Those Darn Aggies

At first the Aggies and Cougars will meet on the field as enemies. But then they will get to know each other, then respect each other. Then BAM! their friends!

Well there will be some friendship and hatred. As everyone in the whole wide world knows we poached their star QB during his mission. In all fairness his parents contacted BYU on his behalf saying he wanted to transfer. Anyway, I DO expect Riley Nelson to get see plenty of playing time. I know I know. Those darn Aggies looked pretty good against the Utes who had to keep their first string in almost the whole way. But the Utes have made everyone look pretty good this year. I am saying right now BYU leads this game by 4 TDs by the end of the half. Riley will get at least the 4th quarter all to himself.

I risk being over confident. After all they have one heck of a QB. Oh wait, he's one of our QBs now! Seriously, the Aggies have improved and showed some wrinkles against BYU last year. They actually scored albeit in the 4th quarter when our starters were out.

I'm saying BYU 45 USU 10. I think I'm being conservative.

EA Sports says:

Sim:

Score: USU 7 BYU 42
Rushing: USU 126 BYU 222
Passing: 118 BYU 340
3rd Down USU 55% BYU 71%
Turnovers: USU 1 BYU 2
TOP: USU 31:00 BYU 29:00

When I played:

Score: USU 3 BYU 49
Rushing: USU 73 BYU 158
Passing: 80 BYU 311
3rd Down USU 35% BYU 50%
Turnovers: USU 0 BYU 1
TOP: USU 18:00 BYU 42:00

Bidnis Travel

Your Humble Ute correspondent is travelling on business for the next week or so, (I am gone now, which is why my blogging has been light). So won't get much out of me. So JR, step up and write!!

Anyway, quick thoughts,

Caught half of the Utah game (on internet and with crappy reception), it looks like the Utes finally played a good game. Not great, but good. I am still very concerned about our pass defense and Cain's inability to through the deep ball. I think BYU could light us up, we probably match up better against TCU.

The CSU game coming up scares me. They are a decent team and it is on the road. Luckily we have a bye this week and should be well prepared.

Utes: 3-1.

CSU Preview

Colorado State is the best team in the MWC. I mean they beat Colorado! As did Toledo. Colorado actually really sucks this year. BUT CSU then also beat Weber State! Except they should have lost that game. However, teams performing poorly against one opponent is not a measure of how they will perform against another. I thought FSU's near win to Jacksonville State was a good sign. I was wrong. CSU last year almost beat BYU. It was BYU's only come from behind victory of the year. They 4th quarter was thrilling but that should never be the case for BYU in conference play except against Utah and TCU.

This could be a high scoring game. Look for CSU to run the same kind of offense as FSU did last week and Utah and TCU did last year. Problem is CSU doesn't have FSU's athletes or a mobile QB. Also BYU's D is gonna have a serious chip on their shoulder. I look for a much better defensive performance. I also look for a completely healthy Harvey Unga to have a big game. A very big game. He averaged 9 yards per carry against FSU before we had to switch to passing only to play catchup.

My prediction: BYU 42 - CSU 24

Crappy, Crappy Night

First, Utah looked terrible and lost to Oregon, despite four turnovers by the ducks. The BYU got destroyed by FSU in Provo. Not the kind of night either team needed, nor the Mountain West. TCU better beat Clemson next week.

So some observations from the Utah game:

1. Cain can't throw the deep ball. He is solid with 10 yards, has good pocket presence and can evade the sack well, but his deep passes are terrible. Overall, his play has been mediocre. If we are going to have mediocre QB play, it might as well be the Freshman getting experience. Also, Cain doesn't seem like he can check off of his first receiving option well, nor does seem able to throw well on the run. I'm almost ready for Wynn.

2. Again, poor play calling. What on earth were the Utes doing throwing a fade on a TD attempt on the last play of the 2nd half? Too many plays downfield (deep passes) for the Utes, not enough option.

3. Utes defense is solid, though our secondary is one of the biggest problems on the team. BYU will light us up. Our D-line and Linebackers are still great. They are fast and can get off the block well.

4. Coach Whitt has no confidence in his kicking game. We are going to lose at least one more due to the kicking problems.

5. Our continued inability to finish was apparent again. The Utes have a really long way to go. Just watching BYU's quality (despite the poor defense) vice the Utes was astounding.

