS coach or those aren’t BCS players, that’s not true.”
So don’t get your knickers into too much of a twist. I think Meyer’s point was that pretty much nobody can survive the grind in the SEC, not just Utah in particular (I’m not saying I necessarily agree with that).
And if you’re going to claim that Utah would have gone undefeated against Florida’s schedule, then you’re making an assertion that’s just as hypothetical, unprovable, and subjective as what Meyer said.
To end the argument once and for all, all you need to do is go undefeated against a schedule like BYU’s this year. If they go undefeated against that schedule, then they will be in the BCS Championship game. That’s a big if, though.
Lets also remember...
FLORIDA did not survive the grind of the SEC schedule.
He is doing what he is supposed to do, just as our representatives are. He is also doing what he is supposed to by standing with the SEC, ACC and Big 12 AGAINST the current BCS (in favor of a plus-one).
As the only undefeated team in the nation Utah is a credibility gap for Florida’s title and Meyer would be derelict not to address our claims. The fact that he intentionally does so in a respectful manner free of the demeaning tones of Nick Saban speak volumes.
may i ask a question...
i didn’t hear one thing about Utah being left out of the BCS CG before the game….it was only after you beat us that the “we got screwed” claims came out….in fact, the weeks prior to the Sugar bowl, i never heard it once from a Utah fan, that they felt that Utah was being shut out..
When your own coach doesn’t even vote you guys into the BCS CG (he ranked you guys 5th) then why should the rest of us do so?
Look, no one is trying to say that Utah wasn’t a great team, but you can’t say AFTER the season is over that you should have gotten a shot…that claim only has merit DURING the season…
Its been 7 months guys….let it go.
"First, there are winners and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners but don’t know it. They’re the ones for me. They never quit trying. They’re the soul of our game."– Paul "Bear" Bryant
We...
still have the longest winning streak in the nation (14).
still have the longest bowl winning streak in the nation
are the only team in the last 15 year to beat both USC and a top SEC team in a bowl game. Come to think of it, neither USC nor an SEC team have beat either.
didn’t let it go in 2005 until we lost to, well everyone decent we played except Georgia Tech.
… Just Beat … The Heck Out of You!!!
- For the record, here is a link with a Utah fan arguing for a variable playoff format in December (based on an idea of BYU’s coach).
1) All undefeated teams (Utah, Boise State)
2) All teams above the first large gap (Oklahoma, Florida, Texas)
Utah hosts Boise State for the chance to play Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, Florida and Texas play in a wild card game. The winners meet in the championship game.
No sour grapes.
- For the record, I am working on a paper to support the business plan I submitted to the BCS to implement these ideas on July 2nd and will work on revising the business plan to address issues it did not address that Bill Hancock suggested it should.
Hey man..wave that Utah flag high. You guys had a great year and you should be proud. Its awesome you guys are taking it so far as to write a business plan and send it to the BCS…but again i don’t know of anyone who wouldn’t admit you guys had a great year. Of course you did. Going undefeated is a big deal.
I kinda think you guys are approaching it the wrong way though. I don’t feel you guys got screwed per say. I think you got left out….I looked back at the rankings at the end of the ‘07 seasons and the beginning of ’08…i didn’t see Utah at all. So going from unranked, to #2 in one season…especially coming from a mid major conference…is freakin AMAZING! Sure Alabama went from #24 to #1 in a season, but we also beat 4 top 25 teams on our way…
Where i think you guys screwed is in the preseason rankings…in fact, every team whos not in the top 25 in the preseason are at a great disadvantage. If the first ranking didn’t come out until say week 5 or 6, ranking would be determined on what a team has accomplished THAT season and not what they did in the previous one. So yeah, i think Utah got screwed but not in the way you guys think…
Anyways…i just wanted to get yalls thoughts.
Why should Utah host Boise? Boise St played a terribly weak schedule. They lost their last game of the year to TCU…Why in the heck do they deserve a shot? And please don’t tell me cause they won their conference.
Florida and Texas as wild cards? Thats a bit strange to me..
Please explain…
"First, there are winners and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners but don’t know it. They’re the ones for me. They never quit trying. They’re the soul of our game."– Paul "Bear" Bryant
To be fair, many Ute fans were claiming they deserved a chance.
