Grading out the Stanford loss

Ugh, I don’t really want to get into it, but let’s do this and move on...

Offense: D

This is so strange to me, because early on in the game, the Utes really had no issue moving the ball. Frankly, for the most part, they didn’t have hard time moving the ball most of the game. With that said, it was all the mistakes that really hurt. Namely poor decisions in the pass game. Utah had open receivers throughout the game, especially Darren Carrington, but Troy Williams couldn’t hit them on a consistent basis. The run game looked better, especially with Moss and DHC running strong, and it was probably not utilized enough in the second half. Also, one of the most glaring things in this game, and played a major roll, is the inability to punch it in from the 2 yard line. The Utes turn that 3 points into 7 and that’s really the difference in the game. Also, the o-line needs to do better with pass protection still. While Troy did struggle, he could have used a little more help up front.

Defense: C-

The defense was good, but the lack of havoc plays really is glaring. No sacks and turnovers is a problem. This defense is built around that, and being -2 in the turnover margin hurts. There were some drives where Utah couldn’t get off the field, because they were so focused on the running of Bryce Love. Stanford’s QBs, while they didn’t have monster nights, they had too much an impact on the game in both the QB keeper game, and some passes to move the sticks.

Special Teams: C

Bad snaps remains a problem on special teams. Matt Gay, even with a missed field goal, continues to play well, and Mitch Wishnowsky makes lemonade out of lemons with some of the snaps. That needs fixed yesterday.

That’s what I have. How do you grade ‘em out?