Utah to meet Georgia Tech in 2011 Sun Bowl
by JazzyUte on Dec 4, 2011 4:32 PM MST
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Utah has been invited to play in the 2011 Sun Bowl.
They will play the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, a team Utah defeated in the 2005 Emerald Bowl.
This marks the Utes' first trip to the Sun Bowl since defeating New Mexico 26-0 in 1939 - the program's first ever bowl game.
The Sun Bowl will be on New Year's Eve and air on CBS.
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I really like how this matchup sets up for us.
Years of playing Air Force combined with our dominant run D should be able to control GT
that's definitely true
I’m not expecting a cake walk but I do think we have what it takes to win.
by khaostheory117 on Dec 4, 2011 5:20 PM MST up reply actions
Not sure how I feel about this...
Sure it’s strength against strength, but Georgia Tech talent is greater than Air Force/Navy talent, and Air Force always gave us some serious hell.
by BetterasIgetolder on Dec 4, 2011 4:49 PM MST reply actions
The talent may be better than what AF/Navy have but AF still beat em last year.
not saying they’re the same team this year just that greater talent only means so much
by khaostheory117 on Dec 4, 2011 6:51 PM MST up reply actions
A nice match for you guys
Meanwhile, in San Antonio, our 100th defense will be lining up against RG3.
Lord help us.
by Skeptical Dawg on Dec 4, 2011 9:48 PM MST up reply actions
Currently getting my JD from the UW
Not looking forward to this game. Nick Holt will most likely either explode or fold-in to his own body before the second quarter
Lets take a look at the run D rankings for GT's opponents real quick. maybe it will help us evaluate things a bit better
Western Carolina- Terrible FCS team, they only won a single game
Middle Tennessee-
Kansas
UNC
NC St
Maryland
Virginia
Miami
Clemson
VT
Duke
Georgia
Crap, this was posted way early.
I’m still trying to find a site that lists run D rankings. if anyone could help with this it would be great.
by khaostheory117 on Dec 4, 2011 5:01 PM MST up reply actions
They have a good pass D though
Maybe the best we’ve faced all year. If they lock up the pass, they can stack the box and take away the run. Should be an interesting game.
by UteinBrooklyn on Dec 4, 2011 5:12 PM MST up reply actions
Not really
We have a good secondary, but we cannot get QB pressure to save our lives. That’s allowed good passing teams to eat us alive, particularly later in the season.
too bad we aren't a good passing team
we have great WRs but no decent QB to make real use of them
by khaostheory117 on Dec 5, 2011 12:17 AM MST up reply actions
That sounds vaguely familiar...
back when we had Calvin Johnson as our WR but Reggie Ball (omg) as our QB…
by The Bamboo Shaft on Dec 7, 2011 1:33 PM MST up reply actions
I like the matchup
but I just remember all of the Air Force battles and then the Navy bowl game. We’re in for a dog fight. Should be fun though.
Lets try this again.
Western Carolina- Terrible FCS team, they only won a single game
Middle Tennessee- 114th
Kansas- 117th
UNC- 14th
NC St- 41st
Maryland- 110th
Virginia- 34th
Miami- 68th
Clemson- 80th
VT- 17th
Duke- 85th
Georgia- 9th
So taking out the Western Carolina game they’ve faced on average a D ranked in the 62-63 range.
One thing to keep in mind
Is that all of these rankings involve our game. Meaning that one of the 12 (or 13) games had one where there were 300+ rushing yards. In other words, there are 108 FBS teams that are ranked along with these teams that didn’t have to play us.
The Church of Paul Johnson - There's not much to it outside of whooping ass and giving haters the finger. To HELL With georgie!
"Meaning that one of the 12 (or 13) games had one where there were *most likely* 300+ rushing yards."
Would’ve edited it but I don’t think my browser likes cooperating with SBNation.
The Church of Paul Johnson - There's not much to it outside of whooping ass and giving haters the finger. To HELL With georgie!
Time to step up on national TV
As painful, awful, and you know what the loss to Colorado was, lets be happy to be playing on New Years Eve on a national network. It is time for the Utes to step up. I hope fans will find their way down to El Paso too. It should be a fun game.
Looking forward to the match-up, and the next 27 days of BlogoSphere.
Congratulations on joining the PAC-12.
Be prepared for an OVERLOAD of statistics from our beloved Blog-Meisters at “FromTheRumbleSeat”, we love pie charts, pivot tables, Standard Deviations, and the Triple Option.
CPJ should be drawing up a little sumpin’ sumpin’ for New Year’s Eve.
You'd do it for Randolph Scott!
RANDOLPH SCOTT!
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Dec 4, 2011 6:42 PM MST reply actions
What's up Utes
I’m Winfield, one of the managers from the GT blog. Looking forward to the matchup finishing up on some unfinished business between us and yall
Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John Heisman FromTheRumbleSeat
by Winfield Featherston on Dec 4, 2011 7:21 PM MST reply actions
Just try and bring the right cleats to the bowl game this time.
by Ute in DC on Dec 4, 2011 9:38 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs
Don't ask how I found the only girl from the South that doesn't know what a first down is.
My GF is from ATL so I’ve been there about 7 times in the last year. She has never been to a football game in her life, but seemed mildly interested about the prospect of going to watch a team from my hometown and her hometown…
by UteinBrooklyn on Dec 5, 2011 2:31 PM MST up reply actions
This particular excerpt from the official release got a little chuckle out of me
"This matchup provides El Paso the opportunity to see two great scoring offenses with very contrasting styles of play," Sun Bowl executive director Bernie Olivas said. "This game has a potential to be a high-scoring affair.
I think he may be the first to even consider us to have a “great scoring offense”
by mykneegrows on Dec 4, 2011 8:35 PM MST reply actions 2 recs
I caught that too and said to myself....
W…T…F…???
"It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word" - Andrew Jackson
I like the matchup
Figure there won’t be many passes thrown and the game will move along quickly. That’s good for us. Our defense is clearly most strong up front to stop the run. Hope our players will respond from the abortion of a game that was CU.
Just one thing
Please tell me this is a more prestigious bowl than obscure bowl that took the Jerks Down South.
Put it this way
This game is Better than the best possible Non BCS Bowl game for a MWC Team. In the Pac-12 order it’s 1 up from the Vegas Bowl (MWC #1)
The Armed Forces Bowl that the TDS is going to was 3rd/4th in the MWC Pecking Order.
Anyone kind of laughing at the MWC
how do you not get a BCS bowl bid with both Boise and TCU in your conference??
You have TCU blow it against SMU and than have TCU go win in Boise. that’s how. They couldn’t stand the thought of taking a non-BCS team that didn’t even win it’s conference.
You're not kidding
And how does Va Tech get in while losing? Give me a break.
Go Cuse. Go Utes. Go Kings (hockey version). Go Panthers (hockey version). Go Marlins. Go Dodgers. I despise the NFL and NBA, so don't bore me.
by LeftCoastMan on Dec 4, 2011 10:12 PM MST up reply actions
Such crap
BSU has more of a right to NCG than VTech has to the Sugarbowl.
by Joseph Silverzweig on Dec 4, 2011 10:42 PM MST up reply actions
The BCS is broken.
Can you imagine what we would be saying here if Utah were 11-1 in the MWC, but not invited? Glad we’re in the Pac-12, and now are part of the system.
Go Cuse. Go Utes. Go Kings (hockey version). Go Panthers (hockey version). Go Marlins. Go Dodgers. I despise the NFL and NBA, so don't bore me.
by LeftCoastMan on Dec 4, 2011 10:53 PM MST up reply actions
Thank you mods for cleaning the thread
My apologies LeftCoastMan and others, for the unintended offense that my comment carried, and the direction it had momentarily taken the thread.
Facing the option in a bowl is preferable to the regular season.
Your coaching staff will have nearly a month to get your players familiarized with it, much better than a week. Good luck Utes and Go Dawgs!
I do agree...
I am nervous, though. We played Navy in ‘07, right after Paul Johnson accepted the job at Georgia Tech. He didn’t coach in the game, but his influence was felt and their offense tore up our defense a great deal of the night. What won Utah the game was our offense, led by Brian Johnson (he was named MVP). We don’t have near the offense, so that is a concern.
Plus, G-Tech has more athletes than Navy…
Different teams with different players.