Did we know we were the best team? No.
Do we still know who the best team in 2008 was? No.
That’s the point. It’s all left up to politics and bullshit, which isn’t a way to designate a national champion.
This is what pisses me off the most because we’re told to let it go, get over it and move on. Well great, I’ll move on when the season begins anew, but it won’t change a damn thing.
Oh and the entire season didn’t end when the regular season finished. So where Whittingham put Utah at the end of the regular season is a moot point, since it shouldn’t be left up to that.
well of course
Everything you are saying is pointing to a playoff…..sure man..i would have loved to see a playoff last season. Maybe then Alabama wouldn’t have come out so flat…IDK…but it would have been great. But we don’t have a playoff. We have the BCS, which is really only a more unified version of the what came before it.
The last team to go undefeated and not get a shot at the MNC was Auburn. They were in a similar position as you guys. Started out i believe around #27….went all the way through the SEC and didn’t get a shot. Why, well that year the #1 and #2 teams preseason never lost a game..and they didn’t beat anyone that great until late in the year..so its kinda hard to unseat a team who never loses…
In yalls situation, no one really started paying attention to you guys till late in the year. UF, on the other hand, lost early and went on a freakin unbelievable run! Pretty much destroying everyone in their path. Of course, you had the “Tebow promise”…
My point about letting go might have sounded rude…what im saying is you guys dont want to sound like sore losers. Even most Alabama fans have let last season go and moved on to bigger and better things. It took 3 seasons for AU fans to stop bitching about being left out….
I hope either you guys can move on faster…or your voice is heard. But like i said above, i think going the route of “we were left out” isn’t the right way to go…I say, go the “the preseason polls screwed us”…that way, if we can get that changed…it will be a great step in making things more fair. Then we can tackle the automatic tie in’s and move onto the playoff argument.
Rome wasn’t built in a day but im afraid if your “protest” come out more like bitching…people will stop listening…
"First, there are winners and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners but don’t know it. They’re the ones for me. They never quit trying. They’re the soul of our game."– Paul "Bear" Bryant
I think my biggest beef...
With all of this is that in 2004, we were told our schedule wasn’t difficult enough. And, you know, the 2004 season was far more muddled. I mean, USC, Oklahoma, Auburn, Boise State and Utah all had gone undefeated in the regular season. Truth be told, the Trojans were probably the best team in the nation that year and a big stink wasn’t made because the Utes weren’t the lone undefeated team.
Well last season, the Utes purposely schedule Michigan knowing they’ll be loaded for 2008 and the Wolverines decide to go take a big dump no one expected. But beyond them sucking, the Utes did actually play a fairly decent schedule — at least one far better than Auburn in ’04.
Not only that, but they also managed to be the lone undefeated, something Auburn or Utah couldn’t say four years prior. It wasn’t cut and dry, obviously, but the case was stronger and still, they weren’t really taken all that seriously.
As for letting it go, it’s summer and I’ve said as much. When the season begins, it’s all in the past and we’re focused on the upcoming 12 games. We won’t dwell on this forever, since most Ute fans moved on from 2004 when we felt we were shafted (maybe not out of an NC berth, but by being forced to play a slightly better than average Pitt team in the Fiesta).
It’ll happen again. We’ll move on and enjoy the upcoming season. But for now, it’s something that still bugs.
And yeah, ‘Bama fans might have moved on, but you guys don’t have a stink. You don’t ever have to worry about getting the shaft if you go undefeated — even if you had a schedule similar to Auburn in 2004.
That’s why I bitch. I bitch because even before the season begins, I know my team is at a major disadvantage. I guess if you were in our same boat, you’d probably bitch too.
But you’re not. Be glad for that. You never have to wonder what it’d be like entering the season knowing it’s next to impossible for your team to win a football championship, regardless of how good your team is.
Well that’s what Ute fans face every single year. We’ll enter this season the exact same position as last.
hmm
i don’t know about this…the rest i agree with.
That’s why I bitch. I bitch because even before the season begins, I know my team is at a major disadvantage. I guess if you were in our same boat, you’d probably bitch too.