Five observations on BYU

1. Feeling a lot like last year? Defense gets a lot of accolades early in the season then gets exposed. My observation previously was that BYU's D still looked slow. That was confirmed tonight. I still think BYU maybe only has one more loss in them, to TCU. Right now they would kill Utah.

2. When Max Hall gets behind, he starts to press and falls apart. This game was reminicent of the Utah game last year. Brutal.

3. Max is still a great QB. He is accurate with a great arm. But will not make it in the NFL.

4. Mckay Jacobson and the other really good receiver on the Y (forgot his name and don't care about the Y enough to look it up, what do you want?) are really good.

5. Again, their D sucks. First half for FSU: 5 posessions, 4 TD's and FG. And the FG was only because time was running out in the half. Brutal.

Extra points:

- Glad Colorado State beat Nevada. That's a good win.
- How did TCU allow 21 points to Texas State? They are suspect.
- Ugh, SDSU got embarrassed by Idaho....freakin' Idaho, are you kidding???
- Translates into a terrible day for the MWC, but Boise State is stoked.

UTES: 2-1

Previewing the Seminoles

It's time for the first BYU home game of the year and it should be a good one. I was really hoping FSU would be undefeated right now and they were just one bad pass away from that being the case. They looked good against Miami and then last week they had to pull out a last minute win against an FCS team (formerly Div 1-AA). So now I don't know how good FSU is. I want to compare the Miami game to the recent Michigan v ND game. Everyone talked about how good those 2 programs looked last week but actually we still don't know. They each beat a very poor team in week 1 then they played each other close. So what? If Weber State and Southern Utah had a close fought game would we be saying that the winner is really good? Of course not. So until Michigan plays a known good team the jury is still out. Same for FSU v Miami. For all we know Miami still stinks.

Anyway, let's get back to THIS match up. I put the picture of Christian Ponder above because I think he has the ability to run the kind of Offense that BYU has of late struggled to defend: short passing with a scrambling QB. BYU's D has improved so dramatically this year (I called it all the way back at the beginning of fall camp, thank you) that maybe they will be better suited to defend a mobile QB. I don't know since they haven't played one yet. This will be a good test. Overall, I expect BYU to take away FSUs run game and get plenty of pressure against Ponder. If an LB can just stay at home in case Ponder decides to run we'll be alright. BYU has been soft against the short pass but our Safeties are keeping the gains minimal. Longest play against BYU so far this year is 20 yards. I'm pretty happy about that. I also expect to see BYU's D continue their monster turnover rampage. If FSU loses the ball to turnovers this game could be over by halftime.

Now onto BYU's Offense versus the FSU D. BYU will not be able to run the ball as easily as they did against Tulane but they should fare better than they did against OU (Karyia still had 50 yards against the best front 7 in maybe all of College Football. Total rush yards for that game were skewed due to sacks). The short pass game should continue to move well though Florida will be able to cover tighter than Tulane. Tulane played man so that was good practice but FSU will be much faster. I love the screen passes BYU has been using very successfully. I expect to see more of that. Now where I am really licking my chops is FSU's secondary. They are so undisciplined right now. Miami had so many deep completions it was crazy. And BYU has a better QB than Miami. There should be some deep balls stretching the field. If we successfully throw deep early and often the score could go up in a hurry.

My prediction is BYU 35 FSU 20. I think a missed assignment could turn into a big play really quick given FSU's speed. Also our kicking team might as well just put the ball on the 40 each time. They have been horrendous. In the end the home crowd will be huge and BYU will simply play a more sound more physical game. However, If BYU forces turnovers, pressures Ponder, keeping him in check and if BYU can stretch the field against a suspect FSU secondary, this game could snowball really fast. I'm hoping so since FSU's season has not gone as planned thus far it will be imperative to have a healthy margin of victory.

Quick Thought on the Asiata Package

The Utes love running their version of the "Wildcat" formation, in fact they were running before anyone else was. Anyway, we call the "Asiata" package, because our stud RB, Matt Asiata, runs it.

The package is very successful and almost always is run by the Utes within the 5 yard line. The problem is, the Utes pretty well run the same play from it every time; run straight up the gut with it. While this is the most appropriate play for the package, the Utes are doing that about 95% of the time. At some point the defense is only going to plan for that and will be able to stop it.

