Today’s Chorus is brought to you by USC attendee Ron Howard, who had a similar run-in with TMZ to Marc Tyler’s, only his was way more graphic.

*****

• Oregon coach Chip Kelly gave his first extensive comments since Yahoo!‘s most recent Will Lyles story. Not much was said.

• Alabama *officially* has nothing to do with T-Town Menswear, the outfitter that definitely didn’t do anything wrong with current and former Tide players.

• The Mountain West has arbitrarily decided that Boise State can’t wear their all-blues at home. Because really, what you want to do when you lose your biggest team and gain a new signature team, you’d like alienate the new guys as soon as possible.

• Former Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor has a clearer path to the NFL’s Supplemental Draft — the Buckeyes want nothing to do with him.

• Stanford QB Andrew Luck will only play one more year for Stanford, surprising no one.

• UCLA QB Brett Hundley will be out for about a month after tearing meniscus in his right knee. The Bruins is exactly on schedule.

• Florida RB (and noted sprinter) Jeff Demps will play football this fall. Quickly.

• CBS’s Dennis Dodd talks to Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops at Big 12 media day about losing. Exciting stuff.

• SI.com’s Stewart Mandel has decided robots are the way to go for college football. It’s all fun and games until the video replay machine kills somebody.

• ESPN has choice quotes and storylines from Big 12 media day (Day 2). Lapel pins wowed the masses.

• ESPN’s Ted Miller is all up in Stanford QB Andrew Luck’s beard. And I don’t blame him.

• Georgia coach Mark Richt talks to ESPN’s Chris Fowler al fresco.

• Clemson QB Tajh Boyd got in an early dig on South Carolina. I like.

• SB Nation’s Bill Connelly loves him some pig sooie.

• I see what you did there, Georgia Tech. Clever.

• Yahoo!!!!!’s Dr. Saturday has a Minnesota preview. It includes a painful MarQueis Gray pun (but is otherwise very good).

(Michigan and Iowa are also ready for knowledge-gaining)

• Rivals has a West Virginia preview. I’m choosing to pronounced probable star WR Ivan McCartney “Ee-vahn,” mostly because I can.

• Tate Forcier is going to San Jose State (this week).

*****

Today’s Video of the Day is Baylor QB Robert Griffin not giving a crap. Go to 2:12 mark. (via Dr Sat)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAmEJ6qLN6Y

Enjoy your Wednesday. Drape yourself in fine cloth. 

***Follow me on Twitter.***

Today’s Chorus is brought to you by UCLA alum Christine Lakin, who played on Al on ABC’s Step by Step. Wanna feel old? She’s 32 (but still has it!). (ahem, Christine: solidverbal@gmail.com)

*****

• The lawyer of Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor questions 90% of the SI story. I’m feeling even better about the article already.

• Similarly, lawsuits are being threatened over SI’s investigative piece. I have a feeling the follow up to this story will include the phrase, “never materialized.”

• West Virginia OC Dana Holgorsen is now clear on the expectations the school and the state have no the whole “not getting tossed out of casinos” thing.

• Former Notre Dame and current Montana QB Nate Montana (get it?!?!) was arrested for suspected DUI. Not cool.

• Penn State OC Jay Paterno says athletes are already getting paid dozens of dollars an hour for the work they put in athletically. Of course, his math is all poorly constructed and he leaves out revenue figures for schools. Other than that, bang-up job, sir.

• SI.com’s Andy Staples argues that, while Steve Spurrier‘s plan won’t happen, it’s an important step towards a payment discussion.

• Maryland and Connecticut each had offensive footprints last season. Football Study Hall takes you inside the magic.

• Tim Tebow was on The Daily Show. Bloomin’ Onions were implied.

• ESPN’s Andrea Adelson answers some basic TCU/Big East questions. It’s all she can do to not say TCU is going to swallow up USF.

• Former Georgia RB Washaun Ealey has transferred to Jacksonville State. Gentlemen, get your moving violation ticket pads rrrreeeaadddyyyy!!!

• Will Ohio State‘s recruits hang around? Fox Sports’s Zac (no K, no H) Johnson further pontificates.

• SB Nation’s Holly Anderson (Peete) tries to crack the SEC Lion King Twitter code. I’m so lost.

• Some quick thoughts on noisemakers on the SEC by EDSBS fanposter “RaginCajunRebel.” Remember to get sucked into the amazing comment vortex.

• Former Michigan QB Tate Forcier visited San Jose State. Come for the football, stay for the obscene burritos.

• Mel Kiper is totally down with high school 7on7 tournaments. Just so you know.

• Hot/Cold Yes/No UCF QB recruit DeMarcus Smith has chosen to stick with UCF. This is actually news.

• The purple and gray field at Central Arkansas is coming along just fine, thank you.

• Arizona needs snitches ASAP.

*****

Today’ s Video of the Day is Orson Welles sleepwalking through a commercial shoot. I could watch this forever and ever.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFevH5vP32s

Enjoy your Friday.

***Follow me on Twitter.***

Today’s Chorus is brought to you by Mila Kunis, who was NOT nominated for an Academy Award this morning. This is clearly the next best thing.

