Key Washington statistic

[SalUteopia]

I was at the Lunch with the Coach event today, and Whitt mentioned a Washington statistic that seems quite mindboggling – the Huskies have scored a combined 200 plus points in the first half while conceding only ~25 points. Things have been more balanced in the second half.

So if our D can keep things relatively hush in the first half and take this down to the wire, I really like our chances.

[Anonymous]

Well games have largely been over by halftime is what Whitt also said. So yeah you gotta make them prove it for four quarters.  

[Utah]

The key to beating Washington is limiting the big play. They don’t run a ton of plays every game (68 plays per game, we run 78), but they are constantly looking for the big play. 

That is where Marcus Williams being back is HUGE for us. 

They average 7 yards per play. That is crazy good. If we can get them around 5, we will be in this game. If we can get them under five, we win. 

Last year, they averaged 5.6 yards per play. Against us, they had 4.8 yards per play. 

If we hold them to 4.8 yards per play, we beat them badly, just like last year. 

Right now, we are giving up 5.7 yards per play, but we’ve faced three of the top 50 offenses in football. 

Washington is giving up 4.6 yards per play, but they’ve only face one top 50 offense and gave up 5.4 yards per play against Oregon. 

Here is a key to the game: We are #1 in plays per game for the opposing team, meaning we give the opposing offense the least amount of plays at 68 per game. 

Washington gives the opposition 75 plays per game, which is right where we sit. 

We have to limit the number of plays, which means NO TURNOVERS. 

IF we don’t turn the ball over and limit the big plays, we win. 

[SalUteopia]

@BeehiveUte: True that. UW hasn’t had to play with the same vigor in the second half of most of their games. That shouldn’t be the case against Utah.

 

@Utah: Agreed, MW will make a huge difference. Same with Patrick, I think. Troy looks a very different QB when Patrick is around. Great in-depth analysis btw.

[Anonymous]

The key statistic will be turnover margin. Like last year’s game, if Utah wins the turnover battle, they win.

[Purplestickystank]

Clearly that stat is because our 2’s and 3’s gave up most of the 2nd half numbers.

[noneyadb]

[noneyadb]

[popbirch]

I think the key to winning this game is about establishing the run and TO margin.

If we can get the run game going early we can keep the ball out of their hands that is how you limit a fast scoring offense. That is always the best way to keep teams like that out of the game. That is what we typically try to do as much as possible against these types of teams. UW is vulnerable on the ground and has given up a lot of yds on the ground even their first team defense does. Oregon ran for a lot, Arizona ran for over 300, and OSU ran for 170ish. There is plenty of room there for us to get yards and win the TOP.