i spent the last 7 hours watching film just to circle back to an opinion I had

[rbmw263]

before last season. You can be a good team loaded with talent everywhere, but if you’re OL (or DL) is bad you cant be great. I kept myself from buying in to the hype last summer because I didnt think our OL was good enough. In hindsight its pretty crazy we even got 1 win away from the CFP with an OL of that caliber. I eventually bought in just to be reminded, very painfully, that I was right about the OL, and that you can only be so much better than your OL/DL

What started 7 hours ago as Jaylon Johnson film watching eventually lead to Huntley/moss. What immediately stood out in both early game highlihgts, was how often 1-3 defenders were in the backfield almost immediately. How often Moss had to turn a loss of 3 into a gain of 1 because the OL was obliterated by the time he got the handoff. How often Huntley was pressured before a WR could break on a 10 yard out. And then how bad it looked against the good teams. Basic stunts and minimally disguised blitz angles absolutely demolished the OL over and over. It collapsed what was a loaded offense with the schools GOAT RB and a QB playing at as high of a level as weve seen maybe ever. The impact it had on Huntley and his decision making/processing. 

Timing all the pieces is so impossible to line up and so critical if a team like Utah is to ever have a chance. Its gotta be perfect top to bottom. In a sport with the turnover CFB has and the number of moving parts….its hard. That OL was young and needed experience but timing lead them to be the only young and inexperienced unit on a team loaded with some of the best talent the school has ever had. There are a lot of Utah FB seasons that could have had last years OL and the outcome would be relatively the same. They wouldnt have stood out as the only group needing experience and development. Im sure that caused a lot of anxiety and pressure that lead to some of their performance against the more athletic DL

This has all been said before and wasnt necessary in any way. But I did it anyway. Whatever

[gUrthBrooks]

So the putrid OL led the PAC 12 in rushing?

[UteThunder]

Moss averaged more YAC than any other P5 RB in the country. THAT is why we led the Pac12 in rushing. 

[gUrthBrooks]

Oh, he did that all by himself? Sweet!

[UteThunder]

Sadly, he couldn’t have done it without a porous OL that routinely allowed him to get hit at, or behind, the line of scrimmage. It was a team effort!

[gUrthBrooks]

Happily, there were some pretty big holes for him to run through. See Zack Moss 2019-20 season highlights full season.

[UteThunder]

Those are some great Moss highlights. I counted roughly 20 out of 60 carries in that video where Moss is either having to make a move on a defender in the backfield or a defender is making contact at or behind the line of scrimmage before Moss makes the play. And these are just his highlight runs. If we were to track every single running play on the season, I’ll bet the percentage goes way up. 

[gUrthBrooks]

I counted 19 of those 20 as Kuithe’s blow assignment.

[UteThunder]

Some of those can certainly be attributed to the TEs, hard to know for sure without knowing what each player’s assignment is, but no way is it 19/20. That is, unless our TEs are lining up at C, G, & T.

[gUrthBrooks]

Thanks for helping me understand this.

[Tony (admin)]

Let’s not forget the Pac-12 is a pass drunk league. I also submit that the OL was not the only weak part of the Utes last season.  Speacial teams were very mediocre.  I FEARED a big game which would be won or lost on a 49 yard field goal.

[rbmw263]

man. We were all sure that game was coming after game 1. Luckily we blew everyone out and no crucial FGs were kicked late in games.

i agree special teams were maybe average at best. It helps if they are good, but you can go as far as you want without great special teams. If you are good enough field position hardly matters. 3 points rarely matter

[Dwight89]

OL graded out average against the run. So an incredible running back made them look good. They graded out horrendous agains the pass, though. Like, in the 100’s. OL was the reason Utah couldn’t win against Oregon and Texas. Period. Stop. 

[rbmw263]

we were dynamic because of the pass game against the worse teams. Our pass game collapsed against the better onese because even basic route structures didnt have time to develop

[rbmw263]

fortunately there werent many good DL in the league this year . But yeah, go watch the tape any time we faced a good one. Zack got most of those yards on his own

[Utah]

I think you overthought it a little. Yes, our OL was the weak link and yes, if Penei Sewell was a Ute and not a Duck we are in the playoffs last year. 

BUT, look at who we lost to: USC, Oregon, Texas. We recruit in the 30’s. They recruit in the top 20’s. 

Yes, Utah can develop kids, yes, Utah puts kids in the NFL, yes Utah is awesome. 

BUT, we put NFL backups and role players into the NFL. Texas and USC and Oregon, they put the stars into the NFL. 

When a team full of top 20 kids WANTS to beat a team full of top 40 kids…they are going to beat you. They are just better than you are. 

Utah has been amazing with what they have had. They need to continue building off that success AND THEY HAVE. 

The last two classes have been amazing at certain positions. They need to continue to recruit at the level they have been while getting better players at LB, WR, QB, and even RB. 

THAT is how you beat USC, Oregon and Texas. We have to keep getting better. 

[Utah]

Look at kids on USC, Texas and Oregon drafted in 2020 1-2 rounds and in 2021/2022 mock drafts:

Penei Sewell, Oregon. Samuel Cosmi, Texas. Holland, Oregon. Tufele, USC. Thibodeaux, Oregon. Slovis, USC. Shough, Oregon. Jackson, USC. Taylor-Stuart, USC. Stearns, Texas. Justin Herbert, Oregon. Jackson, USC. Pittman, USC. 

Look at Utah in those three years: Jaylon Johnson. That is is. 

They are just more talented than we are. 

[rbmw263]

i agree with what you are saying as an underlying constant. General athletic depth is huge. In college it can totally overrule any deficit in technical ability on position alone. Its also why we cant afford injuries like those teams. If Julian and one other player go down in the secondary last year it could have been 9-4. You saw that defense against Texas.

I still think that recruiting/athletic deficit manifested almost entirely on the OL v DL this last season. We had enough everywhere else

[Duhwayne]

O block manhandled weaker teams. Earlier in the season I kept thinking the TEs whiffed an awful lot of blocks too. Did we have injuries late? We’ll have more experience and that will be good for more rushing yards even with a drop at RB. Moss was pretty special.

[Author]

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