Utah Snatches Win Over Oregon State
Utah celebrated Homecoming, and avenged their only loss last year to a conference opponent, by snatching 4 interceptions, and as a result snatching the 42-16 Sunny Saturday win over Oregon State.
Clark Phillips III did most of the snatching, picking of Chance Nolan twice, on the 2nd play of the game to set up Utah's first score, and after Oregon State had squared the score at 7-7, for a pick-6, and a lead the Utes would not relinquish by the middle of the first quarter.
Phillips, above, also picked off Ben Gulbranson, who took over for Nolan after a neck sprian, wiping out a 4th quarter scoring chance that might have made the score more competitive-looking.
In a classic example of stats misleading rather than explaining the game, Oregon State actually out-rushed Utah (which early on had Ute fans by their own admission really scared), the Beavers also threw for more yards, had 1 more first down, and won the time of possession battle.
However, Utah made the most of every opportunity that came their way, and Oregon State squandered most of theirs. And, for the second week in a row, and overall defensive performance that earned praise from the ranked opposition, and should have earned more than nn 0-2 start to the Pac-12 Conference race.
Oregon State's offensive game plan played out well on the ground, as Deshaun Fenwick (10 carries), Jam Griffin (8 carries), and Damien Martinez (10 carries) combined for 109 yards, and sweeps (Silas Bolden's 29 yard run produced the Beavers' only touchdown) and twists like Jake Colletto completing a 16 yard pass for a successful fourth down conversion, and Tyjon Lindsey copleting a pass off a sweep reverse to Gulbranson, provided all the supporting aspects to the offense one could hope for.
But modern football is a quarterback driven sport, and the severely substandard play Oregon State is getting from the position since Pac-12 play began isn't good enough to compete, much less against ranked opponents. Oregon State proved at Rice-Eccles today that it wasn't a fluke loss last week to USC; it's now confirmed you can't throw 4 interceptions in a game and beat anyone.
And while the interceptions are the most obvious problem, fundamental problems like telegraphing routes and throws to the defense by staring down receivers, floating often inaccurate passes to receivers whocom didn't run routes with good fundamentals that made it easier for defenders who already know what's coming to jump the routes also are contributing to the issues. So are suspect play calls that invite defensive highlights. But inaccuracy and overthrows are also problems that shouldn't and can't be prevalent. And then there were the throwaways when whichever the quarterback at the moment never got thru their progressions far enough to find the receiver that was open.
Compare with Utah quarterback Cam Rising's 19 of 25 (76%) for 199 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions, and a 95.8 QBR.
It's hard to know if Nolan's confidence or the confidence in him by the coaches, or by the investors who pay the bills, is at the lowest, but none are very high at this point. The lack of a mobile option, or in the case of Gulbranson, one who is comfortable in the shotgun formation that is the core of the Oregon State playbook, limits Coach Jonathan Smith's options.
Even if Nolan had not suffered a neck injury, the calls that are becoming rants for Gulbranson were almost as deafining as the Ute fans' cheering. Of note, Gulbranson played 3 quarters, and managed a QBR of 17.5.
It's a tough problem to solve, but its the one Smith is paid to get fixed, and not just at the expense of Stanford, 3-2.0-2 Oregon State's opponent next week in Palo Alto, or Colorado. It's games like this week and last that Oregon State needs to break through in, instead of looking, despite diligent efforts by a number of their players, like a team that still too often takes the L and heads for the team bus at the end of the day.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com
(AP Photo)