Not to discount our past encounters with Paul Johnson-lead offenses and Georgia Tech, but they are just that: past encounters. I believe that they will have no bearing whatsoever on our match up with the Yellow Jackets on New Year’s Eve.
I'd agree if option-oriented teams hadn't hurt us in the past...
There is a reason AFA consistently gave Utah a close game, even when the Utes were vastly better.
We’ll see, tho.
Congrats, Utes
Well done on getting a good bowl with a very compelling match-up. What with your game, UW playing Baylor and my boys taking on the Lolhorns, it seems like most of the 2nd-level P12 bowls will be good games.
As always, I know most of the other Cal fans will be on your side pulling for you to beat those Yellow Jackets. And we have a selfish reasons for wanting them to lose, since those guys somehow seem to think they have claim to the song “The stanfurd Jonah” (though who knows what they call it).
Anyway, congrats again.
Being an Old Blue means embracing the "meh".
Up With The White And Gold
Fool
Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John Heisman FromTheRumbleSeat
by Winfield Featherston on Dec 5, 2011 2:24 PM MST up reply actions
Buffs play
“Glory, Glory to old Georgia”? WTF
Must be as annoying as Rocky Top in Knoxvegas every 1st down, or that queer showtune that USC plays everytime they do something right.
You'd do it for Randolph Scott!
RANDOLPH SCOTT!
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Dec 7, 2011 6:03 AM MST up reply actions
Excited that we are bowling, but...
El Paso is definitely not an enticing place to visit. Oh what could have been…would have loved to been playing in the Holiday bowl against the Longhorns. Oh well, I guess all things considered we should be happy that we are even playing in the post season. El Paso is a dump though. Puke!
How many Ute fans do you think make the trip?
Tickets are cheap...but the 12 AM kickoff time makes it difficult for the commuters...
My Dad lives in Phoenix, & it’s a 6 hour drive from there to El Paso. Since Phoenix an hour behind us, but El Paso is on Mountain Standard…that means we’d have to either leave at 4AM (Phoenix time)
…or stay the night before at a hotel in El Paso, where at least 1 drug deal will go down, and possibly a hooker will get stabbed.
So I’m currently debating if it’s worth it…since it ultimately works out to about a 16hr trip one way.
He had us confused with the BYU ESPN deal that requires them to play at midnight
by H2O_UTE on Dec 5, 2011 1:33 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs
LOL...yep...
The time & date of the Sun Bowl is great for “exposure”…something that BYU fans love to yap about.
…not so great if you want to drive there & back in the same day.
Just noticed it's a day game on CBS
That is great exposure. We’ll be the only game on network TV at that time slot…
Glancing at the TV schedule and saw ESPN owns everything. There are only 3 other bowls games on a different network. Monopolies are never a good thing for consumers.
by UteinBrooklyn on Dec 5, 2011 2:15 PM MST up reply actions
Hotels are cheap
Just ran a search for hotels and most everything was very reasonable. The game tickets are very inexpensive too. The problem is getting there. Flights from the East Coast are pricey and it’s a long drive, even from SLC. Not sure how many fans are going to end up in the stands.
Dear fellow U fans...
If you go, be sure to come back with your head…
by BetterasIgetolder on Dec 5, 2011 3:02 PM MST reply actions
Georgia Tech 3.5 pt favorite.
Vegas has GT by 3.5
Sounds about right.
We’re going to have a hard time keeping up with that offense; and a run-first offense will limit turnovers.
by Joseph Silverzweig on Dec 5, 2011 10:50 PM MST up reply actions
Confused about BlockU's tag line
“….and all their classless fans!”
Pointing to an egalitarian fanbase where social class is not part of the equation, Comrades?
Site hacked by a BYU compu-jock in Romania and y’all haven’t noticed it yet?
A statement by the BlogMaster on the Prole rabble that is below HIS station?
A selfTroll?
An inside joke?
A statement that being classless is the DNA of the fanbase?
“Enquiring minds want to know”
You'd do it for Randolph Scott!
RANDOLPH SCOTT!
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Dec 7, 2011 6:03 AM MST reply actions
Holy War Reference.
In 2008 the Utes absolutely demolished their Rival BYU on their way to the Sugar Bowl. Part of the demolition was 6 turnovers by BYU QB Max Hall.