But you’re not. Be glad for that. You never have to wonder what it’d be like entering the season knowing it’s next to impossible for your team to win a football championship, regardless of how good your team is.
Well that’s what Ute fans face every single year. We’ll enter this season the exact same position as last.
Maybe a few years back. But not after this past season. If you guys follow up this season with another 12-0 or a strong 11-1, then i seriously doubt you get left out. Only way i see that happening is if other BCS schools do the same. And i guess thats your point. That if a team from the SEC and MAC both go undefeated, the SEC school gets the high road…
.but truth be told….the SEC from top to bottom is quite better than the MAC…There are right now a few of the typically strong teams (UT and AU) down right now , so that has made the conference seem a little weaker than normal…but lest you forget that the conference has had 3 of the last 4 national champions.
Now some teams from the MAC are scheduling tough OOC games to boost their schedule, but i probably just pissed you off with that statement above and you forgot everything else i said…hopefully you will continue to read..
I think the MAC has come a LONG way…10 years ago, even Utah fans would admit that the MAC was irrelevant to college football. Perhaps thats why when the BCS formed, they chose not to include the mid majors…IDK…It takes years to build up a conference…or it takes already strong teams joining to make it legit. If the MAC continues to build itself up and teams like Utah, BYU and TCU stay consistent..perhaps you guys can narrow the gap. I do feel we will have a playoff soon and that will become obsolete.
Anyways i hope you guys the best…
"First, there are winners and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners but don’t know it. They’re the ones for me. They never quit trying. They’re the soul of our game."– Paul "Bear" Bryant
what im saying is you guys dont want to sound like sore losers. Even most Alabama fans have let last season go and moved on to bigger and better things. It took 3 seasons for AU fans to stop bitching about being left out….
I hope so too, but the new season has not started yet. We would be taking about last season to some degree no matter how Utah had finished.
Once fall camp starts we’ll start talking about who will play and have a new subject to banter about. Once the season actually starts, I doubt we spend too much time talking about the 2008 season unless it’s for comparison to the current team.
The last team to go undefeated and not get a shot at the MNC was Auburn. They were in a similar position as you guys.
Actually no. The last team was Boise State in 2006. And Utah joined Auburn as undefeated in 2004.
Exactly.
Maybe we should be a bit more focused on the upcoming season, but that won’t really hit until next month.
Until then, it’s a rehash of what’s happened. Plus, the BCS is in the news lately because of the hearings on Capitol Hill, so it isn’t a surprise it’s become an issue once more.
thats
right…i forgot about Boise…but that season, no one thought (at least in my neck of the woods) that Boise was a legitimate national contender..
You will never see me argue for Boise St. EVER. Their schedule is pathetic. Go take a look. Its truly laughable. their conference is terribly weak…Ill argue for Utah and the MAC (only as long as Utah, TCU, and BYU stay competitive)…but never for Boise.
"First, there are winners and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners but don’t know it. They’re the ones for me. They never quit trying. They’re the soul of our game."– Paul "Bear" Bryant
You'll find Ute fans don't particularly like Boise.
I think last year’s win over Oregon was their first victory over a BCS team on the road.
No, I don't like BSU, or at least their fans.
But as a Utah fan, I cannot simultaneously argue for a playoff that includes the MWC champion, while arguing that 2006 BSU didn’t deserve at least a chance.
Also, they are trying to upgrade their schedule. They have practically begged to join the MWC. They have BYU and Utah on their schedule in a couple years, and they are trying to add more BCS teams.
So, yeah, their fans are annoying, but they should be given a chance in a playoff too.
We’re the MWC. The MAC is the Mid-American Conference, which has schools like Temple, Ball State, and Buffalo.
yeah i saw that...forgive me
"First, there are winners and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners but don’t know it. They’re the ones for me. They never quit trying. They’re the soul of our game."– Paul "Bear" Bryant
coaching = politics
you must remember that coaching is still very political and Meyer makes these comments to bolster the reputation of the SEC. it doesn’t matter whether he believes it or not. he is simply campaigning for better poll position and for better recruits.
its that simple. I wouldn’t read too much into his comments about Utah at this point. He says what says to benefit him in his current position: Head Coach at the University of Florida.
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