Vegas Bowl

I know it's late in coming, but here it is. My breakdown of the Vegas Bowl. Normally, even with Utah being a 17 point underdog, I would tell you why I think the mass media is dead wrong and Utah is going to win big. I'm not sure it's going that way this year, but don't count out the UTES! First of all, you have to look at this year. What has happened? Boise beat Va Tech in Washington DC this year and than Va Tech went on to lose to an FCS team (meaning Weber State quality). However, Virginia Tech hasn't lost since and won out in the ACC finishing 10-2 and going to a BCS bowl. And then Boise State went out and rolled through the WAC until they got to Nevada. Nevada beat them in overtime on the 2nd missed field goal of the game by BSU. Utah went on a tear at the beginning of the year starting 8-0 and in the top 10 of both defense and offensive scoring. Jordan Wynn hurt his shoulder in the Iowa State game, a fact they covered up until after the season, and they changed their offense. They beat Air Force not playing well and running way to much and ran into the buzz-saw that I call TCU. Then they lost to Notre Dame by playing their worst game of the season and went on to finish 10-2.

Also, if there was an Achilles Heel to the defense this year is the pass defense. Even though they held TCU and San Diego State to the lowest run totals of the season, both teams threw all over the field on them. If Boise State has one Achilles Heel to their offense, it's staying to committed to the run when it isn't working. You saw that against Virginia Tech and Nevada. So that plays into the Utes hands, however, if they decide they can pick apart Utah's defense by short passes and deep throws, they will be hellish to stop.

So this is going to come down to coaching, and my money on coaching for a bowl game is going with Kyle Wittingham. Utah is 9-0 since 1999 and Boise State is 6-4 in the only 10 games they have played in. BSU's record is kind of a misnomer since they last 5 games they are 2-3. Again that's miss leading because they lost all 3 of those games by a combined 10 points. So who knows what that even means.

The biggest thing with these two teams is that BSU is coming off a loss (Utah State doesn't count) and Utah is coming in with attitude. Here is my hope, they understand their weaknesses and learn from them and surprise BSU and beat them with the physicality. Here is my fear, Utah doesn't understand what they are up against and Chris Peterson abandons the run after the first quarter and blows Utah out of the water by throwing for 500+ yards and scoring 55 points. My predictions for the game, BSU 21-18. And I will cry in my geek soup tonight.