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Tequilla Thoughts: Arizona and Utah
Tequilla
Member Posts: 19,964
Been a little busy so a little late with thoughts from last week ... merging those thoughts together on thoughts about Utah this weekend.
Not much to say about the Arizona game except for it was by far the most complete game this entire team has played all year and provides at least a glimpse of what IS POSSIBLE for this team going forward. Arizona also looked charmin soft as the game went on and if I was an Arizona supporter this would probably be the first game in the Rich Rod era that really gave me strong pause about what I was seeing on a go forward basis. No fight from them. No inner pride. Just bland playing out the string football. Very surprising from a program that went to the Fiesta Bowl last year (and yes, fully realizing that they weren't as good as that).
While I will continue to hold the opinion that Smith and Pease need to be evaluated very hard by Petersen after the season and I personally lean to the side of making changes there, when the execution is there you can generally see that Smith wants to have a balanced offense that will run/throw in any situation. Having a relatively healthy DWash back also shows what we have missed without him the last couple of weeks in his ability to provide some explosive plays to the offense. And in general, the biggest takeaway to me was that it was good to see us be able to get some chunk plays in BOTH the run and pass games. Execution may continue to be a challenge (particularly over the next 2 weeks) in being able to consistently execute 10-12+ play drives ... so it will be important for us to be able to get 20+ yard plays (of which there were at least 7 in the Arizona game).
Defensively, this is what they are capable of doing. Anybody that isn't seeing how good this defense is isn't paying attention. And what's most exciting to me is not only how many of these guys are returning next year, but looking at how well we've been recruiting over the last 2 years there with some of the guys that will come into the program next year that were RS'ing and that we will sign in this class. The identity of this program has always started with physical, punishing defenses. For the first time in probably 20 years, that's back as a focal point. This is great to see.
As it pertains to Utah, I see two teams that are very similar in that they can run the ball, have somewhat inconsistent passing games, strong defenses led by their front 7's, and above average special teams. Physically, I think we have more talented players than Utah. Utah's advantage in the game is that they are the older and more experienced team. I'm not entirely sure that I buy the fact that we're a home favorite in this game as I would probably say that Utah is about a FG or so favorite. But games that are within a FG are games that are really coin flips to me ... and that's what this game is.
The key in slowing down Utah on offense will obviously be containing Booker. He's already carried the ball 200 times on the season and averages 4.8 yards per attempt. An area that we have to make sure that we're paying attention to in the game is limiting Wilson's ability to pull the ball on read options and catch us on the back side as he's averaging 4.1 yards per carry ... which isn't a terrible number for a QB when you consider that he's eating all the sack yardage into the equation. Nobody else for Utah has carried the ball more than 18 times on the season ... so it really is all about Booker and ensuring that Wilson doesn't beat you by over committing to Booker. In the passing game, Wilson's really Jekyll and Hyde. If he's throwing the ball well, he can be efficient enough to give Utah just enough balance to keep teams from completely loading up on Booker. If he's not (see USC), he pretty much can torpedo their chances. Generally speaking, they aren't an explosive offense when it comes to throwing the ball down the field and provided that the secondary doesn't get completely caught ball watching against Booker, I like our chances to really contain their offense by being able to drop 8 in the box, playing Budda in CF, and allowing our CBs to go man up on the outside forcing Wilson to fit in some tight throws. We do need to be aware of Booker as well in the passing game as they love to check it down to him to get him in space.
One myth that I've seen on this board is that the UW defense isn't particularly good against the run. I'm not entirely sure that I'm seeing where that is coming from as not only are the averages against solid, but the number of long runs against are highly limited. Rushing stats on a game by game basis (excluding Sac St) by total carries, yards, yards per carry, longest gain, and leading rusher stats are below:
Boise State: 53 for 185, 3.5 yards per carry; longest gain of 19 yards; leading rusher 24 for 89 for 3.7 yards per carry
Utah State: 30 for 83, 2.8 yards per carry; longest gain of 20 yards; leading rusher 13 for 40, 3.1 yards per carry
California: 51 for 139, 2.7 yards per carry; longest gain 24 yards; leading rusher 23 for 84 for 3.7 yards per carry
USC: 39 for 190, 4.9 yards per carry; longest gain 23 yards; leading rusher 17 for 120 for 7.1 yards per carry
Oregon: 51 for 170, 3.3 yards per carry; longest gain 18 yards; leading rusher 27 for 138 for 5.1 yards per carry
Stanford: 48 for 188, 3.9 yards per carry; longest gain 19 yards; leading rusher 23 for 109 for 4.7 yards per carry
Arizona: 44 for 127, 2.9 yards per carry; longest gain 16 yards; leading rusher 19 for 67 for 3.5 yards per carry
The only game where we've really got skewered on the ground was the USC game and I think that that had as much to do with us knowing that Sark wouldn't allow for the game to go by just handing the ball off and we were sitting on Kessler to fuck up. I think that there were also times in that game where we played some down/distance situations by allowing them to pick up chunks on the ground at the expense of protecting against the big play in the air. But otherwise, Freeman is probably the best back in the conference and we kept him relatively in check and otherwise shut down the rest of the Oregon running game (other 24 carries for 32 yards). At Stanford, while they were able to lean on us with the OL, we were hurt as much by some of the bigger plays in the passing game with McCaffrey than we were hurt by what he did in the ground game. If we're able to hold Booker to something in the neighborhood of 25 carries for 100 yards on Saturday, I like our chances of containing the Utah offense.