*****

• Utah State and San Jose State may or may not be joining the Mountain West. Game changer.

• Former USC RB Stafon Johnson is suing USC for being negligent at the time of his weightlifting neck/throat injury. In situations like these, nobody really wins. Oh, except the lawyers, they definitely do. Fight on!!

• SEC coaches oversign. We know this. SI.com’s Andy Staples isn’t a fan of the fake NCAA bylaw that fails to prevent this from continuing.

• ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg reviews recruiting needs for both the Leaders and the Legends divisions of the Big 10, and yes, I hate myself already for casually writing “Legends” and “Leaders.”

• A UConn donor hates the Huskies’ athletic director and wants his millions back. I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that.

• SI.com’s Andrew Perloff drops a good ol’ fashioned mock draft. Blaine Gabbert is #1 on his board (and Cam Newton 10th), which means “only ran out of the shotgun” is officially dead as a fake QB criticism.

*****

Today’s Video of the Day is, in honor of the ongoing Australian Open, a collection of unfortunate racquet and net bloopers. Nobody’s balls are safe.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSgUnKh4QPk

Enjoy your Tuesday.

Ty and Dan get fired up for the 2009 season by making their picks for the major games of the week.  Plus, voice messages, your e-mail, and painful discussion about the anti-Charlie Weis billboard.  Well, painful for Ty, anyway. (Episode 56)

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Throughout August, we will be counting down the top 25 teams (as listed here) going into the 2009 season. Today we bring it on down to Utahville, where we’ll take a look at the only program to go undefeated twice in the BCS era. Another fun fact:, Utah is the only state in the union to have their nickname centered around the production and storage of honey. I love honey. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Impressions

A case could be made that this has been the Offseason of Utah. You could also consider Lane Kiffin and Tennessee, but it seems like the Utah football program is a central theme in every BCS story and more (or less) importantly, every congressional college football hearing thus far during the offseason. 

Larger stories aside, Utah has done quite well for itself. Its recruiting base isn’t big, but through innovative coaching and steady player development, the Utes have been able to couple quality 7-9 win seasons with special seasons in which they’ve punched some huge teams square in the mouth. 

Utah shares the same ol’ problem that most teams in western states face: exposure. You can only draw so many conclusions without actually seeing games, which obviously can work for or (generally) against non-BCS conference teams with BCS aspirations. 

As a west coast football fan, very few things have been more satisfying to watch than Utah dismantling a pouting Alabama team in the Sugar Bowl. Do you hear that ringing? John Parker Wilson still does. 

Last Year

Undefeated. Plain and simple, Utah was the most important team of the 2008 college football team. 

For you nitpickers, there were some weaker parts of the 2008 season that a supposed national title contender shouldn’t have on their resumés. Only beating a terrible Michigan team by two is defensible given it was the first game of the year and it was on the road. Winning by three over a 4-win New Mexico team that fired their coach after the season is far less than impressive. Oregon State couldn’t close out a game at Utah with under a minute left and Utah promptly took advantage. It’s what great teams do. 

2008 = The Year of the Ute. 

People

Wait, where did everybody go? The Utes lose starting QB Brian Johnson to graduation (amongst unconfirmed rumors of an AC/DC tour), the three starting receivers, star DE Paul Kruger early to the draft, two starters on the OL, a rotation RB, a defensive tackle, and both starting corners. Kruger’s supposed weakside replacement, blue chip JC transfer James Aiono, also won’t be making it to the SLC until next season. 

The strength of the team looks to be the returning linebackers, led by OLB Stevenson Sylvester (I checked, it’s not backwards). It’ll be a season of opponents both attacking what should be a more conservative offensive attack and throwing against an inexperienced Ute secondary. 

On the coaching front, they lose offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig, though some (ahem) may argue the validity of the term “loss” here. The good news is that the Utah head coach job appears to be a destination gig for Kyle Whittingham, which is always an advantage when your team is forced to swim against the current in a skewed system. 

This Year

They open with two wins against Utah State and San Jose State. SJSU has improved under Dick Tomey, but Utah should be able to get a win after USC toys with the Spartans the week before. As nice as it was to beat Oregon six years ago (and inspire the Ducks to move to the spread), Eugene doesn’t look to be pretty for a rebuilding team. 

Louisville is a winnable home game, Colorado State is a bowl team that could pose problems on the road. Frankly, a game at UNLV followed by three straight at home against Air Force, Wyoming, and New Mexico should all yield victories. 

The tail end of the schedule has the Utes on the road against TCU and BYU teams that can’t be terribly pleased about losing in Salt Lake City last year. There’s a small shot against TCU, but the Holy War at BYU won’t be pretty. 

Conclusion

The personnel losses are significant, but outside of three brutal road games at Oregon, TCU, and BYU, the Utes have a reasonable opportunity to minimize their fall from last season’s unprecedented grace. Breaking in new corners is never fun, but the passing in the Mountain West is essentially limited to Max Hall and BYU … though it is A LOT of passing. 

The Prediction

8-4

Highlights Set to Unfortunate Music

-Dan