In order to keep the package effective, the Utes need to have Asiata throw about 10% of the time, hand off to the WR in motion another 20-25% of the time, and have Asiata run it the rest. This will keep the defense off balance and having to cover all facets of the formation. And for the love of everything holy, if you have third and goal from the one and intend to go for it on fourth down, have Asiata pass it to Cain on 3rd down and then run it on fourth, not vice versa.

Frustrating Utes Win

Sorry for the delayed post on the Utes win. I am in the Navy Reserves and had duty this weekend, so I just got done watching game (thank you DVR!). Anyway, what a frustrating game. The offense played great and the defense played pretty good, but turnovers, penalties, and the kicking game kept San Jose State in it and gave them confidence.

In the first three drives of the game, the Utes moved the ball at will. But what was the result? TD, Fumble, Fumble. Are you kidding? Then Vroman misses three FG's, two 50+ and a 36 yarder. The 50 yarders weren't even close, but I can excuse that. Also what was the deal with the end of the first half? The Utes called a time out after second down with around 58 seconds left, stop SJSU immediately to make them punt, then don't call a timeout. SJSU runs the full play clock down, giving the Utes all of like 16 seconds to get into FG range. If they would have used their last timeout on third down, they would have had the ball back with around 40 seconds left and in their SJSU territory. Poor clock management.

The other coaching complaint was when the Utes had fourth and goal from the one. After two strait Asiata formation runs by Asiata, they had Asiata pass it to a wide-open Cain and it completely missed. It is a great play, in fact I was looking for it all night, but they should have called that on third down, then gone back to the trusty run on fourth. Maybe I am just too critical, I don't know.

However there was a lot that I liked. The Utes offense looked pretty dang good (if they can hold on to the ball). There was more option tonight, which helped open things up. The receivers are stout and looked good, as did the running game. Really the Offense was great. The only thing I think needed improvement is Cain's log passing game, but he looked a lot better than last week. So there was improvement.

The defense tonight had the opposite problem from last week, where the weakness was against the run. Having Misi back helped a ton. But the pass defense was shaky. Too much space given to the SJSU WR's in the 4th quarter. The other problem was turnovers. Utah didn't record their first turnover of the season until the very last play of the game, which was meaningless. If we can't cause turnovers, we will have a long year.

Ultimately, a win is a win. But the Utes were far superior in every way, this game should have been upwards of 48-14. Better fix the turnovers by next week.

UTES 2-0

Thank You BYU's 7 RBs and 12 WRs

BYU answered some questions today about whether last week was a fluke (so did OU who slaughtered Idaho with 40+ points in the 1st half) beating Tulane 54-3! Let's start with BYU's D since Tulane's WR said that BYU's D wasn't anything special OU just played bad. Tulane had 162 total yards with 37 yards rushing averaging 1.5 yards per rush. Tulane was 4-12 on third down and they gave up 4 turnovers with 2 interceptions (including 1 by true frosh Craig Bills!) and 2 fumbles. There was a question going into this game how BYUs D would handle a more spread attack. Tulane DID manage 120 yards in the air. So hats off to them.

On to the Offense! BYU had 527 total yards with 321 yards passing (including a gorgeous 38 yard pass to Jacobsen for a TD. BYU also racked up 206 yards on the ground. I don't know how telling that is since Tulane has one of the worst rushing Ds in the country. But what is impressive is that BYU had 7 different players rush the ball not counting Hall and backup Qb Nelson (who had a rushing TD late in the game). J.J. DiLuigi led the way with 71 yards on the ground and 2 TDs. He looked great shaking off the first tackle and slipping through the line. Brian Karyia also had a very solid game with 63 yards and 2 TDs of his own. Following the theme of spreading the ball around BYU had 12 different players catch the ball with Jacobsen, Ashworth and Pita leading the way. Hall completed 75% of his passes with one unfortunate INT. There were also some inexcusable drops and one sure TD pass where the WR never saw the ball get passed to him.

BYU's special teams continue to suck with a missed extra point and two kickoffs out of bounds. Absolutely inexcusable. We can't do that and win against FSU next week (although FSU looked terrible today. The ACC is miserable!). This was a very solid win and it was fun to see the backups get in and move the ball. Nelson was perfect 2-2 passing and had two rushes one for a TD! There will be a great battle next spring for QB!

My favorite stat of the game. BYU punts: 0

Beware the Dangerous Green Waves

OK I've lost all my wit. Sorry for the title stinking. Anyway let's preview Tulane!

