Look for Utah (-14) to stomp Indiana this week.
Utah played Utah St last week and won on the road handily 23-3. Their offense had 447 net yards at 5.3 yards per touch. They had 282 yards rushing at 5.3 per, with 165 passing at 5.3 per. Utah St had only 162 net yards with 16 rushes for -9 YARDS and 19 of 42 passes for 171 yards!
Utah St had 7 offense and 8 defense starters returning from a 4-7 club last year (but some of those losses came at Utah, at LSU, Oregon, at BYU, C. Fla, and at Fresno St). This shows they are a respectable team, at least. Utah has 5 returners on offense (includes QB). They lost their top back but this years group showed their stuff agains't Utah St. Starter Johnson had 30 carries for 176, Perioulous had 15 for 93, and Benton had 5 for 30. Impressive group. But the key for Utah is their defense. They ranked 17th in the nation last year in total D and 13th in scoring D! They return 8 starters from that awesome D and showed how good they were again this year in their 1st game.
Indiana won their opener at home agains't Div-AA William and Mary 25-17. Not too impressive of a start. W & M threw for 259 yards and rushed 16 times for 47. IU's offense had only 264 net yards with 42 rushes for only 110 yards (!) and 16 of 32 passes for only 154 yards. Pathetic.
Indiana lost basically their entire team when they lost their star QB Antawan Randle El. He WAS their offense. The also lost from last year their top ground gainer in RB Williams who averaged 6.6 YPC. They have 5 starters back from that squad but basically lost all their offense, not to mention they have switched their style from the option to the West Coast. Major problems there. Their defense isn't anything special with 7 returners from a squad that got torched all last year. And they are trying a new scheme this year too. Doesn't bode well in the early going.
This is a complete mismatch. You've got a team with a solid offense and a top national defense hosting a team that lost it's heart and soul on offense with a mediocre, at best, defense (with both trying new schemes). Indiana barely got past a Div-AA team on their home field last week while Utah revved up their season by going on the road agains't an in-state rival and manhandled them. Indiana will be lucky to score at all against of the nations top defenses, and that means Indiana's defense will be on the field a LONG time. Look for this one to be a blowout. Utah 31, Indiana 3