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So…I’m intrigued by Coach Taylor and the offense he plans to install. On the one hand, we’ve got a guy who appears to have a clear idea of what his offense is all about–a clear offensive identity. He also seems to be a “quarterback whisperer,” someone many, including myself, have said this staff has been missing. I think there is room for optimism that Coach Taylor will be the missing link to take us over the top.
On the other hand, when I read quotes like the one above in the topic title, I can’t help but wonder if this isn’t this just another way to say ‘go fast go hard’. Up-tempo offenses were kind of the rage around here a few years ago. We even went up-tempo with Travis Wilson during his sophomore year, IIRC. We rejected that offense because the talent we could recruit–including road graders at O-line, were better suited to slow things down and then pound people. Will we have to recruit new talent (different types of players) for Coach Taylor’s offense?
Anyway, looking foward to spring ball to see how the implementation of the offense is coming along.
Taylor has said numerous times he tailors the offense to fit the personnel. This won’t be what was run in Provo He doesnt strike me as someone whom has to reinvent the wheel. He strikes me as someone whom will adjust his scheme to fit the personnel he has available to him
To me that is good coaching. Maximize your player’s strengths, minimize their weaknesses. I know the Patriots get a lot of flak on here, but Bellichek is great at fitting his scheme to his players, if Taylor can do that we will have a lot of success.
This is what makes Belichick so smart. Take Eric Rowe and Kyle Van Noy for example. Philadelphia looks at Rowe and says, “we will turn him into a slot CB” and the Lions say “we will turn Van Noy into a 4-3 LB”. They both failed at that.
Belichick looks at Rowe and says, “The guy was very successful at safety and outside CB. I’ll just have him do that, and give him some tips to be better.” He looks at Van Noy and says, “The dude weighs the same as he did as a freshman. He is a fast kid, good in coverage and blitzing the QB. I’ll take him out on run downs and have him cover TE’s and blitz the QB.”
And guess, what? By having Rowe and Van Noy do what they do well, and making them better at that, he gets a ton of production out of them in the postseason.
What a concept, right?
He has also said time and time again that the run techiniques and plays that he runs are the same as what we did last year.
Basically our run game won’t change, there will just be less running plays called.
John Wooden adjusted his schemes every year to his players strengths, some years wildly different.
I don’t think the offense will be run at a break neck pace like some people fear. If you watch EWU games from last season they normally get up to the line quick but they spend 20+ seconds getting set up and calling the play in from the sideline. A lot of times the playclock is somewhere between 10-15 seconds before they snap the ball. We actually ran this kind of tempo when Dave Christensen was here but we eventually slowed it down in conference play.
I read somewhere that we averaged like 70 plays a game last year and EWU averaged like 73. So, we will be faster, but not ridiculously faster.
The key is tempo. Tempo can be fast or slow. You use tempo to your advantage. If it is the first quarter, and you are down 10, you slow things down. You regroup. You get first downs. You let your defense rest.
If you are up 7, your defense just created a turnover, get out there and attack.
If you are tied, you score a TD, your defense gets a quick three and out, then freaking attack.
If you are up 14 in the fourth, get to the line quick, then make a decision to attack or slow it down.
FBYU-P was no execution, no variety to plays…it was just “go fast” and hope that you eventually get tired or out of position and then they take advantage of that. It was a GREAT strategy for the MWC, because FBYU-P was just better than most teams, but they always lost to more talented teams because of it.
This will be different. They will get to the line fast, and then sometimes they will go fast. Other times, they will audible plays, make adjustments, then run the play.
The key is getting to the line fast. If you get set with 20 secs on the clock, you now have time to change plays, move players, etc.
If you get to the line with sub 10 secs (like ARod did), then you have no options but to run the play called.
That and the limited number of plays they ran from each set made it fairly easy to predict what play was being ran by end of season.
A Lacrosse team. Props to them
Great night to be a Ute!!!
Every night is a great night to be a Ute!
Nice, now if we can win out 4th place is most likely ours. This Stanford victory was key to our plans.
Our boys seem to need something to play for and this might be it.
