Question: Utah defense scheming v. USC

[MFury]

So – with all the talk about Slovis’ poor handling of the drop 8 zone coverage at TDS, and expecting that we typically like to go man coverage and stuff the run – what defensive scheme adjustments (if any) do you think Utah will or should make?

My guess is we stick with man unless we get scorched – but my recollection is that Solvis did pretty well against Fresno on short passes with few options.  I’d almost expect USC to go back to more of that style of passing (ball out quick, <10 yrd routes, easy QB reads, etc.), which with the talent they have, can be tough to stop even with excellent coverage, especially if Slovis is having an “on” day.

[ironman1315]

With the experience of this D, Utah is going to switch things up and disguise their coverages. Slovis won’t know what’s coming, frequently. Expect a few zone blitzing scheme where a DE drops off and an LBer comes shooting past them.

[Dante Guardi]

man with single high safety and a QB spy to read his eyes and help out with the underneath routes over the middle. preferably Lloyd

[PhiladelphiaUte]

Ordinarily, I’d go with a 3-3-5 stack, but since we don’t have the LBs for that Defensive alignment, the next best coverage scheme would be our base Nickel.  And with a Nickel D, we won’t need to do anything out of the ordinary.

[salty-ute]

I think the main difference being that BYU ran a Cover 3 under zone that allowed them to cover the flats and spy the middle of the field where all 3 picks were… I’m sure Utah will still run a nickel package but coverage/blitz, and zone schemes are a different thing entirely.

I think it would be foolish for Utah to run only their base man coverage defense. That would be an oversight to ignore BYU’s success in running a zone, especially spying the middle of the field.

[Chidojuan]

Yup, we actually run man/zone combinations all the time.  I think Scalley likes man because we have the dudes to run with anyone and it will free up people to make plays, but they change the coverages all the time.

[Charlie]

Doesn’t matter much what the defense is, most important is to keep USC guessing. However, the Y had success simply keeping the secondary crowded. Have to expect USC has considered problems from last week. If they go to quick short passing, utes give a 4 man rush with crowded short zones. But USC is arrogant and will try to go long on the outside.