Winning teams make plays

[homer]

Especially in the red zone.

[Tony (admin)]

Hopefully we can!

[admiralute]

Thought of last week when ASU was driving in Utah territory, I believe in the 2nd quarter and Hall dropped an easy interception, which I believe would have shifted the entire game. Those moments are game changers, and seems like Utah blows a lot of those opportunities. They just can’t make game shifting plays, or even plays that at least college players should make.

[2008 National Champ]

The other night I went through College Football Reference to see if a notion that I had was true. I’d mentioned on another thread that the ST had been regressing since Jay Hill stopped being in charge of it. Then I thought to myself, it also seems like turnovers have been more infrequent since around the same time which would also be when Sitake left.

Turnovers per game based on DC since 2000 (no reliable stats for fumble recoveries before then):

Whittingham (2000-2004) – 1.3, 1.6, 2.2, 2.4, 2.4
Andersen (2005-2008) – 1.9, 2.2, 2.5, 2.4
Sitake (2009-2014) – 1.9, 1.9, 2.5, 1.8, 1.3, 1.6
Pease (2015) – 2.6
Scalley (2016-2023) – 2.3, 2.1, 1.5, 1.6, 2.6 (covid), 1.1, 1.7, 1.2 and 1.3 so far in 2024

Turnovers are never going to be consistent from year to year but it’s clear that the last 6 non-covid seasons under Scalley are among the bottom 10 from the last 25 seasons. Taking the ball away one more time a game (on average) could be something that takes the current Utah defense from top 20 to truly elite. RSNB needs to be more than a catchprhase.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Yes Champ since Covey has been gone kickoff and punt returns have been non existent. We haven’t had that ball hawk safety for a few years picking off passes. Lack of Blitzing the QB and getting strip sacks or deflections.

The exact thing BYU is doing to be 6-0. Defense is solid then gives up a big play. Offense has been predictable and conservative with a freshman QB.

[//r00t4Utes]

Yep, I said the same thing about the dropped INT. The more obvious missed big plays were the 2 Barton plays on 3rd and 4th down.

The game before against AZ, I credited Fifita and the AZ offense for making the big plays.

As far as TDS, that really is it. The D is making their big plays, and their offense is capitalizing on those, along with a bit of a “charmed life” for the time being.

[Author]

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