Not necessarily. Even if Utah wins out (including a victory over California), the Utes could still finished tied with the Bears (@ 12-6). However, if that were the case (Cal is currenlty 9-5 in conference while Utah is 8-6), that would mean that Cal would have defeated Oregon. Utah CANNOT have that happen because if Cal does beat Oregon in Berkeley, Utah would lose the tie-breaker to the Bears via Cal splitting against Oregon and Utah getting swept by them (assuming Oregon finishes ahead of both Utah and Cal). It is mathematically impossible now for Utah to finish ahead of Oregon because the Ducks already have 12 conference wins and Utah already has 6 conference losses because Utah lost the tie-breaker to Oregon 2-0. Both Cal and Utah were swept by Arizona and UCLA, so, the likely tie-breaker would be their records against Oregon.
If Cal beats Oregon then they fully deserve that #4 spot. Cal’s not beating Oregon.
Only helps the Utes if they take care of their own business.
Texas Triple Shot
Trower obviously ain’t Texas but the other two are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv02JgGBfh8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHjYBiRZKi0
So the season was supposed to start today, but the game got rained out in Bakersfield. I don’t think it is a huge stretch to say that this team surprise EVERYONE last year in Pac-12 play. The question is how will this team perform this year when there are expectations? The Pac-12 wont have another down year and OSU, AZ, and Washington are pretty loaded.
I’m a pretty avid baseball fan and I’ve seen my fair share of games, so here is my somewhat trained eye on what I see and what I think of this years team. The thing that stands out right way is the starting pitching. The Fri-Sun starters on this team are loaded and going to put the team in great position to win every series. Jayson Rose is a future MLBer and will likely been somewhere in the Top 5-10 rounds of the MLB draft this year. His change up is excellent and I’d really compare it to Trevor Hoffmans change up. Like Hoffman, this is his go to strikeout pitch and it shows because he finished 2nd in the conference last year. Lapiana is a crafty lefty that is a real competitor. His stuff isn’t going to blow you away, he keep the Utes in games. Finally Otteson brings the heat on Sunday with a mid to high 90’s fastball and will mix in the cutter.
The bullpen is the main area for concern. Drachler is solid at the back end, but other than that it is a real question mark. Keirsey can throw hard, but he will spend most of his time in the outfield. Someone is going to need to step up and cover that setup role. My prime candidates would be one of JC kids and Stoltz, but we will see.
On defense we have both conner infields back and most of the outfield. This group took huge strides defensively last year. Infact this was one of the top 2 reasons this team took so many steps forward, imo. The concerns are we lost the middle infields and our catcher, so those positions are unknowns at this point. The fact is that Smiths Field is a huge pitchers park. The outfield needs to play great defense. 420 to dead center leaves a lot of ground to cover, even including the elevation. Thankfully the Utes have lots of returning talent.
Offensively, this team mostly remains the same. The Scagari and Davis graduating will hurt for a bit, but i think maybe Keirsey and someone else will step into this spot. The good news is that Carroll is back to hold down that number 3 spot in the lineup. I honestly don’t expect much of a slump on the offense. They are replacing only 3 weekend starters; RF, 2B, and SS. and Hoffman started a bunch of games at SS.
Overall, I fully expect this team to make the NCAA’s again. For the most part, they have a pretty cake non conference. The Pac-12 will be improved, but the starting pitching on this team is going to be tough for any opponent. Realistically they probably wont win the conference, but I really believe that they can, especially if some relievers step up. They were picked to finish 6th in the conference by the coaches, but i feel that are better than that. Another real quick thing of importantance. They will beat the zoobies in the series this year. TDS lost a lot of talent last year to the MLB. They will take a step back. It’s been 20+ years. It’s time.
Go Utes.
Moar Ute baseball talk please. I don’t know that much about the team and posts like this help fix that.
We went to a bunch of games including the PAC-12 champ games last year. They were a blast.
Our pitchers are great and I’m so excited for this season.
Its crazy how good all of Utah’s sports are becoming. So much fun.
Love this post! I have never really been much of a baseball fan, but when I saw Utah was in contention for their first men’s PAC-12 title last year I was intrigued. I watched all that I could of the PAC-12 Championship series with Washington, and the tournament game against Ole Miss. That was a ton of fun! If the team starts out well this year I think I will tune in for a lot more games.
Thank you for the analysis of the team! It definitely helps to get more into it when you know about the team and its strengths and weaknesses.
Thanks for the awesome post @blockuatmos
Hoping to see Utah softball take out Long Beach State tomorrow, but it poured all day out here (in Long Beach) and it’s supposed to rain tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Utah is ranked 16th in the nation by the way.
Solid post!
Keep them coming.
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