(11-03-2021, 04:30 PM)teejers1 Wrote:(11-03-2021, 03:08 PM)Austroturf Wrote: I don't believe this game is going to end well for the Cardinal.
Even with good teams, Shaw has had a Utah problem. He lost his first game to the Utes in 2013 in Salt Lake City, when he decided to pass twice at the goal line instead of running Gaffney off tackle (as he did against Oregon repeatedly three games later). I will never understand that decision.
His second loss to Whittingham was the 2OT belly-flop in 2014 at home. The game ended 7-7 in regulation, was knotted at 14-14 after the 1st OT and finished at 20-17 after a FG for the Cardinal and a TD for the Utes.
In 2017, Shaw booked a 23-20 win in Salt Lake City on 152 yards rushing from Bryce Love.
Then came a thrashing (40-21) by the Utes in 2018 at home, with Zach Moss rushing for 160 yards.
Over the years, Whittingham has been one of the few Pac-12 coaches with a positive record vs. Shaw, even when his teams have not been objectively better. I predict a thrashing akin to what we experienced in 2018. Why should the result be any better in 2021, especially with McKee potentially out?
That one is in the Pantheon of All Time WTF?!? moments from our head coach. Unfortunately, there are WAY too many of them; fortunately, repression is a survival mechanism. On the bright side, the frequency of those moments have been declining.
The "bright side" for me has been my decision to lower my expectations: (1) I don't keep score in golf anymore, (2) I gave up on the Oakland A's after the playoff with KC in 2014 (and trades of Donaldson and Cespedes earlier), and (3) I cashiered Shawball after the Big Game in 2019. Which was, BTW, the last game I attended, a run that began in September, 1965.
Life is too short to waste on crap football.