Nate apologizes

[DrahtUte]

Nate just apologized for the offensive performance on Twitter. That doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.

[AlohaUte]

He had nothing to apologize for. It’s not his fault the coaches were stupid today and stopped throwing completely.

[UtMtBiker]

He has nothing to apologize for but it’s also not the coaches fault. I’m one of Whittinghams biggest critic’s which doesn’t make me very popular on this site but NJ isn’t a P5 level passer at this point. Coaches called this game to get the win knowing that NJ isn’t going to complete 50% of his passes if he drops back 30+ times. This game was won by the coaching on offense and the players on defense. Best outcome we could have hoped for with who we have available at QB. If the defense gives up 14 points next week we have a chance, 21 if the they scores again and we net 3 TO. We don’t beat OSU on the road giving up 21+ which is a sad place to be.

[kmc165]

Is he implying on his post he is going to play on Friday?

[Central Coast Ute]

Here is the link. I don’t think he has a reason to apologize but don’t have a problem with him doing so. He knows the O was lackluster and he knows we all know. He’s a good kid who’s just trying to say he knows they need to be better.

I apologize for the way the game was played out credit to our defense for an amazing performance we will be better next week our offense is still awesome just things will get cleaned up see you guys next Friday 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

— Nate Johnson (@Shaboinate3) September 24, 2023

link

[PhiladelphiaUte]

Only 219-yds Total Offense today. That won’t do in Corvallis!

[22Ute22]

Poor guy. I’ve watched his interviews from practice and he seems like a good guy. It’s not his fault our dumb coaches hinged their entire offensive success on Cam returning from rapidly from an ACL year. Hopefully he’s not too down on himself.

[The Miami Ute]

I see no reason for any apologies. Yes, the offense pretty much stunk but UCLA’s defense had a lot to do with that. It’s a team game…sometimes the defense carries the offense and sometimes it’s viceversa. The only thing that really concerns me about Nate is his propensity to fumble. Three fumbles a game is never going to cut it.

[22Ute22]

Yeah, the only blame he should get is when the ball just falls out of his hands. I’m guessing he’s just nervous?

[Ute2]

I’m wondering how Nate will do when/if he has a full week geared around him and not Mon.-Thurs. geared around cam and have it flipped to him on Friday.

I think there is better Nate Johnson we still haven’t seen.

Today wasn’t pretty and I’d hope he could’ve made some better reads.

It’s probably unreasonable but I’m hoping we rule on cam playing like tomorrow and give whoever is qb1 a full week of prep and a full, tailored game plan. If it can’t be cam, I’d really like to see what Nate can do when he’s the focus for a week.

[22Ute22]

It also doesn’t help that UCLA has a damn good front 7. We talked about Moore coming and playing his first good defense, but that was the same with Nate too. This was his first start against a good defense and he looked just as lost as Moore.

[Ute2]

Good point. I hadn’t been up to date on how good UCLA is so that’s encouraging.

[D T]

UCLA is absolutely solid on D & that certainly factored into it.

[2008 National Champ]

wait a minute, I thought you said UCLA was historically soft. Now it’s the quality of UCLA’s historically soft defense that turned the Ludwig Lamborghini into one of the most inept offenses in the country?

[D T]

I never said that, but now that you mention it, they have been soft historically, just not the last two years.

Are you disagreeing with my assessment of their D?

[SaltLakeRyan]

Seems like a great kid, a fighter, elite speed, but I fail to see him as a long term starting QB answer after Rising leaves. I also thought the game plan was flawed with NJ, keeping him in the pocket too many times when they clearly should have had him out on the wing with more RPO opportunities. By the way, is USC serious with this game tonight in Tempe against ASU?

[22Ute22]

Feels a bit harsh to say he can’t be a long term QB after this year. He only has two career starts, one of which was against a damn good front 7. I know it’s a completely different position, but I had no idea who Tanuvasa was until this season, and he looks damn good right now. QB is a reps position, and he needs more of them. I think Nate has the tools to be a good QB. I’m not gonna write him off when he’s barely played. That being said, if he doesn’t work out as a QB, I hope he sticks around. He could be a damn good corner or WR.

[chinngiskhaan]

That is a definite overreaction. Nate made some good throws. How good was Huntley as a RS Freshman?

[Hellhound152]

This good:

2017: Played in and started 10 games, missing three games with injury (Stanford, USC and Colorado) … 6-4 as the starter … 199-of-312 passing for 2,411 yards (15 TD, 10 INT) … second on the team in rushing touchdowns (6), yards (537) and carries (168) … 53.7 rushing yards per game ranked second among Pac-12 quarterbacks … 63.8 completion percentage ranked third in the Pac-12 and 23rd in the nation … led the team and ranked third in the Pac-12 and 19th in the nation in total offense (294.8 ypg) … career highs in both passing (341 yards, 4 TDs) and total offense (394 yards) vs. San Jose State … three 300-yard passing games (300 at BYU, 341 vs. San Jose State, 305 vs. Washington State) … first Utah quarterback to throw for back-to-back 300-yard games since 2008 … career-high 93 rushing yards vs. UCLA… also threw four TD passes against UCLA … two rushing touchdowns (57 yards, 25 carries) and 165 yards passing (12-of-26) against West Virginia in the Heart of Dallas Bowl … honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic.

[Central Coast Ute]

As a freshman, there’s no way he collected those stats. Troy Williams was the starter that year.

[Hellhound152]

Chingis asked about his performance as a RS Freshmen, which Huntley was not because of different rules, they both played 4 games as Freshmen so the comparison is fair. Those were Huntley’s true sophomore numbers.

[2008 National Champ]

And some horrific throws also. I can only imagine the # of posts saying that Barnes should be run out of the state of Utah if he’d gone 9-17 with a lost fumble, 2 yards rushing, and another half dozen turnover worthy plays. But since it’s Johnson he just needs more reps, the receiver turned the wrong way or he just needs plays called that suit his skillset.

At this point, I’ve seen what I need to out of both Barnes and Johnson. They were QB3 and QB4 for a reason. Might as well take a look at Mack Howard if Rose isn’t ready yet.

Between Johnson and Barnes, Utah is tied for 98th with 22.25 ppg and 113th with 322.5 yds/gm. Neither is getting the job done.

[D T]

Nobody, I mean nobody, can break it all down quite like you can…..Brilliant analysis.

[22Ute22]

You do realize that there is a massive difference in how much they’ve played, right? Barnes has a bunch of Utah football high school records. He played a bunch of QB in high school, granted at the 1A level, and passed a TON. He also has way more experience in the system. Nate didn’t play QB until his junior year of HS, and it’s not exactly like he was throwing a lot. He’s a very unpolished product. If Nate can’t be in the legitimate 2-deep next season though, I think at that point a position change might be needed. He could be a great WR, CB, or maybe Nickel.