Tick-Tock the clock strikes 3:30 east time, and Utes start to get dominated. Us Michigan fans are very excited to see what's in the master mind of RR. Sam McGuffie should impress. all you Utes think this is going to be a walk in the park. Don't let the unfilled starting depth chart trick you. Remember this is not conservative L.C. coaching anymore. The D should be fine and if Nick steps up at QB we might surprise all of you. Ya Ya App ST. we all heard a thousand times,like I said this is not L.C. coaching. Well, I'll make my prediction (32-17) MICHIGAN of course, (silly Utes) feeling real good coming into the Big House. It might be even louder since they started adding on to the stadium also, that's never good, having well over 100,000 fans getting crazy all in your ear. I'll be there since I live only a hr. away. Good Luck after your suprise beating. GO BLUE!!!!! Let the beer flow saturday. Hail Hail to the victors!!!!

"Like I've said a thousand times, one game does not make or break your season."

Thanks Kyle...

Now three conference losses, does that make or break a season? A tie for third in conference, does that???

We Ute fans cannot afford to let Kyle continue to make us look stupid (UNLV, AFA, Wyoming classlessness- I'm was going to give him the benefit of a doubt on BYU, but 4th and 18, give me a helmet, and I'll stop Collie) or are we going to man up and require him to win the "patsy" games?

The UNLV coaches were laughing at us during films. That made me a proud Utah Man.

Hey, I want a conference shot, and a victory over the kewgs this year, or I'm giving up on Kyle.

I'm tired of listening to Kyle explain why he can't do it, while TDS is doing it.

It's starting to get old there, McBride, er, Kyle...

I agree with you ute fans are thinking this is going to be an easy game. It will be very competitive. But not easy. The coach in the story said it best that the Michigan team is on scholarship to Michigan. They are going to be great players. While I hope Utah wins and I feel they have a great chance to, it will not be easy as a lot of Ute fans seem to think. It will be a great game!

I could get thrown out of this board for defending the yewts, but BYU and Utah are different than a lot of the smaller schools inasmuch as they usually have good linemen on both sides of the ball. Good lineman keep you in the game, especially on the road.

Openers are tough. I expect the Yewts to play Michigan tough, or maybe even pull off the upset. Utah has nothing to lose. They should be good and loose.

I don't know if Utah will win but I would sure like to see Michigan trying to explain why they keep getting beat by no-name teams.

A couple of comments: (1) The Utes are not App St. They are a very good team that will not be underestimated. (2) Michigan is not the same team they were last year, having good talent, great expectations, and over-confident. (3) This year, new coach, new schemes, and relatively young, untested offense. This equates to Michigan getting beat in the big house by a good Ute team. It shouldn't take too long for the Utes to quiet the crowd.

Earth to Mr. Maize....yeah right, the Utes are thinking playing in the Big House will be a walk in the park! I hope you DO represent the way Big Blue fans and players think, because you are in fantasyland. The Utes are hungry for a great season, and they know they will have to work hard this first game. Let's see, what other gimme's do we have on the schedule.........

Play to win or don't play at all.

Utah has a real shot at beating Michigan in Ann Arbor, but they have to get over the awe of playing in the Big House quickly.

With a new offense getting the kinks worked out, Michigan will likely have some early 3 and outs. Utah needs to take advantage of good field position and push the ball into the endzone. Utah has a great kicker, but settling for field goals early in the game could prove costly as Michigan's offense begins to find its rhythm later in the game.

Utah needs to get up a couple of touchdowns early in the game to quiet the crowd, then match Michigan score for score. Playing conservatively to protect the lead late in the game will lead to a moral "but we were leading late in the game" victory. Play to win down the stretch, not, NOT to lose.

No worries, the Michigan game is a cake walk. They have nothing, no linemen, no QB. They are just sitting on their big fat reputation. Michigan will be lucky to score 10, Utah 27 Michigan 10.

I'm a die-hard BYU fan/grad, but believe this year belongs to Utah (provided they don't lose key starters). Prediction: Utah 31, Michigan 10.

I love how everyone's an expert again, even though it's the beginning of the season. It will be a good game to watch, and I'm excited to see how the Utes turn out this year--but only time will tell. Word to the wise: keep your predictions and boastings to yourself (on either side of the ball for Utes, zoobies, wolverines, or whatever) until at least a few games have been played. Nobody, not even the coaches, really knows how each team will perform.

