2008 National Champ

I’ve never seen the playbook so I’m probably over my skis on this one but: the complication comes from the multiple ways to run a specific play. And that’s especially true for the blocking schemes. Do your guards have different reads when the play is calling for man blocking, than they would in zone or power? Toss in RPO and now you could have…[Read more]

with his shoulder, I think you’re correct. They played Mitchell a lot more in the 4th quarter, even when there was only an outside chance of a comeback.

Bernard is so low because he’s pretty much hit/miss on his carries. That ypc got inflated early in the season when he was breaking off a 50 plus every game. Now that he’s not breaking those, and not getting a ton of carries.,, he’s just not going to grade well when he doesn’t pile up a lot of “winning” runs.

College style offense is easier to learn or just simplified?

I’d say both. Pro passing games are built around having 4 seconds for the QB to read the field. College you get 2. So the decisions have to be built into the play call and be simple enough that if a QB can deliver on time, he will be successful.

There’s a 2nd aspect that I don’t…[Read more]

Yes, other teams have this issue

Not to mention, bringing Bateman back to Utah was completely Whitt. He tried to turn him into a TE. If there is one constant in Utah’s QB recruiting, it’s that they will most likely be better suited for another position or sport.

I’d go with coached all of those and maybe developed Dak Prescott depending on how much credit you want to give Mullen.

I’d go with coached all of those and maybe developed Dak Prescott depending on how much credit you want to give Mullen.

Mike Leach took over a WSU program that had one .500 season the 8 years before he got there. That won 9 games total the previous 4 seasons before 2012 in an era when you could only improve your team through recruiting which typically took 3 seasons before bearing fruit. Mike Leach could have only dreamed of having the recruiting profile of Utah…[Read more]

That’s the thing, I’m not sure that damn near every QB that comes through Utah is as bad as their career stats. Any more than I believe that Utah is completely incapable of recruiting a receiver that can get open and catch the ball when thrown to. You aren’t weak at those positions every year unless your scheme dictates that you will be.

It’s…[Read more]

Ohio State had a 1st round pick at QB, a 1st round pick at receiver (Jaxson Smith-something), a blue chip O Line and a blue chip RB who will be in the league next year if he isn’t already. Let’s not pretend Harrison Jr beat Utah on his own. Or that all that damage through the air wasn’t done against a secondary featuring Micah Bernard.

Having…[Read more]

Bateman was a 4 star out of Cottonwood who went to Alabama. Maybe you are thinking of Cooper Justice who was Ludwig’s first QB recruit in 2019?

Cooper Bateman, class of 2013

I haven’t followed Johnson’s career. Which QB’s has he developed?

The portal opens in less than a month and Utah currently hasn’t named an OC. Who that’s planning on entering the portal right now chooses Utah to come and play offense next year? At least prior to 2024 you could sell receivers on playing with Rising in an offense that had been top 15 in 2021/2022. Now? Every kid in the country can quickly pull…[Read more]

Don’t put your eggs in the Huard basket. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he ended up throwing the same number of passes in his Utah career as Cooper Bateman. Or me. But at least my total fit with my recruiting ranking.,,

I find the recruiting ranking argument as a reason why Utah can’t have a great offense to be silly. Mike Leach had great offenses every year and no one confused WSU’s athletes for blue chippers. He chose one thing, coached his team to do it well, and ran it over and over daring the defense to stop it.

Utah’s current athletes running the…[Read more]

I’m with you on the thinking but Utah doesn’t currently have an Ashton Jeanty on the roster. And I’m not sure next year’s RB’s fit a power run game. I’m not one who believes that you have to have a 230 pound bruiser to run the ball effectively but if you aren’t going to run the defender over, you have to be able to avoid contact and I haven’t…[Read more]

Dirk Koetter? I’d say his current offense is Ashton Jeanty first, but not necessarily run first. From his Wikipedia page: At Arizona State, Koetter compiled a 40–34 (.541) record, and four Bowl appearances in six years. Under Koetter, who was also the offensive play caller, the Sun Devils became known for a vertical passing attack.

2001 ASU – 3…[Read more]

you saw his offense in the 2023 bowl game. If you weren’t impressed by the 14 points Northwestern put up against 1/2 of the Utah starting D, or the 22.1 ppg (106th in country), you aren’t going to be impressed with what he does at Utah.

That 22.1 was the high water mark for him at Northwestern. But it was an improvement from the 13.8 in 2022.