For us on offense, this will be the kind of game where we need to be able to run the ball well and stick with it if for no other reason than ensuring that our defense doesn't get exposed by being on the field too much. Need to get a good game from Gaskin and happy to see that we kind of protected him a bit last week as the score got out of reach to give him a chance to refresh and recharge heading into this final stretch. As USC showed against Utah, if you can sustain a bit of a running game you can get some opportunities to get some shots in the passing game. Two big keys for us is staying even (at worst) in the turnover battle and playing even in special teams. In an ideal world, we win both and then I like our chances of winning.
Not much to say about the Arizona game except for it was by far the most complete game this entire team has played all year and provides at least a glimpse of what IS POSSIBLE for this team going forward. Arizona also looked charmin soft as the game went on and if I was an Arizona supporter this would probably be the first game in the Rich Rod era that really gave me strong pause about what I was seeing on a go forward basis. No fight from them. No inner pride. Just bland playing out the string football. Very surprising from a program that went to the Fiesta Bowl last year (and yes, fully realizing that they weren't as good as that).
While I will continue to hold the opinion that Smith and Pease need to be evaluated very hard by Petersen after the season and I personally lean to the side of making changes there, when the execution is there you can generally see that Smith wants to have a balanced offense that will run/throw in any situation. Having a relatively healthy DWash back also shows what we have missed without him the last couple of weeks in his ability to provide some explosive plays to the offense. And in general, the biggest takeaway to me was that it was good to see us be able to get some chunk plays in BOTH the run and pass games. Execution may continue to be a challenge (particularly over the next 2 weeks) in being able to consistently execute 10-12+ play drives ... so it will be important for us to be able to get 20+ yard plays (of which there were at least 7 in the Arizona game).
Defensively, this is what they are capable of doing. Anybody that isn't seeing how good this defense is isn't paying attention. And what's most exciting to me is not only how many of these guys are returning next year, but looking at how well we've been recruiting over the last 2 years there with some of the guys that will come into the program next year that were RS'ing and that we will sign in this class. The identity of this program has always started with physical, punishing defenses. For the first time in probably 20 years, that's back as a focal point. This is great to see.
As it pertains to Utah, I see two teams that are very similar in that they can run the ball, have somewhat inconsistent passing games, strong defenses led by their front 7's, and above average special teams. Physically, I think we have more talented players than Utah. Utah's advantage in the game is that they are the older and more experienced team. I'm not entirely sure that I buy the fact that we're a home favorite in this game as I would probably say that Utah is about a FG or so favorite. But games that are within a FG are games that are really coin flips to me ... and that's what this game is.
The key in slowing down Utah on offense will obviously be containing Booker. He's already carried the ball 200 times on the season and averages 4.8 yards per attempt. An area that we have to make sure that we're paying attention to in the game is limiting Wilson's ability to pull the ball on read options and catch us on the back side as he's averaging 4.1 yards per carry ... which isn't a terrible number for a QB when you consider that he's eating all the sack yardage into the equation. Nobody else for Utah has carried the ball more than 18 times on the season ... so it really is all about Booker and ensuring that Wilson doesn't beat you by over committing to Booker. In the passing game, Wilson's really Jekyll and Hyde. If he's throwing the ball well, he can be efficient enough to give Utah just enough balance to keep teams from completely loading up on Booker. If he's not (see USC), he pretty much can torpedo their chances. Generally speaking, they aren't an explosive offense when it comes to throwing the ball down the field and provided that the secondary doesn't get completely caught ball watching against Booker, I like our chances to really contain their offense by being able to drop 8 in the box, playing Budda in CF, and allowing our CBs to go man up on the outside forcing Wilson to fit in some tight throws. We do need to be aware of Booker as well in the passing game as they love to check it down to him to get him in space.