Meyer came in in '03 and installed the spread with a bunch of players recruited to play the most boring offense in all of college football. Utah only lost two games that year, and was a failed two-point conversion from sending Texas A&M into overtime, at College Station.

Rodriquez is installing the same offense, with Michigan athletes, don't assume that they won't be able to execute it. In fact, I hope that we beat Michigan, and Michigan is good!

It’s fine and dandy that the UTE fans think it will be a cake walk over at Michigan. I can guarantee that the UTES as a football team will not over look them. Since I am a huge UTES fan, the UTES will roll.

Go UTES!!!

Utes have always dominated the big games - need I point to our bowl record? Remember UCLA last year? Destroyed. We will win and it will bring momentum to the program and the year.

I've actually heard from a bunch of different people that the Big House is remarkably quiet for 100,000 fans.

Utah will roll Michigan and go undefeated until they lose to the undefeated Cougars at the end of the season.

Utah @ Michigan is the game I am most excited about this weekend. We'll get to see what the new Wolverine offense looks like under RichRod, and we'll get to see what the Utes look like with everyone healthy.

While I hope the Utes pull out the win, this one is tough to call. Michigan is a great program with great tradition and a proven new coach. Utah, on the other hand, has a lot of experience, a great quarterback, and its players are hungry for a big win on the road to kick off the season.

Besides, the more Utah wins, the sweeter the victory will be at the end of the season when the Cougs put the kibash on their conference championship hopes.

Not anti-Utah, just pro-BYU.

Anyway, good luck, Utes!

Utah may win this game, but I assume the team is more respectful of the Michgan program and RR than their fans. They are not exactly starting from scratch. Sports Illustrated has them ranked just above Utah, so it should be competitive. I think it could be decided by a field goal, thus a Utah win.

1: That some here think this will be a walk in the park for the Utes.
2: That Kyle W thinks that one loss will not make or break your season.

If the Utes players buy into these two points then we are in trouble this weekend. Utah does get Michigan at a good time but its not that good of a time. They have a ton of talent there, are playing at home with a new coach and I bet he has them ready to play. I have felt that the Utes will win this game but now I'm thinking Michigan will win.

Red, but getting tired | 2:12 a.m, I agree with your comments 100%. I to am getting tired of excuses from Coach Kyle and he is reminding me more and more of Mcbride and not at all like Urban. That quote from Kyle sounds just like something Mcbride would say....One would NEVER hear Urban say those words!!!!!!

Kyle, some words of advise, go back in your mind and clear out everything Mcbride taught you and retain everything that you learned from Urban and do it NOW or your gone after this year!

Guys, I don't see how Utah beating Michigan would be an upset? This is probably the first year that Michigan will go into most of its games as the underdog (atleast in people's minds). I know the spread is opening at 3.5, but that covers what Vegas normally just gives to the home team for being home. Basically even Vegas has it as a coin flip. Utah will be a very, very good football team. Michigan, could be great, could be terrible - only time will tell. But, atleast in this game, Michigan has the element of surprise. Studying WVU tapes won't help Utah, and studying last years UM tapes won't help either. I, as a fan of neither team, am excited just to see what Michigan has to offer, and if Utah is really THAT good. Good luck to both!

Us Michigan fan...tsk tsk...Maize Craze...those ugly colors and early drinking have obviously intoxicated you! You a drunk of the expectations of LC not being there and RR somehow being Michigan's Urban Meyer.... Not likely....you vastly underestimate the Utes and overestimate the need a spread offense has for skill players who meet the special need of those formations....RR never had the chance to recruit for this year's incoming UM class and I doubt LC's kids will be able to fill the bill. Too steep a learning curve for the boys in blue...facing a team with lots of experience on both sides of the ball. This is not App. State....and UM is not a good as last year's team....Ute's win...the quiet bighouse no factor.

I think it's hilarious what Palls at 8:25 am said:
"Since I am a huge UTES fan, the UTES will roll." Although I'm guessing he didn't intend it, it sounds like he's attributing the success of the Utes this year to himself.

