Five wins in a row? Whittingham discussed the possibilities Monday in his weekly press conference.
It was nice to get a road win at TCU. It was a Thursday night game, so it was a short week for us and I thought that everyone handled it well. TCU is a talented team, and it was a tough, physical game.
It was a gritty win and Utah needed it. Now they just can't have that damn pesky letdown. Please, for the love of all might, do not have another letdown!
Offense was ok, not great. But that's more because TCU has a great defense than Utah having a mediocre offense. I'm glad to see the gameplan continues to be running Darrell Mack down the throats of the opposing teams.
The defense played great and I hope they put out the same effort Saturday. This defense has played far and away better than many people have expected and with the offense getting its act together, Utah should be tough to beat.
CSU has been in nearly every loss, I hope the same doesn't happen this week. I want Utah to pound them from start to finish. Last Thursday's game nearly gave me a heart attack and I don't think I can take another close one. Utes need to not only roll CSU for my sake, but for theirs as well. Nothing builds confidence like dismantling a team on the road.
The Rams' running game will be the biggest issue Utah faces when defending them. They have two solid backs that can run all over Utah's defense if they don't show up. If that happens, it could be UNLV all over again.
Except their defense isn't nearly as good as it once was. Utah should have no problem moving the ball down field and I expect Brian Johnson to have a decent game, along with Mack -- as the Rams rank dead last in the Mountain West at defending the run. They give up over 200 yards per game on the ground and I expect Mack to roll.
Utah wins this game and they should enter the BYU game at 8-3. That's a pretty remarkable record for a team that started 1-3.
This is a big game for Utah, because a five game winning streak entering the final stretch of the season is huge. A loss here and the Utes are not only out of the conference hunt, they could trip up and finish the season on a losing streak. Even with a victory over CSU, their final three games are going to be extremely tough. But I feel confident that a streaking Utah team can manage that far better than one that stumbles in Fort Collins.