Utah Ute offense versus Field Position
by BirdGT on Dec 21, 2011 9:09 AM EST
in Georgia Tech Football
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PrintOn the negative side of the coin, the Utes turn the ball over on 19.5% of their drives and punt the ball away on 43.6% of their drives. In the Pac-12, only Colorado has punted the ball more times (77) in 2011 than Utah (63). Utah also has the thirdmost turnovers in the 2011 Pac-12 season at 22 turnovers coughed up only ahead of Oregon State and UCLA.
If I had to attribute the Utah struggles to a particular issue, I would say attrition. Utah lost two senior receivers from 2010 in Jereme Brooks and Shaky Smithson. Star junior receiver DeVonte Christopher has struggled to surpass his 2010 numbers with little help in the receiving corps. Also, the Utes lost 2010 starting QB Jordan Wynn in game 4 of the regular season. The running game was there but the passing game really failed to provide the Utes any semblence of offensive balance.
Any thoughts on the Utah offense or Tech's defense?
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Actually its not so much that Christopher struggled or didn't receive much help from the rest of the WR corps
Its that we didn’t have a decent QB throwing to him most of the season. If it wasn’t for the skill and depth at WR we wouldn’t have been even worse on offense. Christopher and Anderson did a ton to bail out Hays (and Wynn while he was starting to recover before his other shoulder was injured)
by khaostheory117 on Dec 21, 2011 10:06 AM EST reply actions
I still remember what Utah did to Alabama . . .
. . .and I shudder. I don’t know when I have seen a big time college team so completely dismantled before my very eyes. Devastating. The horror, the horror.
by Atlanta's original team on Dec 21, 2011 2:47 PM EST up reply actions
I really would love to see our offense get back to that point.
During that year Brian Johnson was on a whole other level, ice in his veins and the brains to pick teams apart like they were nothing at times, combine that with good receivers, good line, and a solid running game and it was truly a force to be reckoned with.
by khaostheory117 on Dec 22, 2011 8:42 AM EST up reply actions
I watched that game and I was super impressed.
I was also pulling for Utah (I hate Bama) and thought they should’ve gotten a shot at the NC that year. A thoroughly dominating performance.
by The Bamboo Shaft on Dec 22, 2011 11:15 AM EST up reply actions
Oh and Norm Chow is expected to be announced as HC for Hawaii today
so we may lose him for the bowl game. and if that happens I really don’t like our chances against you guys, if we didn’t have Chow this season we would have been lucky to win 5 games. He turned a D2 QB who didn’t look like he could handle anything into a manageable starter.
by khaostheory117 on Dec 21, 2011 10:08 AM EST reply actions
He’s certainly paid his dues…good for him. I think he was certainly hung out to dry when Vince Young didn’t pan out in Tennessee…even though VY was never going to be the caliber of NFL QB to live up to that #3 pick.
I’ve read he may take the DC Sitake (sp?) with him to Hawaii…is that true?
"Reach down in there...TURN THAT DAMN THING UP!" - Coach Paul Johnson
is Chow going to coach in the bowl game?
Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John Heisman FromTheRumbleSeat
by Winfield Featherston on Dec 21, 2011 12:45 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah I saw that late last night.
As I said a while back, I’m so happy he finally got a chance to be head coach.. far far overdue.. just look at some of the other morons out there that got the opportunity way before him.. but I know it sucks for you. I saw the ChowCon posts on Block U and I thought they were quite clever, esp the numerical scale with his head as an indicator. :)
by The Bamboo Shaft on Dec 21, 2011 12:48 PM EST up reply actions
haha you aren't the only one who got some enjoyment out of chowcon
we have an oregon state fan who stops by a lot and he liked it as well.
I wish Chow the best because he’s earned it but its so tough to lose him after one year.
by khaostheory117 on Dec 22, 2011 8:44 AM EST up reply actions
Exactly.
It’s like you’re happy and sad at the same time. And yeah I’ve been really impressed with block U. It’s an excellent site with lots of good info and discussions. We could use it as a model.
by The Bamboo Shaft on Dec 22, 2011 11:12 AM EST up reply actions
My question is...
What do the matchups look like?