Say what you want, but Brian Johnson is the Utes achilles heel! The Utes's D will keep them in the game until the 4th quarter, but then it will be history.

Johnson will get worked by a hungry UM defense that wants to show 106,000 UM fans that no "patsy" (in the mind of the UM fans) is going into their house and taking a game again.

Final:
Michigan 17
Utah 10

Having a son the Ute team is a great feeling at this time of year, with all the second guessing and what not. I am from California and am originally from Pontiac, I will be at the Big House on Saturday. It is nice to hear Michigan actually talking about another team besides the one to the south, and we all know that is the team that RR has to beat at some point or he'll be gone like yesterdays news. You can't win em all unless you win the first one ! Go UTES

Utah fans who think that the Michigan game is an easy win are just as stupid as the BYU fans they hate who think that the Washington and UCLA games are easy wins this year.

It's going to take Utah's A-game to beat Michigan in Ann Arbor the year after losing their opener to a Division 1-AA school. Yeah, there's a new coach, but he's a winning coach, and yeah, they have some inexperienced players, but these are four and five star recruits who are at Michigan for a reason.

The same arguments go for Washington and UCLA against BYU this season.

PREDICTION: utes lose a close one to michigan. drop a close one in conference. most likely to wyo. byu comes into rice eccles on nov. 22 possibly undefeated.(possibly a loss to washington). so we have a utah team with a 6-1 conference record and a byu team with a 7-0. utes win and split the conference crown with the cougars.

No way Utah wins this game. Michigan returns 7 starters on D, and they have 20 starters total that were embarrassed by App. St. They will not let that happen again. Prediction. Close in the 1st quarter, but Michigan pulls out to a 1st half lead of 21-7. Then it gets worse for Utah after the half. Final score 35 - 19 Michigan

You must have been talking to people who were there during the App State game? They are just like Phillies' fans there in Ann Arbor.

You crazy maize pansies! Tick tock the clock strikes 3:30 and the Wolverines from Wichigan get dominated! I was at the Big House the last time the Utes played there--the Utes lost to a good Wichigan team 10-7 (a moral victory under McBride), with LaTendresse scoring the only Ute touchdown. The Big House feels empty, even with over 100,000 fans it is so quiet--nothing compared to the Horseshoe at Ohio State. The Buckeyes have dominated the past few years, and this year in Columbus will be no different. I just can't wait for Sept. 13 at the Coliseum in L.A. I'll be there! Go BUCKS light up the Trojans!!!

Utah will win if the Michigan bus takes a wrong turn and ends up in Cleveland. Little boys in the Big House are going to get spanked.

This game is a no brainer. Michigan is in shambles - the Utes will will by 14+.

Be interesting to see how many Michigan posters there are this Sunday! I predict ZERO, poor babies!

Michigan, is horrible his year plus add a new coach and new scheme to the mix. Utah wins this one easily.

It is amazing how many Ute fans bag on Kyle for "One win or loss" doesn't make a season comment. I guess they haven't heard J Sloan use that same line for the last 20 years - Or even Urban Meyer last year after Geogia loss.

No brainer. Are you nuts? This is a 23 - 14 win for Michigan

I remember the A&M series. It was like A&M was ready to overlook our boys, only to discover that the Utes were pretty good. I see this as much the same, but we're A&M this time around. Let's not get too carried away with the talk that the Utes will walk all over the Wolverines.

I hope to see a Utah victory, and expect a victory. But that victory will be close. In the words of Tom Barberi, Utah by 5.

If the Utes don't win it is because they are not living right.

I just have to laugh at all you Ute fans that think your team is going to beat Michigan. Come on, you guys got spanked by UNLV last year and you talk about Michigan being in shambles?

It's official, Ute fans are delusional!

One loss in an 82-game NBA schedule is equivalent to 13-losses in a 12-game college football schedule. Thirteen additional losses in the NBA coud be the diffence between getting a very good seed in the playoffs, and not making the playoffs at all.

For a non-BCS team, only one loss is pretty much a season killer as far as any hopes of playing in a BCS game.

Florida could afford to lose a game. They still had a very good chance of getting into the SEC championship game and winning an automatic bid to a BCS game and having a decent shot at the BCS championship game.

Worry about Michigan, why? Utah should be already focusing on week 2....UNLV!!!!

