I wouldn't really hang my hat on that given that USC was on probation. But whatever.
I really don't see a huge difference between the Utes this season and the Utes last season. But whatever, if you want to discount talent and think Utah is on par with the rest of the Pac12 then whatever.
You don't see a difference between Utah last season and Utah this season?
Well, for starters, Utah won a bowl game last season (against a BCS conference school) while not even finishing at .500 this season. The only team with a winning record that Utah beat this season was BYU.
Utah also had arguably the best running back in the Pac 12 last season. White was decent this season, but nowhere near as good as last season. And the receivers were all way better last season. Based on this season you'd think the only decent receiver Utah had on the roster was Jake Murphy, a tight end.
How are you judging talent when you say Utah doesn't have any?
For example, receivers... Do you think Utah has Pac 12 caliber receivers based on this season? Probably not, right? They didn't look good this season. However, those same receivers looked good last season, and even NFL caliber before that.
Where exactly do you think Utah has a lack of talent? I'd say they might be a little thin on the o line, and the qb was a freshman, but other than that, Utah has plenty of Pac 12 caliber players on the offense.
No team is perfect, there is always going to be strengths and weaknesses. I don't think you can say Utah doesn't have Pac 12 talent just because they're not starting NFL players at every position.
Even though they both sucked this year, I would not be at all surprised to see Devonte Christopher in the NFL next season, and Dres Anderson in the NFL when he leaves school. Also John White is definitely going to be in the NFL, and Jake Murphy probably will too.
If that happens, and it's not at all far fetched, that means Utah started at least 4 NFL players on offense this year. How can you say they have no talent when they might have started 4 NFL players? (I'm only talking about offense here, we all know Utah has plenty of talent on defense)
And there could be others, of course. Like Reggie Dunn, Luke Matthews, and even Travis Wilson.
I remember watching that Utah/UCLA game on tv and the announcers were saying that almost every Pac 12 school recruited Travis Wilson.
I also remember when everyone said Utah had a lack of talent against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and then 11 players from that Utah team went on to play in the NFL.
Similar situation here, except the offensive and defensive coordinator positions aren't as good as they were back then. The defensive coordinator is getting better, but he's still no Gary Anderson, and the offensive coordinator was downright terrible this season. Terrible to the point that even the few bright spots we had on offense last year looked terrible this year.