They have a terrible rush defense. We should be able to rack up well over 150 yards on the ground. If Harvey is healthy maybe closer to 200. There pass D is decent. But BYU should be able to pass the ball just fine. I expect Max Hall to have plenty of time. Their front 7 is nothing like Oklahoma's. I expect to see more production out of Chambers and at last 1 deep attempt to Jacobsen.

Tulane's rush game was practically non-existent against Tulsa. BYU has a very good rush D and should hold up fine. BYU's secondary played off OU and gave up short passes but was never beat deep. If Tulane is forced to play short gain execution ball they could have trouble moving it consistently. However, they do like to mix in trick plays. Tulsa went trick play nuts on us 2 years ago and it was not good. If we anticipate those kind of plays and stay assignment sound we'll be OK.

I'm gonna go with BYU 38-10 but if our O gets going early it could be much uglier. Hopefully BYU avoids the let down game. Remember when TCU beat OU then promptly lost to SMU? I think the boys in blue are focused and it should be a good game.

My OBJECTIVE MWC Powerpoll

Over on MWC Connection the site pulls together the opinions of various bloggers writing on MWC team sites to create a MWC Power Ranking. Below are my rankings - as a Ute fan mind you - for this week. Recognize that I attempted to be as objective as possible based on how teams looked last week (with the exception of TCU who was Idle.

1. BYU- I want to gag, but they earned it and looked great. (aside from the Turnovers)
2. TCU
3. Colorado State - whaaa? That's right folks, I am basing this on
what I saw on the field and for one game at least CSU looked better
than Utah. CSU has a great O-line and that is huge. You read it here
first, they will knock off one of the big three (hopefully not the Utes).
4. Utah- They are a better team than CSU, but again it is based on
play on field. Not a bad game for Utes, but they have some kinks to
work out. If they perform well against San Jose State, they will jump CSU.
5. Air Force - 72-0 is awesome, but still to Nicholls St. Really
looking forward to Minnesota game.
6. UNLV - solid start to season, did what was expected.
7. SDSU- Good first quarter, some optimism for team and Hoke.
8. Wyoming -got a win against FCS Weber State, but it was ugly.
9. New Mexico - ugly loss to Big12 or ugly win over FCS (Wyo)? Well a
win is a win. At least be competitive UNM!

How BYU Won (and almost lost) the game!

First let's start with how this game should have gone. BYU outplayed OU really the whole game. I know Bradford went out at the half, but he only had 96 yards passing. OU moved the ball better in the second half without him. So I propose that the score SHOULD have been 21-3. If BYU hadn't muffed the punt and thrown an interception at their own 20, OU would not have score the TD and Field Goal (more about that field goal later). Add to that Chamber's fumble into the endzone and it seemed like BYU was TRYING to help OU win.

Now let's talk about how they DID win. In my pre-game analysis, I said that our O line had to protect Hall and our D (esp our D-line going against their new O-line) would have to be stellar. Check. Check. BYU's D was awesome. OU was held to the least yards they've had in almost 3 years, Their two 1000 yard RBs managed barely 50 yards a piece, AND OU converted only 2-11 3rd downs! I also said BYU would have to keep the ball out the hands of OU's offense. BYU's winning drive (which included 2 3rd down conversions and an amazing no huddle 4th down conversion!) took over 9 minutes capped off with the go ahead TD pass to Jacobsen in the end zone. Enjoy the pic below!

I want to say though that the play of the game was the TWO goal line stands. 2 because on a 3rd down of the first stand BYU had a beautiful pass breakup that was poorly called pass interference. It was simply a beautiful breakup. The ESPN commentators agree with me. Anyway, they got a first down at the 2 yard line. THEN BYU had ANOTHER goal line stand! OU was forced to walk away with the above mentioned FG. Way to stand up BYU Defense! Without that amazing stretch of physical play, BYU loses this game. If you had told me OU would have 6 chances inside the 3 yard line to get a TD and they would come up empty I would think you were a big fat idiot.

Here's to the biggest win in BYU Football since beating Miami in 1990!

O mY!!!!!!

More later!

