O and D Lines

[markleone]

Seems to me the biggest problem on both sides of the ball is the line play.

D Line can’t get pressure without blitzing and gives up huge running plays. Two sacks in five conference games.

O Line is flat out terrible. Opposing teams blitz constantly and they can’t stop it. Doesn’t matter who plays QB if you’re running for your life and don’t have time to throw. Bernard is swallowed up by three defenders half his carries. Credit to him he still break off some big runs.
3rd and 4th and 1 success rate is about 50% it’s a complete mess.

I’ve never played a down of football in my life so this take may be completely wrong but it seems to me the greatest Ute teams were built off great line play.

[utefansince79]

Definitely losing the battle in the trenches which is as much as anything why we’ve lost 4 straight.

[Yergensen]

2024 Utah defense key stats:

Opponent avg yds/carry: 4.2 (ranked #57)
Opponent pass completion rate: 51.2% (#4)
Opponent passing yds/game: 183.6 (#23)
Sack rate: 3.3% (#127)

Our Dline/front 7 is quite mediocre against the run and one of the worst teams in FBS in sacks. I didn’t find a QB pressure stat and while it’s possible that the Dline is pressuring opposing QBs into low accuracy and production, sack rate typically correlates strongly with pressures.

Assuming we are still committed first to stopping the run and aren’t dropping extra guys into coverage, it looks like secondary is good and Dline isn’t. Our Dline looks to be part of our problems.

[stbone]

I don’t think Logan is all the way back from the knee. Villinger is playing better than I expected, by COT just never seems to stay healthy long enough to get into rhythm. I think we are also really missing Coke Bishop coming off the edge on blitzes. We don’t have anybody with that level of speed and violence, and we frequently end up a half-beat short of the QB.

[2008 National Champ]

Bishop is a huge loss which is why I’m so surprised Ritchie hasn’t been able to fill that role. He looked good doing just that in 2020 but has been a complete afterthought since. Hansen, Blair, Bishop.,, that’s close to a decade of SS’s that were great in run support and allowed Scalley to run nickel as his base since he didn’t need a third LB. Now he’s having to try to match personnel which any OC worth his salt can manipulate.

[Ute Dub]

I don’t disagree but also we had a 2nd string and 3rd string at DT, right? Tanuvasa hurt, Tafuna hurt, Vimahi hurt, and I think one more got hurt.

[RustyShackleford]

Our OTs are pretty dang good, the interior oline is getting abused

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