Whittingham has a way of winning games he shouldn't. I don't know how he does it. He's been able to wag his little vestigial tail and somehow beat teams he has no business beating. This isn't the first year their offense has been putrid. It was also terrible last year. Somehow they beat Florida on the road (Florida's offense last year was worse than Utah's this year), barely beat Baylor who ended up 3-9, and got crushed by the good teams in the Pac 12 (Oregon State 21-7, Oregon 35-6, Arizona 42-18, and Washington 35-28). They won games with the Pig Farmer and with Nate Johnson. Against PrimeTime's Buffaloes last year, they won starting Luke Bottari at QB who only threw for 61 yards. They did beat USC last year, and if there was a game on the Ute's schedule that Whitt circled, it was the USC game. He most certainly circled this year's BYU game.

This year, they beat Baylor (although they did nothing the 2nd half when Cam was out) and beat Oklahoma State. Crazy that it was #12 Utah vs #14 OK ST. They did it behind Bernard running hard and a stout D. I, for one, am glad Ludwig is gone. He had a creative way to run the ball a knack for taking a shot at the right time. Bajakian isn't half the coordinator that Ludwig is.

Whitt will have his team ready coming off the bye. They have talent up there. He has a couple of weeks to get the players to buy in to defending their house, nothing to lose, play for the Sr's who want to finish strong, spoil BYU's perfect record. All of that. They'll do what they can to shorten the game, control the ball, and get turnovers. All the stuff Whitt has been doing for years. If we're not assignment sound on D and Retzlaff and the O turn the ball over a couple of times, we could look up and be down a score or two in the 4th praying for a defensive stop.

I think this game could go one of two ways: It could be the Oklahoma State game only against a better D where Bernard gets loose because we're overplaying the run. The QB situation could be a surprise. I don't think Brandon Rose is it and Isaac doesn't seem ready, but I could see them installing a wildcat looking offense with a speedy player who can throw a little bit. Or maybe Isaac has a Bowman-like game. Maybe they have a couple of quick scores, maybe Kalani gambles on 4th and we have a turnover or two up there and they get momentum. ARod tries a couple of trick plays that backfire, and we try to fake punt on our own 10. Then Whitt slows it all down and they have a couple of 9 minute drives in the 2nd half and we're toast.

Or it could go like the UCF game, where we're more assignment sound and take care of the ball. The offense scores quick and the D stops the run. Our secondary is able to get a couple of turnovers because they can't throw the ball and they aren't creative enough on O to get open. I'd LOVE to hear boo's raining down on the Ute staff during the BYU game. PLEASE let this happen.

I like our chances a lot next week because: Bajakain and Brandon Rose aren't the answers. Also, both staff's know each other's defensive scheme well but they don't have the O to exploit it and we do. And as bad as Utah's offense has looked this year, we are by far the best defense they've seen. But most importantly, because Utah just sucks.

Prediction: BYU 38 Utah 6 Bajakain will be fired in the tunnel, Isaac and his parents will be looking for ARod after the game, and Whitt will leave the field with his tail between his legs.