As I watched the Ute’s starting quarterback Brian Johnson get injured in their game against New Mexico last week, I began to wonder what it would mean to the Holy War football game this weekend. Since that time, the Utes have closed their football practices to the press, and BYU is busy trying to find as much material on the Utah backup QB as they can.

I have some general thoughts about what this will mean for the game. It could mean a lot as far as turnovers. Our defense has been getting better and better about forcing turnovers. I think that we could see a fair number of Utah turnovers during the game. I think we will probably see some on 3rd down when Utah would be trying to convert.

I also think that Utah will have some great plays, mostly in the first half, that are going to make cougar fans bite their fingernails. Utah is going to come to Cougar Town with some new plays and strategies that we’ve never seen before and a level of desparation that might remind us of a 4th quarter against Air Force.

But I think the second half of the game is going to be all blue. I think Utah will have used up their bag of tricks all in the first half, and are going to be shut down during the second half. The cougars might need half of a game to discover who this readjusted Utah team is, but after that, it will be solid offense and many scoring opportunities.

Of course, a new QB for Utah could mean that they don’t have as much experience with communication. I think communication is going to be a task for the Utah O-line. This is one place where a blue stadium will be an advantage. If the fans can get loud every time the Utes are on offense, then they will have a much more difficult time communicating, and their offense will break down and make mistakes.