The Utah Utes are better than the Oregon Ducks

Utah Utes College Football Playoff Week 3

Don’t overlook the Utah Utes

Utah Utes logo

While the Oregon Ducks held onto the spotlight with their seventh-straight win, the Utah Utes deserve more recognition. Granted, the Utes are ranked ninth in the nation, but they still don’t get the love they deserve from Pac-12 fans. With a top defense and an effective offense, the Utah Utes are the best team in the Pac-12.

The Oregon Ducks showed weakness against Washington and Washington State

After dominating opponents for five straight weeks, Oregon slipped. Now, they didn’t lose to Washington or Washington State. But, their wins were too close for a top team.

  • Nevada, Montana, Stanford, Cal and Colorado: 195 Points Scored: 25 Points Allowed
  • Washington and Washington State: 72 Points Scored: 66 Points Allowed

Against Washington and Washington State, Oregon’s point differential dropped from Plus-175 to Plus-6. Their defense bent against Jacob Eason and Anthony Gordon.

Additionally, they also needed heroic wins against the Huskies and Cougars. In Week 8, the Oregon Ducks overcame a 14-point deficit and got the benefit of a late, no-call on the Huskies final drive. Additionally, they needed a last-second field goal to beat the Cougars. Yes, the Ducks got the wins, but it wasn’t pretty.

The Utah Utes get it done on defense

Lights out. Cal couldn’t get anything going against Utah. Similarly, most of Utah’s opponents struggle against the Utes. This season, Utah football is:

Additionally, Utah has PFF’s two highest graded defenders, Julian Blackmon (86) and Terrell Burgess (84). These safeties are just one reason why Utah steamrolls its opponents. Defensively, the Utah Utes have it all. Teams can’t run against them, pass against them or score against them. It’s a deadly squad ready to win a championship.

Quality and consistent on offense

With such a stifling defense, the Utah Utes only need an average offense to compete. A game-manager at quarterback would suffice. Considering that their holding opponents to 10.3 points per game, the offense doesn’t have to do much.

However, Utah’s offense is putting up 33.1 points per game with a quality, balanced, offensive system. In six of their eight games, they’ve scored at least 30 points. Their quarterback, Tyler Huntley, is having a quiet and underrated season. Currently, Huntley has 1,778 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, 229 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns and just one interception.

Additionally, per PFF, Huntley ranks first in the nation in Adjusted Completion Percentage. This metric factors out “dropped passes, throwaways, spiked balls, batted passes and passes where the QB was hit as he threw the ball.” His 86.9-percent Adjusted Completion Percentage displays his elite accuracy. Huntley’s 10.3 yards per attempt (6th in nation) and 123.4 passer rating (7th in the nation) show how underrated he is. Huntley is accurate, efficient and elite. Don’t sleep on Tyler Huntley.

Moreover, the Utah Utes utilize their powerful running back, Zack Moss. Moss, per PFF, is forcing a missed tackle on 45-percent of his rush attempts, third highest of the league. His five forced missed tackles and 65 yards after contact in their recent win display this. Moss’ 10 rushing touchdowns lead the Pac-12 and he also rolled up 728 rushing yards. Keep in mind, Utah’s benched Moss multiple times this season in blowout wins. If he played every quarter this season, he’d likely have over 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns. Moss is a top runner in the nation and the Utah Utes lean on him to close out games.

Move Aside Oregon, it’s time for the Utah Utes to rise

In almost every defensive metric, the Utah Utes are better than the Oregon Ducks. Additionally, quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Zack Moss are efficient and productive when called upon. They have an elite defense, a strong offense, and every reason to be crowned as the Pac-12 kings.

Unafraid Show’s College Football Top 10 Rankings Week 12: Chalk for Now…

College Football Top 10 Rankings Week 12

The Rules: No Bias, No Bull

There has been no more unbiased ranking out there than the Unafraid Show’s College Football Top 10 Rankings Week 12. I get criticized from time to time by people who only want to see the college football world through the lens of the AP Poll. However, if you go back and look at the rankings for each week, I guarantee you would now agree that I have been 100% right and accurate along the way.

The Unafraid Show College Football Top 10 Rankings Week 11 are not going to look like the AP Poll. Open your eyes to see a different view of evaluating the top 10. Most polls including the College Football Playoff Committee give college blueblood teams a massive “benefit of the doubt.” I don’t believe in that. The college football top 10 teams are ranked by the correct criteria: quality wins, schedule played, and dominance. Only the games have played matter.

I re-rank the top 10 every week from scratch. The previous week’s rankings do not factor into the next week. So, the rankings will change, sometimes drastically every week because we will have new information.

Before we get to College Football Top 10 Rankings Week 11, you can reference the Unafraid Show’s College Football Top 10 Rankings for Week 10.

Leave a comment or shoot an email: ImMad@unafraidshow.com… Yes, that is the real email address.

1.  Alabama (10-0) Last Week: #1

Watching Alabama play this year is like watching Mike Tyson in the early years. If you tune in 5 minutes late, you will miss the knockout. They were up 14 zero on Mississippi State before you could blink. Alabama did see the best defense they have seen all season. Tua Tagoviloa only finished with 164 yards with a touchdown and an interception. And the offense struggled to put points on the board. Even though this was Alabama’s most competitive game of the season, it still wasn’t close. Their defense has not allowed a single point in consecutive weeks. Very impressive.

As long as Alabama doesn’t look past Auburn and Georgia, they will cruise to the SEC championship and College Football Playoff.

