Utah Offense, this year vs last year:

[Utah]

I was wondering how our offense was progressing from last year. Some important things to remember:

Last year, we had 4 OL and an NFL RB. Also, while Troy was hurt last year, it wasn’t his shoulders, whereas Huntley’s injury affected his throwing more.

So, here goes (last year’s numbers first):

Scoring Offense: 29 pts vs 29 pts.

A complete wash. In conference (and this is the only conference only stat I’ll use because I don’t want to average out all of Utah’s games from this year), Utah scored 31 pts last year vs 26 pts this year. My only thing to add was that Joe Williams was really exploding whereas this year, Carrington and Huntley have been hurt.

Total Offense: 430 yds/gm vs 411 yds/gm
Rush Offense: 214 yds/gm vs 150 yds/gm
Pass Offense: 216 yds/gm vs 260 yds/gm
Pass Efficiency: 120 vs 131
FG %: 84% vs 82%
3rd down %: 38% vs 35%
Fumbles lost/gm: 1.3 vs 1
INT’s thrown: 0.6/gm vs 1.3/gm
Red Zone: 77.8% vs 85% scoring
Red Zone TD’s: 50% vs 52%
Red Zone Total TD’s: 27 in 2016, we have 25 this year with two more games to go.

What I clean from this is that our rushing is down and our passing is up (duh).

We are more efficient in the passing game. We are better in the red zone, but only slightly. First downs per game is the same, 3rd down conversion is the same.

Last year, we were great at running the ball and terrible throwing the ball. This year? We are incredibly average. Look at this:

Pass Yards/game:
300-375: WSU, USC, UCLA
260-270: Utah, Cal, Colorado, ASU
200-220: Washington, Oregon State
170-180: Stanford, Oregon, Arizona

Right smack in the middle. Not great, not terrible.

Rush Yards/Game:
Arizona: 350 yds/game
Oregon: 250
Stanford/USC: 200-220
Washington: 180
Oregon State, Utah, Cal, ASU: 140-160
UCLA, WSU, Colorado: 80-120

Again, we are very average.

I take that as a good thing. We’ve got to get better, but in a year when our QB, RB, WR’s are all predominantly Freshmen and Sophomores, and our OL is not good, we are average. Like a 6-6 team.

We are where we should be when you look at talent and experience and there isn’t any reason that we shouldn’t continue to improve.

Defensively, TO wise, we are basically the same. We averaged 1 Fumble/game last year and are averaging 1/game this year. We averaged 1.4 INT/game last year vs 1.2 this year.

The only real difference between this year and last is we are throwing more INT’s this year.

[shakeitsugaree]

Great info, Utah!

Question: in one place you say the INT/game 2016 = 0.6, and then at the bottom of your post you say INT/game 2016 = 1.4; can you clarify?

[shakeitsugaree]

Ah, I mixed up INT/game offensively with INT/game defensively – reading comprehension is important.

NM

[EagleMountainUte]

I didnt have expectations of things getting loads better. But I am still disappointed, injuries this year have really sucked. I wonder what would be the difference with a healthy Carrington and more balanced playcalling. Obviously I have not liked how Taylor has used Moss. Shyne being out makes you wonder. Too many what ifs this season. 

[ladyinred]

More interceptions because Huntley is a sophomore, but also because the O line is not giving him enough time.

There is something terribly broken about the O line in the RPO plays. I can’t tell if it’s just the personnel – recruited for more of a power run style, or if it’s something about the way Harding is coaching them that doesn’t mesh in Taylor’s offense. Either way, this is the position group that needs the most attention in the offseason. Maybe that will be helped with Taylor’s input in recruiting.

If Huntley has just a tiny bit more time, and we didn’t get an ineligible receiver downfield penalty on every 3rd play, I’ve no doubt this offense is more prolific. 

[Utah]

Also, Huntley missed three WR’s wide open for TD’s last game. We are so close to a breakout game. 

[shakeitsugaree]

Takeaways:

We are scoring the same number of points in the first year of a new system, with a new QB, OL and RB rotation, as we scored with a veteran OL, JC transfer QB and record setting RB in our old system.

We have improved moderately in RedZone scoring % and passing efficiency, but have thrown more INTs – although, I would bet that when normalized to pass attempts, the INT numbers would look similar/better than last year.

Seems like an overall positive trend to me!

[Anonymous]

You make some really excellent points. Imagine this Offense with another year of experience. They have a good chance to be prolific.