Utah vs USC film breakdown

[SouthJordanUte]

Let me know what you think.

http://www.tornbysports.com/utah-vs-usc-2015-film-breakdown/

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[Stradlater]

I really enjoy your film breakdowns. You hit on something that was bothering me during the game. Why didn’t Utah try a few longer routes to open things up? The coaches must have seen something in game film to suggest that USC was vulnerable to the short passing game but when it became obvious USC had it covered why didn’t they adjust? By continuing to throw short Travis was pretty much set up to fail. Is Travis reluctant to throw long or is it that the coaching staff doesn’t trust him to throw long? It may not be his strong suit but we’ve seen him do it.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Stradlater.

[Tony (admin)]

@stradlater I think with the amount of pressure they were bringing the OC thought short passest would be better. TW was taking sacks when he was in the pocket too long, not dumping it. So maybe they were trying to avoid that. Who knows.

[Stradlater]

That’s true enough. The pressure was getting to TW and he doesn’t throw well on the run. But the pocket seemed to be holding long enough to get something out a little more over the top.

[SouthJordanUte]

Yep how many times have we seen deep throws on a one or three step drop? QB’s do it all the time. Running the ball would have helped keep the pressure of Travis a little more and then they could’ve tried throwing off play action.

Of course all of this is easier said than done.

[Anonymous]

The problem with asking Wilson to throw long, say greater than 15 yards, is his low completion rate. He’s completed one pass of 15+ yards on 3rd down and 10+ yards and that’s out of 14 attempts. So it’s basically a wasted play.

I’m still at loss as to why they called for a pass on 4th and 2 at the 50 with a minute left in the first half. Booker was averaging 4.6 yards per carry, which should have been option one. Wilson had a clear lane off to his right where he could have gotten two yards. Or the final option there would be to just throw the Hail Mary figuring that an INT couldn’t hurt you and was the equivalent of a punt. Instead, they drummed up a pass play to Wilson’s new favorite receiver Cameron Smith.

[Tony (admin)]

I’m still at loss as to why they called for a pass on 4th and 2 at the 50 with a minute left in the first half. Booker was averaging 4.6 yards per carry…

Me too.

[Anonymous]

OK I watched the first half of the game on PAC 12 Football in 60 last night while grilling some ribeye steaks and waiting for the wife to get home. Oh boy!

Up until the first INT, the momentum was clearly going Utah’s way. They were up 14-7 and had the chance to put their foot on USC’s throat by going up 21-7. Then TW’s disastrous decision making in the face of pressure kicked in. Honestly, TW just appeared afraid to get hit. There was a play just before the Pick 6 where TW rolled to his left, briefly considered cutting up field (where he would have got the needed 2 yards and then crushed), but he hastily threw an awkward 5 yard lateral pass on the run to Covey at the sideline who had two defenders on him. The pass sailed over Covey’s head, but TW was clearly trying to complete it. Even if the pass was completed, there was nothing to be gained. I saw this at the game and thought “the wheels are coming off right now.” Sadly, I was right.

Well, we only have 5 Conference games and a Bowl Game left in the TW era. Hopefully, they can right this ship and get this under control

On another subject, there has been talk that opponents have figured out how defend Hackett on his rugby style punts. USC just put three guys over to his right and smashed him because he was outside the tackle box. I’m not so concerned because Hackett can and does punt straight on, so he can adjust. It also creates the opportunity to burn such a defense with a fake along the lines of the Covey fake on the Booby Hobbs punt return against Oregon. Hackett just sucks the defense to one side, then dumps a lateral pass to a speedster on the other side of the field. Only issue is preventing illegal receivers from going down field while executing this.

[Dhisatake]

On Travis’ first pick the TE was supposed to have gone out to occupy the LB and Covey could have slipped behind him. Instead he stayed home and blocked when they had Booker to pick up the extra pass rusher. While Travis shouldn’t have made that throw, it wasn’t all on him.