Football Analysis

The blog that follows is likely the most boring blog I have written to date. That said, it is what happens when you have problems with your laptop at work and have to sit on your hands for 3 hours. I've even color-coded things to make them prettier to look at.

I am not a football guru, by any means. The only team I follow is the Utah Utes. I vaguely follow the scores of the BYU games, just because they are the next closest NCAA football team. From a non-professional football analyst, here is my perspective of the Utah and BYU rivalry and a breakdown of scoring for the two, so far this year.

Utah Games Played: 10
Utah Games Won: 10
All games were won by an average of 16.9 points.

BYU Games played: 9
BYU Games Won: 8
All games were won by an average of 19.5 points

With 1 less game played than Utah, BYU is still ahead in the "average win" department, even factoring in an extra game.

When you take into consideration the teams that BOTH Utah and BYU have played, Utah has a record of higher scored points. See here...remember, the higher the spread, the better.

Utah: 42_______________BYU: 42
UNLV: 21______________UNLV: 35
Utah spread: 21__________BYU spread: 7

Utah: 58_______________BYU: 34
Utah State: 10___________Utah State: 14
Utah spread: 48__________BYU spread: 20

Utah: 40_______________BYU: 44
Wyoming: 7_____________Wyoming: 0
Utah spread: 33__________BYU spread: 44

Utah: 49_______________BYU: 45
Colo. State: 16___________Colo. State: 42
Utah spread: 33__________BYU spread: 3

Utah: 13_______________BYU: 7
TCU: 10_______________TCU: 32
Utah spread: 3___________BYU spread: -25

Total Utah Scored vs. Spread: 169/138 points
Total BYU Scored vs. Spread: 151/49 points

These numbers tell me three things: 1) Utah's defense is MUCH better than BYU's because they can hold an opponent to a lower score than BYU. 2) It also tells me that BYU has a great offense, but not necessarily better than Utah, as manifest for the total scored points of Utah: 169 vs. 151 for BYU. 3) Utah also bested the only team that beat BYU (TCU).

Utah has a record this year of keeping games VERY tight with tough opponents, yet still coming away with a "W". They continue to fight to the bitter end, whereas the Cougars only loss made it appear that they were giving up.

Utah still has 2 games to play: San Diego State and BYU.
BYU still has 3 games to play: San Diego State, Air Force, and Utah.

The Utes play the Cougars on November 22nd AT UTAH and it will prove to be a VERY interesting game, the outcome of which will go down in history as the most interesting match up in this rivalry's history!