Can somebody who watched the Utah game give me an explanation

[Goatnapper'96]

of what happened to Utah's offense from half 1 to half 2?

I was watching the gametracker, game was blacked out for me on ESPN and I have no locals, and that Utah offense was consistently just moving the ball in the 1st half. Then they just fell apart.

That 1st half Utah team is probably the best team in the MWC right now, IMO.

[YOhio]

Michigan adjusted very well at halftime. Their d-line was getting to Johnson pretty quickly. He had a couple of intentional grounding penalties, was sacked a couple of times and his receivers weren't helping him out much. The running game was pretty much nonexistent so they had to pass. The only time their running game was effective was on a direct snap to Asiata.

They were also having some clock issues. No delay of game penalties, but they were pushing it quite a bit.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by Goatnapper'96

of what happened to Utah's offense from half 1 to half 2?

I was watching the gametracker, game was blacked out for me on ESPN and I have no locals, and that Utah offense was consistently just moving the ball in the 1st half. Then they just fell apart.

That 1st half Utah team is probably the best team in the MWC right now, IMO.

Penalties were a huge part of it. Michigan made some good adjustments. Johnson also got his bell rung and wasn't quite the same after words. We did every thing we could in the second half to totally collapse and give them the game.

I agree, the first half team looked phenomenal. The defense never looked bad, was just put in bad positions a whole bunch. It will be interesting to see which offense shows up next week. I commented to my brother that this team could very well be like come BYU teams of old that mop up on some teams and have other games where they win the stat sheet but not the game. We'll see. Something like 170 plus yards in penalties will cause you to lose most games. So lots of good and bad here.

[Mormon Red Death]

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[Mormon Red Death]

Here's what happened. They played not to lose instead of to win.

[DrumNFeather]

A key moment was when Michigan blocked Louie Sakoda's punt. Michigan Rushed 4 up the middle and Utah only had three blocking. They came close on the previous punt, but Utah didn't adjust and they got it. The next play (I think) was a touchdown pass and it was 25-17.

I give Utah credit for continuing to rush the passer when Michigan was making its comeback...perhaps the "circus" defense is finally dead.

[Solon]

Originally Posted by Goatnapper'96

of what happened to Utah's offense from half 1 to half 2?

The other posts are accurate. I'd add that by the 4th quarter, Michigan's depth had worn down Utah's Offensive line. The Wolverines were constantly rotating their defensive linemen, and by the 4th quarter it showed.

This is, in my opinion, the biggest difference between college football programs. Often, the starters are pretty close in ability. Sure, the elite schools are better, but game-planning and coaching can make up for a lot. The big difference is the drop-off between 1st string and 2nd string.

[ute4ever]

Sakoda nailed a 55 yarder to put Utah up 25-10 in the 3rd. On Utah's very next drive, they had 4th down on what would have been a 53 yarder, but Ludwig called for a punt?!? He didn't want to go up by three scores?!?

[MikeWaters]

Vhit decided that Asiata was a complete stud and needed to have the ball a lot more. Unfortunately, the double rat-tail slowed him down and he looked like a fat guy who ate too much shaved ice between 1997 and 2006.

[SeattleUte]

How about this? Michigan is a solid team coached by a proven excellent coach, was playing in front of its fans in one of the toughest, most storied venues in the country, and adjusted well after a bad start in their first game with a new coach.

I don't get idiot Ute fans who always have to beat up on their coach and team after a win like this one at Michigan for Chrissakes. What do they think Utah football is? A great tradition or something? And they complain about BYU's false pride.

Mark my words. Sometime in the next three years Whit will be a hot commodity nationwide, and if he has the good sense to leave to a bigger program the idiots will scream and cry like abandoned children, calling him a disloyal son of a bitch.