One myth that I've seen on this board is that the UW defense isn't particularly good against the run. I'm not entirely sure that I'm seeing where that is coming from as not only are the averages against solid, but the number of long runs against are highly limited. Rushing stats on a game by game basis (excluding Sac St) by total carries, yards, yards per carry, longest gain, and leading rusher stats are below:
Boise State: 53 for 185, 3.5 yards per carry; longest gain of 19 yards; leading rusher 24 for 89 for 3.7 yards per carry
Utah State: 30 for 83, 2.8 yards per carry; longest gain of 20 yards; leading rusher 13 for 40, 3.1 yards per carry
California: 51 for 139, 2.7 yards per carry; longest gain 24 yards; leading rusher 23 for 84 for 3.7 yards per carry
USC: 39 for 190, 4.9 yards per carry; longest gain 23 yards; leading rusher 17 for 120 for 7.1 yards per carry
Oregon: 51 for 170, 3.3 yards per carry; longest gain 18 yards; leading rusher 27 for 138 for 5.1 yards per carry
Stanford: 48 for 188, 3.9 yards per carry; longest gain 19 yards; leading rusher 23 for 109 for 4.7 yards per carry
Arizona: 44 for 127, 2.9 yards per carry; longest gain 16 yards; leading rusher 19 for 67 for 3.5 yards per carry
The only game where we've really got skewered on the ground was the USC game and I think that that had as much to do with us knowing that Sark wouldn't allow for the game to go by just handing the ball off and we were sitting on Kessler to fuck up. I think that there were also times in that game where we played some down/distance situations by allowing them to pick up chunks on the ground at the expense of protecting against the big play in the air. But otherwise, Freeman is probably the best back in the conference and we kept him relatively in check and otherwise shut down the rest of the Oregon running game (other 24 carries for 32 yards). At Stanford, while they were able to lean on us with the OL, we were hurt as much by some of the bigger plays in the passing game with McCaffrey than we were hurt by what he did in the ground game. If we're able to hold Booker to something in the neighborhood of 25 carries for 100 yards on Saturday, I like our chances of containing the Utah offense.
For us on offense, this will be the kind of game where we need to be able to run the ball well and stick with it if for no other reason than ensuring that our defense doesn't get exposed by being on the field too much. Need to get a good game from Gaskin and happy to see that we kind of protected him a bit last week as the score got out of reach to give him a chance to refresh and recharge heading into this final stretch. As USC showed against Utah, if you can sustain a bit of a running game you can get some opportunities to get some shots in the passing game. Two big keys for us is staying even (at worst) in the turnover battle and playing even in special teams. In an ideal world, we win both and then I like our chances of winning.
Comments
Disagree
Been a little busy so a little late with thoughts from last week ... merging those thoughts together on thoughts about Utah this weekend.
Not much to say about the Arizona game except for it was by far the most complete game this entire team has played all year and provides at least a glimpse of what IS POSSIBLE for this team going forward. Arizona also looked charmin soft as the game went on and if I was an Arizona supporter this would probably be the first game in the Rich Rod era that really gave me strong pause about what I was seeing on a go forward basis. No fight from them. No inner pride. Just bland playing out the string football. Very surprising from a program that went to the Fiesta Bowl last year (and yes, fully realizing that they weren't as good as that).
While I will continue to hold the opinion that Smith and Pease need to be evaluated very hard by Petersen after the season and I personally lean to the side of making changes there, when the execution is there you can generally see that Smith wants to have a balanced offense that will run/throw in any situation. Having a relatively healthy DWash back also shows what we have missed without him the last couple of weeks in his ability to provide some explosive plays to the offense. And in general, the biggest takeaway to me was that it was good to see us be able to get some chunk plays in BOTH the run and pass games. Execution may continue to be a challenge (particularly over the next 2 weeks) in being able to consistently execute 10-12+ play drives ... so it will be important for us to be able to get 20+ yard plays (of which there were at least 7 in the Arizona game).
Defensively, this is what they are capable of doing. Anybody that isn't seeing how good this defense is isn't paying attention. And what's most exciting to me is not only how many of these guys are returning next year, but looking at how well we've been recruiting over the last 2 years there with some of the guys that will come into the program next year that were RS'ing and that we will sign in this class. The identity of this program has always started with physical, punishing defenses. For the first time in probably 20 years, that's back as a focal point. This is great to see.
As it pertains to Utah, I see two teams that are very similar in that they can run the ball, have somewhat inconsistent passing games, strong defenses led by their front 7's, and above average special teams. Physically, I think we have more talented players than Utah. Utah's advantage in the game is that they are the older and more experienced team. I'm not entirely sure that I buy the fact that we're a home favorite in this game as I would probably say that Utah is about a FG or so favorite. But games that are within a FG are games that are really coin flips to me ... and that's what this game is.
