10-12-2015, 07:31 PM
My comment was related to the comment by the OP, "D is overrated and O is underwhelming"
Well... I applaud you for your well reasoned post... but
Utah has beaten two teams who would otherwise be unbeaten, Cal and Michigan. That counts for a lot.
Secondly, some of the yards per play differential is driven by run/pass choice. Utah is outgaining its opponents by 4.87 to 4.22 on the ground. In the air, they are being outgained 6.8 to 6.7 per play, but because the Utes run a larger proportion of their plays than opponents, when the stats are combined it doesn't look as favorable for Utah. If you look at pass rating instead of ypp, then Utah looks better off (136 versus 119).
If you look at the advanced stats, Utah is 13th in S&P. They are 23rd in offensive S&P and 24th in defensive S&P, and they have the 12th ranked strength of schedule (to be fair, S&P has Stanford [#10] and USC [#6] ranked ahead of them). They are ranked #1 by ESPN's power rankings, #26 on offensive efficiency and #19 on defensive efficiency. I haven't even talked about their turnover margin because I do believe turnovers are largely due to luck, but Utah has had a profound advantage in turnovers (tied for best in the country).
Third, Utah is ranked third in punting at 48 yards per punt (and 33rd in punt returns given up). They are sixth in punt returns at 26 yards per return. They are 23rd in kickoff returns. The only portion of special teams where they are weak is in kickoffs and preventing kickoff returns. Add to it their turnover margin and Utah has had a profound field position advantage that has made the "whole" greater than the sum of its parts.
My point is that conventional statistics (yards per play) underrate Utah's offensive and defensive, and exclude the contribution of special teams. They may not be the best team in the country (and may prove not to be in the Pac-12), but they are clearly not the second worst team in the conference.
BC
Well... I applaud you for your well reasoned post... but
Utah has beaten two teams who would otherwise be unbeaten, Cal and Michigan. That counts for a lot.
Secondly, some of the yards per play differential is driven by run/pass choice. Utah is outgaining its opponents by 4.87 to 4.22 on the ground. In the air, they are being outgained 6.8 to 6.7 per play, but because the Utes run a larger proportion of their plays than opponents, when the stats are combined it doesn't look as favorable for Utah. If you look at pass rating instead of ypp, then Utah looks better off (136 versus 119).
If you look at the advanced stats, Utah is 13th in S&P. They are 23rd in offensive S&P and 24th in defensive S&P, and they have the 12th ranked strength of schedule (to be fair, S&P has Stanford [#10] and USC [#6] ranked ahead of them). They are ranked #1 by ESPN's power rankings, #26 on offensive efficiency and #19 on defensive efficiency. I haven't even talked about their turnover margin because I do believe turnovers are largely due to luck, but Utah has had a profound advantage in turnovers (tied for best in the country).
Third, Utah is ranked third in punting at 48 yards per punt (and 33rd in punt returns given up). They are sixth in punt returns at 26 yards per return. They are 23rd in kickoff returns. The only portion of special teams where they are weak is in kickoffs and preventing kickoff returns. Add to it their turnover margin and Utah has had a profound field position advantage that has made the "whole" greater than the sum of its parts.
My point is that conventional statistics (yards per play) underrate Utah's offensive and defensive, and exclude the contribution of special teams. They may not be the best team in the country (and may prove not to be in the Pac-12), but they are clearly not the second worst team in the conference.
BC