OK its a deal... We(Utes) will stop being optomistic about THIS season while you use worn out examples from last season, IF..... You NEVER talk about 1984 EVER EVER again! This years Michigan team will finish with a better record than '84 Bo Diddley tech did.

Enjoy your game this weekend against THE Northern Iowa University. And the rest of us (including the whole country) will be watching a team who is not afraid to play a big time program (and no, washington and ucla do not fall into the big time college football program category...oh and neither does MIGHTY Tulsa as long as we are talking about last season stumbles)

Anyone who says that the Utes have nothing to lose in this game are not living in reality. Utah has everything to lose in this game.

Is it not becoming obvious to everyone that for non-BCS schools winning non conferecne games agaisnt BCS teams is more important that beating up on a terrilbe conference. BYU must beat both UCLA and Washington to claim a legitimate season.

Ref: Dream On
I guess having 7 out of 8 potential returning offensive starters either opting to go pro, transferring to another program, or deciding not to use their 5th year of eligibility is, as you so profoundly state, "not exactly starting from scratch." Dude, 3 of those big linemen who graduated but still had a 5th year of eligibility showed up for spring practice and made their decisions because they couldn't cut it with Rodriguez's intensive workouts. This is going to be a whole different program at Michigan. If the Utes fail to get a win over the likes of a Big Ten Team with this game.....it's going to be a long time before another chance like this comes along. This is a complete makeover for the Wolverines....totaly from scratch. In 2 yrs under R. R. they will definately be leaner, meaner and a heck of a lot faster than any Michigan team you've ever seen before.

New coach, new system, freshman QB, 3 returning offensive starters and this year Michigan isn't opening playing a division II school in Appalachian State they're playing a very good and experienced team. You would have to be "delusional" not to pick Utah to win this. Do you really believe that the name 'Michigan' is going to be enough? Prediction: Utes win big and finish the season with two losses but win their bowl game, Michigan doesn't make to a bowl game.

GO UTES!!!!! Wish you the very best!!! Would be a GREAT WIN!!!

"1: That some here think this will be a walk in the park for the Utes."

"2: That Kyle W thinks that one loss will not make or break your season."

Think about your second point for a minute. If every team didn't believe Kyle's observation, then why would any team make an effort after their first loss?

Of course one win doesn't make or break a season. As a coach you don't want to emphasize that message to your players, but most realistic and reasonable coaches (and fans) realize at least one loss a season is inevitable. Take a look at last season's results. Not one team in Division I-A went undefeated.

You'd really consider an 11-1 season a failure because of one loss? It's this type of opinion from fans that puts a coach in an impossible situation.

i honestly dont think michign will choke in this game. this is just too big a game for them. It is the first game for their new coach and i know they still feel App St. from last year. u ute fans keep sayin that the Ute offence will roll against Michigan defence. i just dont see that happening. i think michigan will bring a solid running game and i also see michigans defence and special teams scoring as much as half of michigans points.
im not saying that utah is a bad team and that michigan will have no problem, but i am saying that in the end michigan will prevail.

"Think about your second point for a minute. If every team didn't believe Kyle's observation, then why would any team make an effort after their first loss?"

You have never been on any type of competative team before, have you.

Then we bag on the TDS for a "Quest for Perfection", a goal of an undefeated season. Our coach has given the OK to the guys to "lose one for the Gipper".

No coach allow players going into a game to prepare for a loss.

You go for undefeated, if you lose, then you pull the "One Loss Theory" out, just like Urban did against GA. after the game, BUT NOT BEFORE!!!

Sorry, but at this point in the season, as much as I hate BYU, I wish we had their coaches' attitude, and they had Kyle...

John Lund from 1280 The Zone (from Michigan) just said the the Horseshoe (Ohio State) is crazy and the Big House is QUIET. Have you actually been there yourself? Just another BYU fan showing they don't know what they're talking about

You heard it here first - Utah by 28 points. We ARE that much better than Michigan. Our offense is much better than their's and the defenses, at best, are equal.

Go Utes!

My prediction:

"The first team to kick a field goal will not win."

Michigan will make a bowl game, as long as they gather 6 wins, which I'm sure they will(not from the Utes of course!) But even a small market bowl wouldn't pass up Michigan!