2. Clemson (10-0) Last Week: #2

There are so many similarities between the #1 and #2 teams. The Clemson defense matched Alabama’s defense this week. They pitched a shutout. The only points they allowed were on a punt return. Alabama gave up a touchdown this week as well, but a phantom penalty called it back. The Tigers defense has locked it down for the last month, while their offense has been steady and high powered. Clemson’s true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence is growing up fast, but his play will be the difference between a trip to the College Football Playoff and a National Championship.

It feels like Clemson and Bama are on a collision course for the national championship.

3. Notre Dame (10-0) Last Week: #3

Any doubt Notre Dame had coming into the game without their starting quarterback Ian Book was quickly forgotten. The Fighting Irish jumped out to a commanding 32-6 halftime lead. It was a 26 point lead, but it felt like 100 points. Brandon Winbush had a couple of interceptions in the 3rd quarter.  It is clear that Notre Dame Book back in the lineup if they hope to beat Syracuse and USC to finish the season undefeated.

Chaos always happens in the rankings in November. Notre Dame will be looking to make sure they are not the victims who miss out on a top-four spot.

4. Michigan (9-1) Last Week: #4

Michigan’s offense is not explosive, but they are efficient. They lean on the defense, don’t make mistakes, and don’t turn the ball over. Then you look up and realize they scored 42 points. And the Wolverines defense is like a boa constrictor. They just squeeze and squeeze the offense until they break and turn the ball over. The #1 defense in college football has only gotten better since their week one loss to Notre Dame. This is an impressive football team.

I’m hesitant to pick Michigan to make the final top four because they have a huge mental hurdle to overcome in two weeks named Ohio State. It does look like the stars are aligning for Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan faithful.

5. Oklahoma (9-1) Last Week: #5

I am still bullish on the Sooners and their offensive prowess. I am also terrified by their defense. This defense hasn’t been much better since they fired Mike Stoops as defensive coordinator. However, the stats and dominance show that Oklahoma’s offense is even more unstoppable than Alabama’s. And that is saying a lot. They put up an eye-popping 702 yards against Oklahoma State. Kyler Murray is the only player that may give Tua Tagoviloa a run for his money for the Heisman trophy.

The Sooners have only been held under 37 points once this season. And that was against Army who had the ball for literally three-quarters of the game.

If you answered 0-20, it only shows your bias. There is not a team in college football that could keep the Sooners under 20 points. I’m not saying they would beat Bama, but damnit their offense will make it competitive.

6. Georgia (9-1) Last Week: 7

The cream has risen to the top in the SEC. Georgia is playing so well right now that there is a lot of “what if Georgia beats Alabama” talk starting. The Bulldogs are dominant running the ball. They have rushed for over 300 yards in back to back weeks. Kirby Smart and the crew have smartly gone all-in on pounding the football. They likely would never have lost to LSU if they had kept running the football. As long as Georgia can run the ball at that pace and isn’t turning the ball over, they cannot be beaten.

If the Bulldogs have an Achilles heel, it is the passing game. If their running game gets slowed can Jake Fromm have 300+ three-touchdown performance to win the game?

7. Washington State (9-1) Last Week: 7

Washington State needed a dominant win after playing a close game against Cal last week. They easily disposed of Colorado on the road. Gardener Minshew has to be on target to take home some postseason hardware for the best passer in college football. He was below his season average, but nobody can complain about 335 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. By the metrics, the committee uses it seems unlikely the Cougars will make the playoffs. But, if a few things break their way, don’t be surprised if they slide in the back door.

8. West Virginia (8-1) Last Week: #8

The Mountaineers dominated TCU in every way possible. West Virginia had two rough weeks in the middle of the season, but it fair to say they are peaking at the right time. Will Grier had another performance that validates his 1st round draft pick hype. He finished with 343 yards passing and three touchdowns. The Big 12 is often criticized for not playing defense because their offenses are so explosive. However, this West Virginia team has allowed 17 points or less in five of their nine games.

If the Mountaineers do win the Big 12, I wonder if the committee will hold the fact that they will have one less win than everyone else against them (NC State game canceled due to hurricane).

9. Central Florida (9-0) Last Week: #9

Last week I said Central Florida had played too many close games against inferior competition to warrant significant #CFBPlayoff consideration. They took that criticism and put up a good performance against Navy. Ultimately the Knights will not make the playoffs. But I do believe missing out two years in a row will create enough momentum for the Group of Five schools to take action and put themselves in a better position to make the playoffs.

10. Ohio State (9-1) Last Week: #10

Another uninspiring victory by the Buckeyes. Michigan State has a tough defense, but Ohio State’s offense continued to struggle. They only converted 33% on 3rd down, and only averaged 2.7 yards per rush. And the Buckeyes only managed two offensive touchdowns. All of these struggles will be erased if they take care of business against Maryland and win the big one against Michigan.

Ohio State is a team that was projected to make the playoffs until about a month ago. They will need some better performances to propel them up the rankings.  If it comes down to the Buckeyes and another one-loss team like Oklahoma they may be on the outs unless something changes.

Next Up:

LSU– (a two-loss team that didn’t score a point against Bama and struggled to put Arkansas away)

Syracuse, NC State, Florida, Texas

I know some of you are steaming mad right now because your team is ranked too low or is unranked. Take a breathe and realize that your fandom is causing irrational thoughts. The College Football Top 10 Rankings Week 12 is accurate, unbiased, and unafraid.