What happened to the Utah Utes in their loss to Oregon?
Despite a four-game win-streak and an undefeated schedule at home, the Utah Utes came up short in Eugene which all but ended their hopes of defending their 2021 Pac-12 Title.
While there is still a scenario where the Utes can end up in Las Vegas (Oregon loses to Oregon State, Washington beats Washington State, UCLA beats Cal, and Utah beats Colorado) the loss to Oregon was a untimely poor performance that placed Utah's destiny in several others hands.
So what went wrong against Oregon? Well, there appears to be several key factors that led to a Utah loss.
Bo Nix outplayed Cameron Rising despite both QB's being hurt
Utah Utes quarterback Cameron Rising (7), left, talks to Oregon Ducks quarterback Bo Nix (10) after a game at Autzen Stadium. The Ducks won the game 20-17.
Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports.
While there was a lot more attention on Bo Nix and his injury, its obvious that Cameron Rising wasn't 100% either.
His throws were off, he wasn't as aggressive as we've been accustomed to, and the offense tried to run the football a lot. For the night, Rising went 21-38 for 170 yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions in addition to 43 yards on seven carries.
On the flip side, Nix finished 25-37 for 287 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also called his own number to convert a critical third down late in the game which kept the clock moving and effectively iced the contest.
To be fair, in the 24 games Rising has appeared in for the Utes, this was honestly his first truly poor game. Most the time he's a dangerous weapon and a confident leader who will go down as one of the best to command the offense.
However, it was brutal timing for this performance to come when it did, especially with how the fourth quarter resulted in two turnovers on downs and an interception to prematurely end several would-be go-ahead drives.
Utah's defense was good, Oregon's was just better
Oregon Ducks defensive back Bennett Williams (4) celebrates after intercepting a pass against Utah Utes tight end Dalton Kincaid (86) during the second half against the Utah Utes at Autzen Stadium.
Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports.
Overall, Utah's defense was actually pretty good against the Ducks. Sure, they allowed 287 yards through the air and struggled to defend against Nix in the first half, but they did enough to put the offense in position to win the football game and even put some points on the board.
Breaking it down a little deeper, the biggest issue for the Utah defense was containing the passing game, especially early on. For the contest, Oregon averaged a whopping 11.5 yards per completion compared to just 8.1 for the Utes. Nix also had a 68% completion rate while Rising's was just 55%.
As for the run, While the Utes out-gained Oregon by nearly 100 yards on the ground, Utah rushed 11 more times than the Ducks and were held well below their seasonal average.
Coming into the matchup, Utah had been averaging 205.2 yards per game and 5.1 per attempt. Against the Ducks, Oregon held Utah to just 156 yards and an average of 4.3 which immobilized the offense.
Lastly, while it wasn't completely credited to Oregon's defense, Utah was just 1-4 on fourth downs, two of which came in the fourth quarter and halted what would've been several go-ahead touchdowns.
Like I said, Utah's defense was pretty good, Oregon's was just better.
The inability to rely on kickers was unacceptable
For whatever reason, kicking has not been a strong suit for the Utes the last two seasons and against Oregon it was very costly.
Not only did Utah miss a field goal on their first drive, but it was obvious the trust was broken from that point on and Utah elected to go for it on fourth down on multiple drives rather than taking three points.
Of course, three of Utah's fourth down attempts were not converted which heavily impacted the outcome of the game, but who could blame them given how unreliable the kicking game has been.
This next offseason, Utah needs to give more attention to their special teams. Not only is there a complete lack of trust in terms of connecting on field goals, but kick-offs have also been poor as kickers have failed to kick through the end zone.
Kickers are valuable folks, especially in big games like this that are decided by single digits.
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