Shouldn’t our offense be better?

[ProudUte]

I know we are missing Cam Rising and I would expect us to perform at the same level without him. BUT – shouldn’t we do better than we have the last two weeks? We had the entire off-season to plan for this and we have not looked good offensively.

If UW lost Penix for a game or USC lost Williams – would their offenses be so impotent? I don’t think so. I think that the other offensive players would step up. They, of course, would not play at the same level as they would with their star players leading the offense.

Injuries will happen and we have done well on the defensive side of the ball compensating for major losses. I think most of us agree that the two QB experiment has failed terribly and may be a big part of the problem. I just don’t think that it is the only problem.

Go Utes!!!

[chinngiskhaan]

Have you not been paying attention for the last several weeks? It’s not just Rising we are missing. We are missing Kuithe, Rose, and at least one OL. We are missing Bernard, and Jackson has been playing injured.

You are drastically underestimating the level of injury problems we are experiencing. How good would USC be if their best receiver, two best QBs, and most experienced running back were all out along with a starting offensive lineman?

[Utegator]

This, but also the utes had a pretty long history of being VERY conservative with their offense. Took an almost loss for them to go with NJ when Barnes was struggling all game. .

[Central Coast Ute]

Do you think SC would start a walk-on over a highly rated, more talented QB just because he knows the playbook better? Or would they put the best player on the field and and play to his strengths? Of course their offense wouldn’t be as good, but they would play their best players. I’m not trying to dunk on Barnes but come on, the coaches really need to get over this experience over talent, especially at the QB position. You’d think they would have learned after Brewer.

[chinngiskhaan]

You may be correct, but you are arguing something completely different than what OP suggests. They are suggesting that the biggest issue isn’t the QB uncertainty, but something else. My read on OP’s comment was that they felt we didn’t have the level of offensive talent that we should have by now. I could be wrong though.

To address your point though, it’s hard to say how this would have turned out had the coaches just gone with Nate from start of the Florida game. I’m choosing to operate under the assumption that they know things about their team that I do not know. I’ll assume they were right to start Barnes until they admit that they were wrong, or it becomes painfully clear that they were wrong whether they admit it or not.

[2008 National Champ]

Georgia did and won a couple of national championships. Baker Mayfield walked on at two different schools.

Recruiting rankings aren’t always right.

[krindor]

This presumes our offense (with Rising) is on par with USC or Washington… Which almost certainly isn’t the case. USC is an offensive juggernaut hoping for a good enough defense. Utah is the opposite. And whatever explosiveness our offense develops is a bonus

[Tacoma Ute]

Maybe we need Josh Allen. 🤣

[RedUte14]

i really doubt UW would be anywhere near the same without penix.

[UtesRule]

It will be.

[NorthernUte]

I think our offense is fine, if you watched the Baylor game you can see that if Barnes would have got the ball out 1 second earlier on all his throws, we would’ve won by 20+. That’s why that drive with Nate was so successful, we had 50 yards thrown on that slot seam route to Mikey and if Barnes could’ve thrown that quick the whole game, then we wouldn’t have been having this discussion. Crazy something that little has that drastic of an effect on a game.

[Waybackutefan]

If

two QB experiment has failed terribly = 2 P5 wins one on the road.

then

what would two QB experiment has succeeded exceptionally well = ?

[DrahtUte]

Meh, we’re a defense oriented program and always will be with Kyle.

I know other fan bases like trying to complain that it’s boring to watch a team that focuses on defense and a ground-and-pound offense but that’s only because their teams can’t do it. When it’s your team that’s slowly choking away the other team’s will to live through stifling defense and clock-burning run-heavy drives…well, there’s just nothing more satisfying.

We’re not there yet but I’m hoping this year’s team can get to that point.

[22Ute22]

People severely underestimate how important a QB is. It’s only 1/11 players on offense, but it’s like 50-70% of your offensive production, depending on scheme. Not to mention being able to recognize defenses pre-snap, take checkdowns when necessary, and minimize interceptions. I’ve seen USC and Oregon fans say Utah isn’t scary to them because of how we’ve looked. Never mind the fact that USC fans say they would have won if Caleb Williams wasn’t playing hurt in the CCG, and Oregon fans say that Oregon beats UW and OSU if Nix is fully healthy, but they don’t let Utah use the same logic…

[AlohaUte]

I love USC fans. They seem to forget that Caleb Williams doesn’t play defense. It was their defense that lost them that game, not Caleb’s injury.

[Utah]

I cracked up watching the Eagles this Sunday. They jump out to a 16-0 lead against NE and it seemed like Whitt called up BJ and said, “You know what to do now”. It was total bleed the clock, run the same two plays, don’t turn the ball over. It was nuts.

Look, I love Whitt, but he ain’t perfect and his #1 goal is to win the game. For him, a great game is either his defense shutting a team down on the last play of the game or kicking a FG with no time on the clock to win it. I hate it. But it is what it is.

The upside is, very rarely does a team come back from down to beat us because we don’t beat ourselves…at least not on the football field.

[DrahtUte]

I know I’m in the minority on this but I really do find it entertaining as hell when Kyle does that. Listening to the other team’s fans whine and moan about the Utes winning ugly is just music to my ears.

[2008 National Champ]

I can come up with 3 times in the last two years where the other team came from behind. Oregon State and Ohio State in 2021 both came back from being multiple scores down. Florida last year was down 5 entering the 4th quarter.

[thirtyfour-thirtyone]

In his PR thing on Monday, Whit specifically mentioned he would like to see the offense take more shots down the field. I would love to see that happen. Weber State seems like a great opportunity to try to really stress that.

[Utah5410]

I don’t understand this post…. Why is it so hard for fans to understand. It baffles me that people are surprised at how our offense as looked throughout the first few games.

[chinngiskhaan]

In case anyone is wondering, I did not hack ProudUte’s account.