The key in slowing down Utah on offense will obviously be containing Booker. He's already carried the ball 200 times on the season and averages 4.8 yards per attempt. An area that we have to make sure that we're paying attention to in the game is limiting Wilson's ability to pull the ball on read options and catch us on the back side as he's averaging 4.1 yards per carry ... which isn't a terrible number for a QB when you consider that he's eating all the sack yardage into the equation. Nobody else for Utah has carried the ball more than 18 times on the season ... so it really is all about Booker and ensuring that Wilson doesn't beat you by over committing to Booker. In the passing game, Wilson's really Jekyll and Hyde. If he's throwing the ball well, he can be efficient enough to give Utah just enough balance to keep teams from completely loading up on Booker. If he's not (see USC), he pretty much can torpedo their chances. Generally speaking, they aren't an explosive offense when it comes to throwing the ball down the field and provided that the secondary doesn't get completely caught ball watching against Booker, I like our chances to really contain their offense by being able to drop 8 in the box, playing Budda in CF, and allowing our CBs to go man up on the outside forcing Wilson to fit in some tight throws. We do need to be aware of Booker as well in the passing game as they love to check it down to him to get him in space.
One myth that I've seen on this board is that the UW defense isn't particularly good against the run. I'm not entirely sure that I'm seeing where that is coming from as not only are the averages against solid, but the number of long runs against are highly limited. Rushing stats on a game by game basis (excluding Sac St) by total carries, yards, yards per carry, longest gain, and leading rusher stats are below:
Boise State: 53 for 185, 3.5 yards per carry; longest gain of 19 yards; leading rusher 24 for 89 for 3.7 yards per carry
Utah State: 30 for 83, 2.8 yards per carry; longest gain of 20 yards; leading rusher 13 for 40, 3.1 yards per carry
California: 51 for 139, 2.7 yards per carry; longest gain 24 yards; leading rusher 23 for 84 for 3.7 yards per carry
USC: 39 for 190, 4.9 yards per carry; longest gain 23 yards; leading rusher 17 for 120 for 7.1 yards per carry
Oregon: 51 for 170, 3.3 yards per carry; longest gain 18 yards; leading rusher 27 for 138 for 5.1 yards per carry
Stanford: 48 for 188, 3.9 yards per carry; longest gain 19 yards; leading rusher 23 for 109 for 4.7 yards per carry
Arizona: 44 for 127, 2.9 yards per carry; longest gain 16 yards; leading rusher 19 for 67 for 3.5 yards per carry
The only game where we've really got skewered on the ground was the USC game and I think that that had as much to do with us knowing that Sark wouldn't allow for the game to go by just handing the ball off and we were sitting on Kessler to fuck up. I think that there were also times in that game where we played some down/distance situations by allowing them to pick up chunks on the ground at the expense of protecting against the big play in the air. But otherwise, Freeman is probably the best back in the conference and we kept him relatively in check and otherwise shut down the rest of the Oregon running game (other 24 carries for 32 yards). At Stanford, while they were able to lean on us with the OL, we were hurt as much by some of the bigger plays in the passing game with McCaffrey than we were hurt by what he did in the ground game. If we're able to hold Booker to something in the neighborhood of 25 carries for 100 yards on Saturday, I like our chances of containing the Utah offense.
For us on offense, this will be the kind of game where we need to be able to run the ball well and stick with it if for no other reason than ensuring that our defense doesn't get exposed by being on the field too much. Need to get a good game from Gaskin and happy to see that we kind of protected him a bit last week as the score got out of reach to give him a chance to refresh and recharge heading into this final stretch. As USC showed against Utah, if you can sustain a bit of a running game you can get some opportunities to get some shots in the passing game. Two big keys for us is staying even (at worst) in the turnover battle and playing even in special teams. In an ideal world, we win both and then I like our chances of winning.
NTD, BB
Arizona Game: Most complete game of season. Good to see explosive plays on offense. Defense is playing great. Arizona looked charmin soft. Concern for Rich Rod's direction of program.
Utah Game: Key to shut down Booker in the run game. Don't let Wilson loose on read option. Force Wilson to make great throws against our strong secondary as they lack play makers there. Need to stay balanced on offense and ensure that we don't leave the defense out to dry. Turnovers and kicking game will be key. Those that think UW can't stop the run aren't paying attention.
And, fuck off.
Agree
What UW also has to avoid is a bunch of 3 and outs. They need to have some sustained drives, even if they don't end in points, to at least flip field position.
Also, us?
Thank you. I think PGOS was just trying to be funny
Plus it takes forever to scroll past your post and all the quote replies. i agree with a lot you said, but fuck dude, I have work to do today