The next season, BYU survived against Utah in Overtime. Having had to suffer the entire year after his performance, Max Hall just couldn’t wait to make the following quote in the Post Game press conference, Max Hall went on a little tirade and made the following quote:
I don’t like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program. I hate their fans. I hate everything. So, it feels good to send those guys home. They didn’t deserve it. It was our time and it was our time to win. We deserved it. We played as hard as we could tonight, and it felt really good to send them home and to get them out of here, so it is a game I’ll always remember.
I think the whole university and their fans and organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year, and did a whole bunch of nasty things. I don’t respect them, and they deserve to lose.
Instead of infuriating the Utah fan base, for the most part we found it funny, and an affirmation of the holier than thou, hypocritical attitude that many think BYU Fans/players have. The Utes fan base has hitched on to the “Classless” and taken it as a source of pride. Even this season, when the Utes didn’t get BYU at home, there were still a lot of “Max Hall Hates Me” shirts abounding.
One reason why Utah fans are so willing to grasp onto this, is the fact that we all know that Max Hall is lying through his teeth, because it’s so extremely similar to an allegation he made against Arizona while he was at ASU.
Which makes one wonder, what the heck is wrong with his family.
Growing up, I didn’t like U of A, My uncle and my grandpa don’t really like U of A, Playing at ASU and being spit on and having beer spilled on them, and all that stuff. … But I think (Arizona) coach (Mike) Stoops has done a very good job with them. They’re a classier program than they’ve been in the past..
Of course being a Rams fan, I was really hoping he would choose the Rams as the fan base that spit on him during his very brief run with the Cardinals.
Another interesting side note for those of us LDS persuasion.
Hall’s comments actually inspired a Conference Weekend talk by one of the Presidents of our Church condemning hatred and pride in sports. And while there are plenty of instances, and plenty of fans on both sides that could take it to heart, it’s just funny that Hall inspired a full on admonishment by the church.
Will BYU vacate 1984 National Championship?
You'd do it for Randolph Scott!
RANDOLPH SCOTT!
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Dec 7, 2011 3:21 PM MST up reply actions
I missed that tongue-in-cheek tagline
but now that you mention it, I DO remember reading about this incident. Sounds like he definitely “has some issues”, so to speak. :)
by The Bamboo Shaft on Dec 7, 2011 1:28 PM MST up reply actions
We have a like experience
Between leaving the ESSS EEEE CEEE and joining the ACC, our Independent status allowed us to play Touchdown Jesus every year. Mid-70’s some students (seated behind Visitor’s Bench) were known to throw FISH onto Irish players. In my time, early 80’s Frats were urged to Coat/Tie/bring dates to game to counter this impression. Didn’t help Bill Curry’s record, but we were better behaved.
Did the Beer get thrown at a game, or Pre/Post game?
I’m interested because in my day you could still sneak a pitcher of Jack and Coke into the student section behind your back (after all you were Coat/Tie w/date). Now the booze Nazis pat down everyone like it’s Prohibition.
/flask sales plummet
//dates with BIG early 80’s pocketbooks are prized
///drink heavily before/after game, nap at halftime
You'd do it for Randolph Scott!
RANDOLPH SCOTT!
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Dec 7, 2011 3:19 PM MST up reply actions
Supposedly it happened during the game.
I don’t buy it for 2 reasons. 1. simply because anyone going through the hassle of sneaking a beer into the stadium, isn’t going to waste it by throwing it on anyone, and 2. Hall’s family sat in the BYU Visitor’s section.
So yeah, inside joke.
Dolphins and sharks are natural enemies. Dolphins are like, "Quit eating us," and sharks are like, "Stop smiling all the time, you morons."
Sort-of-daily sort-of-funny sort-of-thoughts at danoftheday.com
Rec'd for danoftheday
/bookmarked
You'd do it for Randolph Scott!
RANDOLPH SCOTT!
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Dec 7, 2011 3:23 PM MST up reply actions
Woo hoo!
Dolphins and sharks are natural enemies. Dolphins are like, "Quit eating us," and sharks are like, "Stop smiling all the time, you morons."
Sort-of-daily sort-of-funny sort-of-thoughts at danoftheday.com
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