[CTcard]

I don't know what Utah has to do to get some respect. 

I don't know what you consider respect. Two of three posters who have ranked the Pac 12 teams ranked them first. Another ranked them second. And Mick claimed Stanford could beat them.

But if you want some lack of respect, I guess it's up to me.
I am not yet sold on Utah as the class of the Pac 12, though I certainly could see them winning the conference. There are a few issues.

First, everyone keeps talking about their rugged defense. In this very thread, winflop says, "but I also wonder if they've [Stanford] faced a defense as good as Utah's - or if they will the rest of the season."
Well, Utah's defense is ranked 67th in yds allowed per game (6th in conference), and 74th in yds/play (9th). Their calling cards last year were sacks and tackles for loss. Currently they are in a multiple tie for 47th in sacks/game (6th) and 109th in tackles for loss/game (tie 10th). This compares to last year when they were 1st (1st) and 6th (1st).
Their defense is not bad, but so far it's not as good as last year.

Another stat that is generally believed to be fairly predictive is yards gained differential - with per play useful for taking out pace of play. In the Pac 12 right now we have:

Team	Off yds/play	Def yds/play	Differential
U$C	7.45	5.04	2.41
Stanford	6.72	4.78	1.94
UCLA	6.11	4.78	1.33
UW	5.59	4.44	1.15
Arizona	6.70	5.59	1.11
c.a.l.	6.62	5.55	1.07
Oregon	6.71	5.84	0.87
ASU	5.72	5.24	0.48
Colorado	5.59	5.45	0.14
Utah	5.57	5.63	-0.06
OSU	4.71	5.67	-0.96

Observations:

1. It's really quite remakrable to be 5-0 and have a negative yds/play differential. In thinking about what other undefeated team might have such a stat, I thought of MSU - but no they are at +0.36; Florida - +1.20; Clemson - +1.47.
I think their special teams are good, but they don't really stand out in most categories (though they are #3 in the country in punt return yards/game).
They have done this primarily through turnover margin. They are #1 in the country and #1 in the conference by a mile at +2.0 per game (second is c.a.l. at +0.83/game).
Is that sustainable?

Well, that's it for Utah, further around the conference ...

2. If the players want to play for the $C interim coach Helton then they are still dangerous. It's clear they have players. 

3. I think UCLA is still formidable. Another team with lots of excellent players if a few holes here and there (mostly due to injuries).

4. Had we been playing against Anu Solomon, that UA win would look very impressive. Oh well.

5. I had thought OSU was looking promising, but they seem to be heading in the wrong direction.

6. Petersen at UW is interesting. He had some trouble taking over a team with some very good players. Now with a lot of those players gone, the team seems to be functioning better - though most of the guys are still Sarkisian recruits.

[CTcard]

I don't know what Utah has to do to get some respect. 

I don't know what you consider respect. Two of three posters who have ranked the Pac 12 teams ranked them first. Another ranked them second. And Mick claimed Stanford could beat them.

But if you want some lack of respect, I guess it's up to me.
I am not yet sold on Utah as the class of the Pac 12, though I certainly could see them winning the conference. There are a few issues.

First, everyone keeps talking about their rugged defense. In this very thread, winflop says, "but I also wonder if they've [Stanford] faced a defense as good as Utah's - or if they will the rest of the season."
Well, Utah's defense is ranked 67th in yds allowed per game (6th in conference), and 74th in yds/play (9th). Their calling cards last year were sacks and tackles for loss. Currently they are in a multiple tie for 47th in sacks/game (6th) and 109th in tackles for loss/game (tie 10th). This compares to last year when they were 1st (1st) and 6th (1st).
Their defense is not bad, but so far it's not as good as last year.

Another stat that is generally believed to be fairly predictive is yards gained differential - with per play useful for taking out pace of play. In the Pac 12 right now we have:

Team	Off yds/play	Def yds/play	Differential
U$C	7.45	5.04	2.41
Stanford	6.72	4.78	1.94
UCLA	6.11	4.78	1.33
UW	5.59	4.44	1.15
Arizona	6.70	5.59	1.11
c.a.l.	6.62	5.55	1.07
Oregon	6.71	5.84	0.87
ASU	5.72	5.24	0.48
Colorado	5.59	5.45	0.14
Utah	5.57	5.63	-0.06
OSU	4.71	5.67	-0.96

Observations:

1. It's really quite remakrable to be 5-0 and have a negative yds/play differential. In thinking about what other undefeated team might have such a stat, I thought of MSU - but no they are at +0.36; Florida - +1.20; Clemson - +1.47.
I think their special teams are good, but they don't really stand out in most categories (though they are #3 in the country in punt return yards/game).
They have done this primarily through turnover margin. They are #1 in the country and #1 in the conference by a mile at +2.0 per game (second is c.a.l. at +0.83/game).
Is that sustainable?

Well, that's it for Utah, further around the conference ...

2. If the players want to play for the $C interim coach Helton then they are still dangerous. It's clear they have players. 

3. I think UCLA is still formidable. Another team with lots of excellent players if a few holes here and there (mostly due to injuries).

4. Had we been playing against Anu Solomon, that UA win would look very impressive. Oh well.

5. I had thought OSU was looking promising, but they seem to be heading in the wrong direction.

6. Petersen at UW is interesting. He had some trouble taking over a team with some very good players. Now with a lot of those players gone, the team seems to be functioning better - though most of the guys are still Sarkisian recruits.