I know, why would I do that to myself? But I wanted to see again the supposed "drop off in talent" all the Ute sympathizers talk about.

Couple big take aways:
1. I'm willing to admit that there is a talent deficit (yeah I said it).

A. The biggest area I see a deficit is the BYU athleticism vs Utah athleticism on defense. The Utah DL was bigger stronger faster on a regular basis than BYUs DL. However, our OL seemed to match their toughness, particularly through the 3rd quarter and most of the 4th (except for the 2 point conversion which was really just a bad play call for the Defense they were running).
B. on the other end the Utah OL slowly ended up dominating the BYU DL particularly in that long 4th quarter drive when it mattered most.

2. The deficit is closing

From what I hear from camp and with the amount of seniors lost on Utah I think the battle in the trenches is now closer than its been in a while. Main reason it is closer: Sione Takitaki! So excited he's back!

3. The majority of playmakers from that game on BYUs offense are now gone

This scares me. I know we've got some great talent and Tanner is an amazing QB, but we will miss who graduated. The big 3rd down conversions were Taysom running and quick throws to M. Jeurgens and Nick Kurtz. Am I enthused by the potential TE emergence this year? YES! Am I enthused about our gains in the trenches? YES! But I'm worried about the unknown from our receiving group.

4. Several of the big playmakers on Defense are gone

This is where the Bernard loss is huge. I wasn't a big Bernard fan last year. I felt like he was often out of position and got beat by less athletic guys, but in the Utah game he had a strip for a fumble and an amazing interception. His athleticism is what Kalani is looking for on Defense that we have lacked for years. If he was able to put together positioning and understand the D better he was looking to be a dangerous guy for us this year. Then there is Kai Nacua. 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery. I'm not enthused by our Safety group at all. Hannemann is regularly beat and seems to be hesitant to crash down in someone like Nacua would. I'm excited about Chaz Ah You's potential but he needs to learn the Defense in game time situations and that takes a few games to figure out. I'm assuming he will be the Starter with Hadley moving to OLB to replace Bernard. There isn't much depth at Safety like there is at CB too. I see a couple CBs sliding into Safety at some point this season.

5. Officiating

What would a BYU fans take on a BYU/Utah game be without a rant about officiating?

Hear me out though. There were 6 major calls I review below, in order of degree of blow, that shifted the game dramatically that were either missed or flagged inappropriately.

A. The most agregious was actually missed by most pundets. In the 4th quarter at the start of Utahs big long 9 minute drive to a FG we had them pinned back inside the 10. On 2nd down and 10 we sacked the QB on what looked like a designed QB run. He drove up the middle and got pushed back. He tried to run back and find another way but realized he was near the goal line and might end up taking a safety. So he fell down at the 1. But they spotted it at the 6 yard line and lined up for a 3rd and 15. Next play was a fade on the outside that was called interference and gave them a 1st down that ended up continuing a 9 minute bruising drive that gave BYU little chance to recover from. They would have never attempted that play if they were snapping on 3rd and 20 into the endzone for fear of taking a safety and would have been punting from their own end zone.

B. Chop block called on Bernard after 2nd quarter Nacua interception. Nacua had run the ball down to the 15 yard line that would have most likely been points but instead started at the BYU 45. Bernard went at the waist/gut of the guy but the Offensive lineman pushed him down and it appeared to be a chop block but was not. BYU ended up punting and not getting points.

C. Chop block called against the OL when the ball was tipped and Lapuaho ran it down to the 25 putting us into good position to possibly score a touchdown. The penalty was on a guy that tried to block someone low but flat out missed his block and landed right on the ground. Instead our drive stalled and we kicked a 2nd field goal.

D. Facemask on Williams that was missed. I believe it was 3rd quarter drive. Obvious face mask on a 2nd down that would have kept a drive alive and into their territory instead we didn't get the first down and end up punting. Momentum shifted back to Utah.

E. Targeting on Nacua. I don't think I even have to explain myself here. No one, including the officiating guy for Fox felt it was targeting. We got the interception on the next play but the implication is, we lost Nacua's run stopping ability in the fourth allowing their long drive. AND it likely cost us the UCLA game the next week without his presence in the first half.

F. Missed targeting on Utah with 2:00 minutes left in 4th quarter. On 1st and 10 #20 nails Jeurgens in the "head and neck area" and if the flag was thrown would have put us inside the 20 with lots of time left. Instead we use up our last two timeouts and the last 2:00 before we score and fail on 2pt conversion. Had we scored earlier we may have considered extra point and tie with chance to get the ball back with 2 TO left instead of 2pt attempt.

Final thoughts: both BYU and Utah have lost lots of talent and the trenches are more even this year. It's going to be another close game and unfortunately officiating is likely to make another inappropriate impact. I hope the PAC 12 is not covering that game because it will be much of the same. And if at least one call goes the other way it could mean the game. If I was a player, I wouldn't be making excuses because of the officiating. But good thing I'm not a player and can bag on the officials as much as I want.