Previewing the Sooners

Does anyone recognize this guy? Anyway, BYU has the stiffest test it has faced in many years. OU plans on returning to the Championship game this year. Personally I think this is Texas year but OU is good enough to stay in the top 5 all year long. So does BYU have a chance? Yes. Is it a good one? No. First let's indulge in the perfect scenario. BYU comes in healed up from fall camp and peaking. OU is overlooking BYU. OUs brand new O-line is unable to protect Bradford. Without their star TE OU's pass attack becomes more predictable. The new WRs aren't yet on the same page with Bradford. BYU is actually able to establish a run game against maybe the best D-Line in college football. BYU's pass attack is so unpredictable with so many options that they move the ball at will. BYU's secondary is much MUCH improved. Urban Meyer shared a super secret about OU that exposes all their weaknesses to Bronco Mendenhall. Max Hall has resolved all of his mental issues that cause him to play poorly under pressure. If all this happens I could see BYU winning 45-42. If Sam Bradford get's injured getting off his bus and is unable to play BYU wins 45-31.

Now let's be serious. OUs D-Line will be a problem all night. It will be very difficult establish a run game and to keep pressure off of Hall with such an untested O-Line. Also Sam Bradford is probably the best QB in college football and probably would have been the #1 draft pick last year. This is the team that averaged 60 points a game last year. And that against better D's than BYU. This could be an ugly game. I think BYU will move the ball. The pass attack is just too good and OU doesn't have the greatest pass D (you don't need to when you score 200 points a game, you just need to get the ball back to the offense). But not good enough to beat the Sooners. I'm sorry. I hope I'm wrong (I'll record the game in case of a miracle!). I'm gonna go with OU 48-34.

Utes Win! Game Observations and grades

Well it wasn't the prettiest game and the game wasn't as close as the score suggests (35-17). But the Utes looked solid and hats off to USU, they have a bright future. The biggest concern for the Utes were the turnovers - 3. That is what kept USU in the game (oh, and a 96 yard TD run). I was also concerned with the 3-5 yards run the D-line consistently gave up on 1st or 2nd down, fortunately the D was awesome on 3rd down.

The starting QB was Terrance Cain. Not a bad debut. Matt Asiata was great, a few shoestrings away from breaking some runs open. David Reed is the man at receiver! Vroman looked good in the kicking game. We have great speed with the LB's and D-line. The secondary was decent, but it was a good thing that Borel can't throw.

Grades:

Overall: B
Offense: C+, only because of the turnovers. In fact the overall grade for each offensive segment will be better than this overall grade. 3 turnovers results in a lower letter grade.
QB: B-, Cain had a solid first game. He was deadly accurate in his short (0-8 yard) passes, but he needs some work on his long throws. He had a few throws fairly deep where the receiver was pretty open and overthrew them. While the INT wasn't his fault, it still counts on his scoresheet as well.
RB: B, this should be an A, except for two things, the fumbles and the inability to get the TD from 1st and Goal. But Asiata had a monster game. Around 155 yards with two TD's. Also, I know Coach wanted to get Wide his TD, but never ever use him in a goal-line situation again. Boy was that frustrating. He had some good runs otherwise though.
WR: A-. The WR's didn't drop much catchable, but there was one fumble and the INT was from a deflection on a catchable ball. But the overall play was such that an A grade is still warranted.
OL: A. They were great. What more can I say. The great thing about this is that I think OL is the most important unit on the field. With our O-line we should be fine this year.

Defense: B, Two safeties in a game! Awesome.
DL: C, I just wasn't impressed too much. They did great on 3rd down and put some great pressure on Borel, but against the run they were fairly porous. USU consistenly got 4-6 yards on 1st or 2nd down runs. Frustrating.
LB: A, they were great, maybe a few mistakes here or there, but all in all, they were great. Sylvester is the man.
CB: B-, I blame the 96 yard TD run on this unit. Where were the safeties? Are you kidding? USU receivers were also open on many plays, fortunately Borel couldn't hit them.

Special Teams: B, Vroman looked good, all was well except the fumble (fortunately we recovered) on a punt.

Coaching: A-, the team was ready, questioned some calls on third and long (why not go back to the slant that killed USU in the first half?) and the QB sneak from under center was ridiculous. That was the only play under center all night. Like USU didn't know what was coming.

Thoughts on USU. I think they have a bright future. Anderson had them ready and hungry. They just currently don't have the talent to match up with Utah. But in the next year or two look for them in the top-3 of the WAC. Also, Borel is a dynamic player. I know his passing wasn't great, but he can run. Reminded me of Vick a little, poor passer, great runner. I liked him over all, he will win some games for the Aggies this year.

