Most frustrating stat IMO from the W on Saturday

[Ghost of the HEB]

Utah’s offense racked up 21 first downs through the first three quarters. In the 4th quarter, we had ZERO.

How does that happen? It’s not like Oregon St got fresh new players or a new defensive strategy. To me, that indicates a complete shift in play calling strategy which backfired entirely. Clearly, this is an execution problem as well — Bentley short armed a third down pass to kuithe that likely would have ended the game. But I think when the foot is taken off the gas in terms of play calling, the sentiment also spreads within the players, causing them to sort of take the foot off the gas.

As coaches, you can’t give your team the idea that it’s time to coast and “grind the clock out”. Once momentum shifts, it’s extremely hard to get back.

[Tony (admin)]

Sooooo what’s the difference in the 4th? Did OSU adjust or did we get uber conservative and predictable?  We ran a dive up the gut SIX times in a row across two series. 

[KiYi-Ute]

I think it’s both, as you alluded to. OSU made adjustments by stacking the box, and we went conservative with the playcalling (and ran right into said stacked box).

I think Jake’s turnovers through the first two games have really impacted playcalling. I’m no football coach, but I’ve watched a lot of football. There are ways to be “conservative” with high percentage plays that aren’t so predictable.

Whitt seemed pretty upset with how Ludwig called the fourth quarter. Hopefully adjustments are made in practice this week.

[Tednab]

Pretty much all you have to do is stack the box .. Bentley sure ain’t gonna beat you

[Stone]

Is there an interview with Whit where he expressed frustration with 4th quarter playcalling? Curious to see what was said.

[Yergensen]

Whit called 4th quarter play calling “vanilla” and “unimaginative”

Whit on playcalling

[Central Coast Ute]

Personally, I dont think Ludwig wanted to take Whitts wrath if they aired it out and turned the ball over so he called vanilla, conservative plays to sit on the lead.

[UteBacker]

I’ve always wondered what level of “input” Whitt actually has over the offense.  I mean, I don’t imagine he’s calling the actual plays, but I wonder if he has the final word on the level of conservatism we run at any given time.  He may not name the play, but I could see him saying “run the ball”.  

[Central Coast Ute]

Agreed. I could also see him not saying anything but if the offense takes risks, turns the ball over and loses the game, I don’t think he’d be too happy with the play caller.

[Tony (admin)]

This conversation comes up every season. From what I’ve heard/read, he will let them know if they should go for it on 4th but has very little input in general.

[Central Coast Ute]

I believe that. But if it goes wrong, I’m sure they hear about it

[leftyjace]

The bottom line is we stopped being aggressive. Whether that was in a desire to be safe, or whether it was because they were playing “not to lose”, the end result is the same.

Sucky football.

Race car drivers don’t slow down at the end of the race when they have a big lead so as to make sure their cars don’t blow. They keep the pedal to the metal all the way to the finish.

We need to adopt a mindset of doing that.

[Mule]

How many games have we lost by being too “aggressive” with a lead heading into the 4th? I know we don’t play aggressive with a lead very often, but I honestly can’t think of one.

Conversely, how many games have we lost by playing too conservative with a lead? Way too many! It seems like it’s 1-2 per season (with last season the exception).

[EagleMountainUte]

I would stack the box against every Utah offensive play. You shut down the run and force Bentley to throw or tuck and run.

It is extremely obvious that the Oline runs out of gas. They haven’t BEEN ABLE TO condition and train properly. 

Bentley is kind of Hays 2.0. Feels like the best available for Utah. He has probably been told explicitly that Lisk will come in if he throws picks and into double coverage again. It worked in its own way but in the fourth it really backfires. 

[Charlie]

I think OSU read our mind about wanting to run the ball in the 4th. They went to an 8 man box, several sets were 4,4 where it looked like a line of 4 LBs right behind the DL. Safeties creeping up. OSU defended for run, we did have a 9 yard run but the rest went nowhere. I think we wanted to assure the clock kept running. The solution would be play action and quick slants or even runs outside but Utah kept running inside. I expect we learned something about our predictability.

[2008 National Champ]

the issue to me wasn’t running the ball every time. it was running the same play, out of the same formation 7 straight times. ludwig is supposed to be a master at keeping the defense off balance through formation and motion. he sure failed that test in the 4th quarter

[Author]

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