After a tough 42-32 loss to the UCLA Bruins last Saturday, the No. 20 University of Utah will look to regroup in a hurry against No. 7 USC. It’s time to look back at last week’s burning questions and look ahead to important home matchup on October 15th:
How does Utah’s run defense match-up against the Bruins offense?
The Utes’ defensive woes continued Saturday against UCLA. The Bruins had their way with the Utes all game.
They totaled 503 yards against the Utes defense, running back Zach Charbonnet rushed for 198 yards the longest was for 49 yards. For Utah they didn’t have any answers to stop the Bruins offensively and gap containment wasn’t present. On the ground they gashed the run defense and through the air Dorian Thompson-Robinson hammered down the field the entire game. He would throw for 299 yards, the longest was to receiver Logan Loya who had a 70 yard touchdown, 68 of those yards were after the catch.
Unfortunately they struggled to play assignment-sound football and hold their 1/11 and the Bruins capitalized off of it.
How does Utah’s run game become dominant again?
Over the past few weeks there has been a constant shift within the running backs to see what fits, while there have been a lot of questions lingering around the group. After recent disciplinary actions, Tavion Thomas is slowly starting to show his explosiveness again and pushing his way back to lead the running backs.
Thomas finished off a stellar drive against UCLA with a 5 yard rushing touchdown. He would finish the game with 18 carries for 93 yards — not having many second half opportunities, as he’s still out of shape. While he’s still not quite back to averaging 105 yards per game like last season, he’s showing his resiliency through adversity.
Where has Utah’s swagger gone?
As mentioned before they’re in the midst of a rough three-game stretch. Even though it was evident Saturday by the end of the game the wind was knocked out of their sails. Regrouping and learning how to respond to their struggles is a little medicine they might need to power back and gain that swagger they’ve lost.
The Utes look to move on quickly as they face the USC Trojans at Rice Eccles this weekend. Let’s take a look at our burning questions for this game at home:
How does Utah regroup their mental toughness?
Going back to basics seems to be the trend after the loss to UCLA, Whittingham mentioned in his postgame presser they missed a lot of tackles and were exploited when they lost their gaps on defense. Considering it was similar issues they struggled with against Florida, Utah needs to focus on the small details and just make sure everyone is doing their 1/11th. If they can lock in and do that, they stand a better chance of success on Saturday at home.
Freddie Whittingham said it perfectly after practice on Monday that it was important for his guys to remember it’s easy to be hyped up while winning. However, how they endure their trials throughout the season is most important.
“We need to have grit and endure, because this is a marathon not a sprint,” said Whittingham. “They gotta have the mindset that adversity is going to happen and how they respond to that adversity will shape what happens next.”
How does Utah improve their kick-off coverage?
Currently, the Utes kick-off coverage is a major red flag and it’s been a trend this season for the special teams. The kickers are struggling to get the ball deep to the opposing end zone. Kyle Whittingham isn’t shy about his irritations with it, stating on Monday that they’re almost better kicking the ball out of bounds and starting at the 35 yard-line.
It’s likely not an easy or quick fix, as both the kicking aspect and the coverage aspect are issues. However, the kick coverage issues are similar to the defensive struggles with bad gap containment and poor tackling.
Does this game sum up Utah’s defense this season?
Considering the games played so far this season… against struggling teams Utah’s defense is stellar but after Florida, Oregon State and UCLA it’s hard to not consider the run defense is their Achilles’ heel. Even though they’re ranked No. 1 in the Pac-12 for their total defense, that lead spot seems a little skewed. Numbers can be easily viewed as padded against SUU and a struggling SDSU squad.
Currently, USC is averaging 145 yards rushing per game this season, and with Utah’s defense struggling with gap containment, room for error is not much — considering the Trojans are averaging 298 yards passing per game. This leaves the Utes vulnerable for big plays and you add in good field advantage from struggling kickoff coverage, things could get tricky defensively.