UTES: 1-0

Game Day: Utah State Aggies

VS.

Hooray! The day is finally here. The season kicks off at 9:00 EST at Rice-Eccles Stadium with our beloved Utes taking on the Fighting Aggies of Utah State for the 109th time!

This is a game that Utah should handily win. Utah has better players, more experienced players, the home field, and arguably the better coaching staff. But it isn't a game the Utes can overlook. The Utes need to continue to move forward with their one game at a time attitude that was crucial to last year's success. This game could well be a trap - especially in a climate where often just winning isn't good enough, it is how you win.

For Utah State, they are breaking in their new coaching staff with Gary Anderson at the helm. Last year they made many strides forward and Coach Anderson inherited a team with some talent, confidence, and experience. Aggie QB Diondre Borel is a dynamic athlete and could pose some problems for the Utah D. They also have significant weapons at RB and WR, but really nothing the Utes shouldn't be able to handle.

The most interesting thing to watch in this game is how Anderson's defense does against the U's offense, especially considering the Utes will be breaking in a new QB. Anderson understands the Utes' offense and will know how to exploit it. The question is, do they have the talent and ability to perform?

Ultimately, I think Utah State will not get embarrassed, I think they will keep it close in the first half, but the Utes pull away in the third quarter as the QB gets settled.

UTES 31-14

Season Prediction: UTES

This is an exciting season for the Utes, and one in which much of the college football world will be watching them and the MWC with keen eyes to see how they respond to the exceptional season of 2008. I don't think anyone expects the Utes to match the kind of year they had last year, but I also don't think it is out of the realm of possibility.

Certainly the Utes' biggest question mark is at QB. Most likely Terrance Cain is our starter, but is he better than Jordan Wynn? Who knows. But so long as there is improvement week to week we should be fine. Both QB's can play.

The other major question mark that the Utes have is with their kicking game. King Louie will be a hard act to follow. However, according to the coaches they seem pretty pleased with the improvement of Ben Vroman and aren't too worried. Hopefully he can step right in and pick up where Sakoda left off.

Howver, the Utes' strengths far outweigh their weaknesses. Their receiving corps is arguably the most talented group the Utes have ever had at that position. They basically have 8 starters who will rotate through 4 positions. Matt Asiata will have a monster year as the RB. I suspect that in the first few games much of the offense will flow through him as Cain or Wynn get settled. Our offensive line is also stout, despite missing one of our key starters for the first game or two. The offense may not be as good as last year, but then again, maybe they will. The offense wasn't all that great in many games, they just found a way to win and really turned it on against BYU and Bama.

The true strength of the team is the defense. They will be awesome. I will go so far as to say they may be as talented as TCU's. They have speed, strength and skill. The only significant injury is to Koa Misi who is questionable for the Utah State game, but so long as he is back by Oregon, I am not too concerned. Stevenson Sylvester will be the anchor of the defense and could garner all-american honors by the end of the season.

Finally, the Utes' coaching staff had a lot of turnovers, but the HC is second to none. Coach Whitt is fantastic and has figured how to lead this team and run the team. The coordinators are both new but were promoted from within the program so the transition shouldn't be a problem. It is just a matter of ensuring they are competent.

All in all, the Utes look like they have reloaded. Granted they lost some key aspects in the off season, but this won't be 2005 all over again. My prediction for the year is 11-2 with wins over BYU and in a bowl game. I will say a close loss to both TCU and Oregon (oh it pains me to say it. I am on the fence with that game. I may change my prediction by the time the game comes.) I think Utah finishes second in the conference behind TCU. GO UTES!

Utes have QB...Probably Cain

Coach Whit has announced that they have chosen their starting QB for the season, but won't announce who. All signs point to Terrence Cain as the man, as he has received a bulk of the first team reps in practice.

Coach says he wants to keep it under wraps to keep the QBs competing in practice, rather than as an attempt to keep USU Coach Anderson guessing. Yeah right.

Personally, I think this is silly, but whatever, Coach has earned the benefit of the doubt. As for Cain starting, so long as he is the best option, I am all for it. I think there is a case to be made that they should have just gone with the Freshman - that would give us at least 3 - 4 years with him and not have to worry about breaking in a new starter for a while, but Cain does have post- High School experience and was the JC player of the year. He certainly has talent. Now, he needs to prove it on the field.

If it turns out to be Wynn as the starter, fine with me. So long as we win.