Tech hasn’t fared well against run-first teams this season, so it looks like we could have some issues slowing these guys down if they lean on the run (and they’re effective with it). With the loss of our starting corner, depth in the secondary may be an issue if they try to spread us out, but I like our chances there still. We just have to stop the run and I think we can come out on top.
Sounds like they really don’t have the personnel to spread us out…they seem more of a ground and pound type of team.
I imagine with a young, inexperienced QB and a run-heavy team CAG is probably dialing up a blitz-heavy gameplan…and let’s hope Rod Sweeting and Jemea Thomas are up to the task of lots of man-to-man coverage.
"Reach down in there...TURN THAT DAMN THING UP!" - Coach Paul Johnson
I guess
we’ll have to wait and see what the game plan is. Blitzing will work well if the DB’s can hold their coverage.
Did somebody say BLITZ??
All the blitzes.
You'd do it for Randolph Scott!
RANDOLPH SCOTT!
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Dec 22, 2011 4:27 PM EST up reply actions
Anyone know where Utah stands offensively compared to other opponents?
Just interested to hear where they rank relative to our other opponents. The more I read about them, the more I feel like our defense (questionable at times as it may be) shouldn’t have too big of a problem handling them.
If Tech’s offense is sputtering like we’ve seen it do in bowl games, this could and should end up a very low-scoring game.
Mobile commenting is so cool!!!
The Church of Paul Johnson - There's not much to it outside of whooping ass and giving haters the finger. To HELL With georgie!
by LilBroey700 on Dec 21, 2011 11:26 AM EST via Android app reply actions
Utah Offense rankings
Looking at the NCAA website stats and comparing Utah’s national rankings to the national rankings of GT’s opponents other than Western Carolina, Utah ranks thusly:
Rushing O: 10th
Passing O: 11th
Total O: 12th
Scoring O: 7th
Consistent with its national rankings, Utah scoring rank is higher than expected based on the other rankings. My guess is that their good turnover margin (14th nationally at 0.83/gm) combined with a decent defense has given them some good field position that they have been able to take advantage of. In terms of yardage gained, Utah is the weakest FBS offense GT will see this year.
by Dive Keep and Pitch on Dec 21, 2011 12:55 PM EST reply actions
My only rebuttal to this is that their numbers are against another subset of competition…therefore its difficult to ascertain whether their Offense is that bad, or the defenses in the PAC 12 are that good.
Remember that UofU was a Win away against a bad team (Colorado) for the chance to play for the Conference championship.
"Reach down in there...TURN THAT DAMN THING UP!" - Coach Paul Johnson
Maybe we'll let the computers and polls decide
That should give us an accurate gauge of their ability as a football team….not.
Which reminds me
Sagarin’s rankings:
Utah: 39
GT: 45
Looks like TBuzz might be right, after all. Guess it’ll be another bowl game loss. :( Maybe next year.
by Dive Keep and Pitch on Dec 21, 2011 5:41 PM EST up reply actions
Compared to the ACC
The PAC 12 does not appear to be as strong defensively. Looking at the average national rankings of the PAC-12 teams and the ACC teams:
Pass Eff Def: 75, 54
Pass Def: 86, 55
Rush Def: 53, 54
Scor Def: 70, 49
Tot Def: 70, 51
Aside from rush defense, which is essentially the same, the ACC as a whole is 20 or 30 rankings slots higher than the PAC-12. Just focusing on the top four teams in each conference, the disparity is not quite as pronounced, but even there the ACC is 10 to 30 slots higher in each cateegory except rush defense which is the same.
We’re making an assumption here that looking at PAC-12 is good enough when it would probably be more accurate to look at Utah opponents. With that caveat, it looks to me like there is some support for the idea that Utah did not generate a lot offense, relative to the ACC, while playing against weak defenses (again, relative to the ACC).
by Dive Keep and Pitch on Dec 21, 2011 5:38 PM EST up reply actions
LMFAO
/pukes FO out of nose
//doesn’t mind split National Champs
///horrified I watched NFL instead of first two Bowl Games
You'd do it for Randolph Scott!
RANDOLPH SCOTT!
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Dec 21, 2011 5:37 PM EST reply actions
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