I'm tired of looking at the same old threads. Time for some new dog food.
OK, with the retirement of Joe Williams and the season-ending injury to Kylie Fitts, some new guys are going to have to "pick up the rifle" and soldier on in their places.
Mikey (in the WTF thread) broke down some candidates to fill in for Fitts. He mentioned sliding Mokofisi out to DE. Chris Hart is an obvious name. Bradlee Anae was mentioned, as was Kendall Huey. Maxs Tupai? Most seem to think he'll redshirt.
What about Williams' replacements? Obviously, most of us are about ready to come public with our Zac Moss Man Crushes. However, let's remember he's a true Frosh and I'm guessing the roster is slightly generous in listing him at 5'10" and 213. There's been smoke about being dinged up and not being conditioned yet to take a true "work horse" role. As for McCormick, I'm guessing ten carries is about right for his build and just being back from a season off.
Here are some thoughts.
Offense:
Utah ran the ball 42 times against BYU, which is two rushes short of their 2015 per-game attempts of 44. Pretty safe bet that we're going to see about 40 rushes per game on average.
The carries in the BYU game were distributed pretty evenly between Joe Williams (10), Troy McCormick (10) and Zac Moss (12). McCormick did the most with his carries, averaging 6.2 ypc to Moss's 5.17. Troy Williams (7) and Kyle Fulks (2) accounted for the other carries. Surprisingly, none of Troy's carries were actual sacks though his 2.43 ypc suggests some of those rushes may have been scrambling out of trouble as opposed to designed runs.
If you were the OC, how would you dole out the carries this week against SJSU? Obviously, game flow and player execution (e.g., the "hot hand") will factor in, but if we assume 40-45 carries, how and to whom do you distribute them? Is it time to see what Manalo or Shyne can do? Do you want to see if Zac can handle a heavier load, or do you pace him for the long conference season ahead?
Defense:
I don't know how many snaps Fitts played. BYU ran 68 plays, which is probably inflated on account of all the Utah turnovers and the successfully executed fake punt (Utah ran 65 plays). I don't expect SUU to see 60 (which is just one more than Utah's opponents are averaging thus far). Again, game flow and opportunity will dictate the ability to give new guys snaps. Assuming Utah gets out to a lead, but does not blow out SJSU, ideally, how and to whom would you dole out reps at DE?
Discuss:
OK, with the retirement of Joe Williams and the season-ending injury to Kylie Fitts, some new guys are going to have to "pick up the rifle" and soldier on in their places.
Mikey (in the WTF thread) broke down some candidates to fill in for Fitts. He mentioned sliding Mokofisi out to DE. Chris Hart is an obvious name. Bradlee Anae was mentioned, as was Kendall Huey. Maxs Tupai? Most seem to think he'll redshirt.
What about Williams' replacements? Obviously, most of us are about ready to come public with our Zac Moss Man Crushes. However, let's remember he's a true Frosh and I'm guessing the roster is slightly generous in listing him at 5'10" and 213. There's been smoke about being dinged up and not being conditioned yet to take a true "work horse" role. As for McCormick, I'm guessing ten carries is about right for his build and just being back from a season off.
Here are some thoughts.
Offense:
Utah ran the ball 42 times against BYU, which is two rushes short of their 2015 per-game attempts of 44. Pretty safe bet that we're going to see about 40 rushes per game on average.
The carries in the BYU game were distributed pretty evenly between Joe Williams (10), Troy McCormick (10) and Zac Moss (12). McCormick did the most with his carries, averaging 6.2 ypc to Moss's 5.17. Troy Williams (7) and Kyle Fulks (2) accounted for the other carries. Surprisingly, none of Troy's carries were actual sacks though his 2.43 ypc suggests some of those rushes may have been scrambling out of trouble as opposed to designed runs.
If you were the OC, how would you dole out the carries this week against SJSU? Obviously, game flow and player execution (e.g., the "hot hand") will factor in, but if we assume 40-45 carries, how and to whom do you distribute them? Is it time to see what Manalo or Shyne can do? Do you want to see if Zac can handle a heavier load, or do you pace him for the long conference season ahead?
Defense:
I don't know how many snaps Fitts played. BYU ran 68 plays, which is probably inflated on account of all the Utah turnovers and the successfully executed fake punt (Utah ran 65 plays). I don't expect SUU to see 60 (which is just one more than Utah's opponents are averaging thus far). Again, game flow and opportunity will dictate the ability to give new guys snaps. Assuming Utah gets out to a lead, but does not blow out SJSU, ideally, how and to whom would you dole out reps at DE?
Discuss:
