Going in Different Directions?

BYU started the season with a tough schedule (at one point ranked 4th hardest) and they suffered. Now they are playing less talented competition and they are thriving. Utah started the season playing bad teams and they piled up points. Now two weeks in a row they have been piled on by better teams. Let's look at each team.

For BYU it could be argued that it was their tough schedule (Air Force, FSU, Nevada, TCU) but there were a lot more problems than just who the opponents were. Ever since Bronco took back his team things have changed. The Defense has been awesome for about the last 4-5 weeks. But now the Offense has really caught up and they are playing lights out. Granted the last two opponents were UNLV and CSU but anytime you get 11-12 third down conversions and go an entire game without punting there is more going right than just playing a weak opponent. I now submit that BYU's team right now beats AF, Nevada and USU. TCU is in another league but I think the FSU game would be competitive. We won't know for SURE for sure how much BYU has improved until the Holy War.

Now on to Utah. Utah piled on weak teams and on the strength of impressive offensive output they climbed to the #5 spot in the rankings. Then TCU murdered them. That's OK because TCU is REALLY REALLY GOOD people! But today Utah only managed a field goal against a mediocre Notre Dame. All of a sudden the Utah O can't seem to get anything done. Is Notre Dame better than their record? I think we'll no more when Utah plays a very dangerous SDSU (BTW who would have guessed they would be in the top of the MWC this year? Wow!) If SDSU wins then there are real problems in Uteville.

This all leads up to a great game for rivalry weekend. Utah is not as good as we all thought but they will be angry and ready to prove something. BYU on the other hand is gaining momentum like a freight train. They are worlds better then the team that lost to USU just over a month ago. They also will have something to prove - that they aren't simply the beneficiaries of a weak stretch in their schedule but instead have genuinely become a pretty good BYU football team. I can't wait for Nov 27th! Go Cougs!

*****UPDATE***** BYU is favored over UNM by 28 points. Utah is a 3 point underdog to SDSU!!!!