Friday, September 18, 2009

Morning everyone,

It's Friday which means it's time to empty out my notebook of things that didn't make it into stories but are worth passing along to you.

Let's start with talk of how big a win could be for the Utes, not only in the polls/BCS race but also for overall momentum for the rest of the season. The Utes did a great job of using the momentum they gained at Michigan last year, offensive lineman Zane Beadles said a win Saturday could do the same for the 09 team.

"It could be huge," he said. "Especially in their stadium. It would show everyone what we are capable of and our confidence goes sky high."

"It's a great opportunity for us to be nationally recognized and respected, it could be a huge win for us," he said.

The Utes have put an emphasis on their red zone game this week, something coach Kyle Whittingham said they'd do after getting stuffed at San Jose State.

"It's not one guy or one phase," he said of the problem area. "It's a team effort all the way around and we need to do better as coaches and players."

Despite the attention Utah has given crowd noise in practice, Whittingham believes it could be a non-factor if handled correctly.

"Ultimately, players are the factor and that is something, once the game starts, as a player you block out the noise," he said. "It sounds strange, but once you are on the field and playing the game, you are oblivious to the crowd."

If Matt Asiata can't play or doesn't play much, Eddie Wide will have most of the carries at running back. He is normally a scatback, but Whittingham said he didn't anticipate the offense looking much different with him in the game more regularly, believing he can handle the workload and power game.

Here is how he described him: "Eddie is a darter with great quickness and a great change of direction," he said. "He can stop, start on a dime, very Barry Sanders-like."

Wide, who said he is up to the challenge of 20-plus carries if necessary, said he and Asiata form a good combination together.

"We help each other," he said. "He is pounding defenses and he gets them tired and then I can come in and be the quick guy."

Corner Brandon Burton views Saturday's game as Utah's chance to score a big win for the conference like rival BYU did by beating Oklahoma. He said, with a grimace, that he was actually pulling for BYU in that game.

"It was hard to do but they represented our conference well," he said. "Now, we want to represent well this week."

Asked what he thought the Utes' strength was this week on offense and center Zane Taylor said he enjoyed Utah's success with the running game, but like Whittingham isn't happy about the stops on 4th-and-goal.

"It's frustrating getting stuff on the 1-yard line that is something if we get into that situation again it'll be a different result," he said.

Link to articles on Utah defense and notes are here.

Interesting look at why teams would do better to go for it on fourth downs.