Utah 2007 Preview

The 2007 Utes finally get their QB they need to run the spread offense, Brian Johnson comes back after tearing his ACL against New Mexico in 2005. Last year the offense still had its moments with Brett Ratliff putting up points, but it was not as productive as Brian Johnson running the show. This year Ute team has a brutal non conference schedule with games at Oregon State, UCLA at home, and then at Louisville. Then you can add in road conference games at TCU and at BYU and that makes for a tough schedule. The thing outsiders may not notice is that the Utes record may not have the record that indicates how good they really are. The Utes bring back 9 offensive starters if you include Brian Johnson who started in 2005, but a big blow came in the first scrimmage in the fall when Senior offensive tackle Jason Boone went down with a torn ACL in the first scrimmage. The defense is young and will rely on Sean Smith at the defensive backfield as he takes over for Eric Weddle who was drafted by the Chargers, and another key player will be linebacker Joe Jiannoni who will anchor that area of the field. The key thing missing from last year was a running attack that was decent at best, but that could change this year with Johnson who is better suited to run the option then Brett Ratliff, but the real key to the running game is the addition of All Western States JUCO running back Matt Asiata who should be taking the main carries in this offense.

Here is the schedule

Aug. 30 at Oregon State 7:00 PM PT TV: Fox Sports Regional

Sept. 8 AIR FORCE 4:00 PM MT TV: The Mtn.

Sept. 15 UCLA 3:00 PM MT TV: Versus

Sept. 22 at UNLV 7:00 PM PT TV: The Mtn.

Sept. 29 UTAH STATE 1:00 PM MT TV: The Mtn.

Oct. 5 at Louisville 8:00 PM ET TV: ESPN

Oct. 13 SAN DIEGO STATE 1:00 PM MT TV: NONE

Oct. 18 at TCU 7:00 PM MT TV: Versus

Oct. 27 at Colorado State 3:30 PM MT TV: The Mtn.

Nov. 10 WYOMING 1:30 PM MT TV: CSTV

Nov. 17 NEW MEXICO 3:30 PM MT TV: The Mtn.