Lucky Utah Beats Undermanned Louisville

Published by Mark Welling


Utah takes advantage once again of the lack of competition from a upper level opponent. This time it took the form of a Louisville Cardinal team without highly touted Wide Receiver duo of Douglas and Urrutia. These two receivers that have missed three games between them still lead the team in touchdowns and total yardage. Other noticeable missing players include a suspended starting running back and linebacker. With all of these players out they were able to hold on to a lead at the closing of the game and win.

That would be fine, except this was the same formula that lead to a win over UCLA. With the Bruin coming off a hard fought win over BYU, in which they lost seven defensive starters, and left Ben Olsen shell shocked.

This trend can be traced back to last year with the wins over Tulsa and TCU. In the bowl game Tulsa was a small part of what they really were last year and this year. Also the TCU victory last year, Utah took advantage again of BYU's sloppy seconds. TCU was without their starting quarterback, running back, and top two receivers; who had injured themselves by playing through slight injuries during the BYU game, and making those slight injuries worse so they couldn't play against the Utes.

Now it can be fairly argued that the Utes themselves, especially this season, have suffered key injuries that have caused them to play at far below their normal level. Also one can argue that you have to play the schedule that is given to you, and that you can't control the other teams circumstances on that schedule. I do concede these points, but despite of them you do have to admit that the Utes have been able to get favorable wins, due in large parts to favorable circumstances.