Utah seems to always play it’s best against us, and as highly as I regard our coaches they seem to get out-coached against Utah (not just the current coaches—Bronco too). Plus we have a lot of players with inexperience on the roster, who will get better as season progresses. so Utah may be playing us at the best time for them and worst time for us. Kind of like what would have happened had we played Utah last year (where lots of Utah’s would have lacked experience). That being said, it’s hard to predict rivalry games, and notwithstanding the relatively recent trend of BYU losing, more often than not this particular rivalry game is still a close one.
On the bright side, without comparing to Utah, it sounds like BYU could still have a good and competitive team. The biggest question mark seems to be in the trenches, which is to be expected after losing NFL talent.
Offense:
RB: very good if healthy, average if not healthy
QB: good but raw
WR: very good
TE: very good
FB: very good
OL: average
Defense:
DL: average, but will improve throughout year as they gain experience, and if they can stay healthy
LB: good
Secondary: good but inexperienced, will improve as year progresses.