Five Numbers Tell The Story Of Utah’s 38-21 Win Over Utah State

Sep 15, 2024, 1:39 PM | Updated: Sep 16, 2024, 2:15 pm

KSL Sports

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Football got the 38-21 win over Utah State, in a contest that provided some pretty interesting numbers. This was a pretty competitive game for a chunk of it, however, Utah took control after the first quarter.

True freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson did a pretty solid job filling in for Cam Rising. He finished the game 20-of-33 for 239 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception.

The Utes stay locked in at No. 12 this week after true freshman @Isaac_kawika led them to a 38-21 win over Utah State.

Big weekend ahead with No. 12 Utah vs No. 14 Oklahoma State. #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/cHM5y5egqW

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 15, 2024

Five numbers that tell the story of the Utes 38-21 win over the Aggies

45.7% Pressure Rate

This was a dynamic of the game that I was particularly interested in. Coming into the contest, Utah State had only allowed 20 pressures on 71 total dropbacks. In his week two matchups against the USC Trojans, Bryson Barnes was pressured 11 times on 31 dropbacks.

Utah owned a 30.7% pressure rate, which was solid, but it seemed this was a matchup the Utes defense could capitalize on in this regard. And they did exactly that.

Against the Aggies, the Utes finished with pressure on 16 of 35 dropbacks, which equates to a 45.7% pressure rate.

More specifically, they finished with 22 individual pressures, 6 QB hits, and 2 sacks. Keanu Tanuvasa led the way with 1 sack and 4 pressures, while Van Fillinger and Logan Fano combined for .5 a sack and 9 pressures between them.

Perhaps the most maddening aspect of the game was Bryson Barnes’ performance under pressure vs kept clean.

With Utes bearing down on him, Barnes finished 9-of-13 for 160 yards and 1 touchdown. However, Barnes completed only 7-of-19 throws for 63 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions when kept clean in the pocket.

21 Targets

That’s the total number of targets for the top three pass catchers yesterday- Dorian Singer, Money Parks, and Brant Kuithe. That accounted for 63.6% of Wilson’s 33 attempts, which is a good number.

Tight end Brant Kuithe finished 3-of-6 on his targets for 68 yards, which included a 2-point conversion, 45 yards after catch, and two 1st downs.

Receiver Money Parks hauled in 4-of-7 targets for 49 yards, 1 touchdown, 9 YAC, and three 1st downs.

Lastly, receiver Dorian Singer was the top target for Wilson. He finished 5-of-8 on his opportunities, which generated 66 yards, 18 YAC, and three 1st downs.

That’s eight first downs, a touchdown, and a 2-point conversion, as well as 72 yards after the catch on 12 receptions. Utah needs to maintain that sort of distribution for their top playmakers.

The offense opened up as the passing game got these three involved. Utah identified how to get their pass catchers more involved with how Utah State elected to defend the run. That led to opportunities for Wilson to make throws short, intermediate, deep, quick, and prolonged.

Are Cam Rising and Isaac Wilson forming a potent duo for @Utah_Football after the freshman plays well in his first career start?#GoUtes https://t.co/GJzTIMrdNn

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 15, 2024

2.94

That was the average yards per play for Utah in the 1st quarter. There were 9 rushing attempts which generated 18 yards, while there were 35 yards on 9 passing attempts in the 1st quarter.

Utah obviously started slow in this game. Players lacked a bit of urgency, while coaches were also getting a feel for the USU defense. However, through the rest of the game, the offense displayed what it’s capable of being this season.

The offense produced 407 yards on 56 plays for a 7.26 yards-per-play average. They generated 6.34 yards per run on 32 attempts which led to 203 rushing yards, while Wilson completed 16-of-24 passes for 204 passing yards.

60.7% vs 33.3% success rates between 2nd-4th

After that 1st quarter, Utah settled into the game and it showed on both sides of the ball. The metric “Success Rate” is a set of measures per down that essentially charts whether you’re staying ahead (or keeping your opponent behind) the chains.

Offensively, the Utes had the following success rates per quarter:

1st quarter – 38.9%
2nd quarter – 63.6%
3rd quarter – 61.1%
4th quarter – 56.3%
Total 2nd-4th – 60.7%

Defensively, the Utes limited Utah State to the following success rates per quarter:

1st quarter – 60.0%
2nd quarter – 44.4%
3rd quarter – 21.4%
4th quarter – 23.5%
Total 2nd-4th – 33.3%

7 Total Passes Defended

This was perhaps the most impressive performance by Utah’s defense in this regard. The Utes had 5 passes defended (interception+batted passes at LOS+pass breakups in coverage) coming into the game. Against Utah State, the Utes finished with 8 which included 1 batted pass, 4 pass breakups, and 2 interceptions.

Smith Snowden made an incredible play to haul in an interception. He was in good position and his instincts led to that play being made.

Cam Calhoun’s interception was a perfect display of catch man coverage. That allowed him to disrupt the route, trail the receiver, and make a play on the ball.

The secondary got caught waiting on slow play calls that created at least two big plays for Utah State early on in the game. That is valuable context to consider in evaluating their performance yesterday.

With that in mind, this was the most impactful effort by the defensive secondary through three games.

Utah Football Schedule

Kyle Whittingham’s Utah program hits the road for their first conference game in a big matchup with Oklahoma State. You can find Utah football’s conference schedule here.