The Sunday prior to the start of college football has enough articles both nationally and locally to send any sports fan into an epileptic seizure of the good kind. And since Salt Lake City has two daily newspapers, it's double the reading and double the fun. Yes, today both the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Morning News had their annual college football preview, full of goodies that any college football fan would enjoy.
- In this Deseret News article, they talk about the BCS and how Utah/BYU can crash it.
Utah, meanwhile, opens at UCLA. Meetings with Northern Arizona and Utah State follow before the Utes start league play at San Diego State. A 4-0 start, coupled with wins in a difficult five-day stretch against TCU and Boise State, would almost certainly lead to national prominence.
- Utah's relaxing prior to their UCLA game, at least that's according to this Deseret News article.
"We've been grinding it out pretty much and I think we need a day off of our feet," said senior captain Tavo Tupola. "I'm excited to come into work on Monday -- to get things going and study up on UCLA."
- The Deseret News also offers up its Mountain West Conference predictions. They have Utah winning the conference with BYU finishing 3rd.
Outlook: The Utes are in prime position to reclaim the league title. They'll face projected front-runners TCU and BYU at home. ... Senior safety Eric Weddle is seeking to join former SDSU linebacker Kirk Morrison as a back-to-back defensive player of the year. ... Utah is 5-0 in bowl games since joining the MWC in 1999.
- Checking up on our opponents this season, the Deseret News has an article on first-year Boise State coach Chris Petersen and how he's trying to keep the success of Hawkins. Reminds me of what happened last season for the Utes.
- The Salt Lake Tribune has its MWC preview up, they have the Utes finishing 2nd behind TCU.
Choosing a quarterback might not make as much difference as keeping running back Darryl Poston healthy, but the defense appears in great shape with safety Eric Weddle as its anchor.
Odds of winning [the conference]: 3-to-1
- The Trib also talks about how Utah is primed for a return to the top of the conference...and maybe a BCS run as well.
"Sky's the limit, man, sky's the limit," sophomore cornerback Brice McCain said. "We don't know how good we can be, but I guarantee we're going to try to do the best we can, no matter what that is."
- And if you're looking for an article on Weddle, the Tribune has that too!
Weddle ranks in a different category, and no doubt will conjure images of a bygone era when players routinely worked both sides of the ball, as well as star two-way players of the more recent past, like Michigan's Charles Woodson and Ohio State's Chris Gamble.
- The Trib also grades each of Utah's positions.
SECONDARY - A
No problems here.
The Utes have built the secondary around senior safety Eric Weddle, the versatile reigning defensive player of the year in the Mountain West who also will contribute on offense and special teams.