12-01-2015, 08:16 AM
U$C is an interesting team to consider. I would generically describe them as dangerous because they have good players and can play good games, but also rather liable to not play a good game.
One common narrative is that they have played much better under Helton. That doesn't seem so clear to me.
Their season:
Sark Â
Team        Result  Op Rec  %run plays
Arkansas State W 55-6Â Â (8-3)Â Â Â 50%
Idaho       W 59-9  (4-8)   50%
Stanford     L 31-41 (10-2)  47%
ASUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â W 42-14Â (6-6)Â Â Â 48%
UWÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â LÂ 12-17Â (6-6)Â Â Â 57%
Helton
und        L 31-41 (10-2)  39%
Utah       W 42-24 (9-3)   61%
c.a.l.       W 27-21 (7-5)   68%
Arizona     W 38-30 (6-6)   53%
Colorado    W 27-24 (4-9)   58%
Oregon     L 28-48 (9-3)   48%
UCLAÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â W 40-21Â (8-4)Â Â Â Â 69%
The best performances would seem to be ASU, Utah, and UCLA. That's 66% for Helton, who coached 58% of their games. About on par.
Looking closer at those best performances, one might note that the key element of all three games were TOs. U$C went 4-0 on TOs vs Utah, 3-1 on TOs vs UCLA, and 4-2 on TOs vs ASU. They weren't so dominating on things like yds from scrimmage; that being even vs ASU (455-454), a slight edge vs Utah (380-353), and a somewhat larger edge vs UCLA (410-367).
While it does look like they have run more under Helton, the standard line that Helton has pushed them away from a pass-happy attack towards a power-run oriented offense seems to be overstated.
One common narrative is that they have played much better under Helton. That doesn't seem so clear to me.
Their season:
Sark Â
Team        Result  Op Rec  %run plays
Arkansas State W 55-6Â Â (8-3)Â Â Â 50%
Idaho       W 59-9  (4-8)   50%
Stanford     L 31-41 (10-2)  47%
ASUÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â W 42-14Â (6-6)Â Â Â 48%
UWÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â LÂ 12-17Â (6-6)Â Â Â 57%
Helton
und        L 31-41 (10-2)  39%
Utah       W 42-24 (9-3)   61%
c.a.l.       W 27-21 (7-5)   68%
Arizona     W 38-30 (6-6)   53%
Colorado    W 27-24 (4-9)   58%
Oregon     L 28-48 (9-3)   48%
UCLAÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â W 40-21Â (8-4)Â Â Â Â 69%
The best performances would seem to be ASU, Utah, and UCLA. That's 66% for Helton, who coached 58% of their games. About on par.
Looking closer at those best performances, one might note that the key element of all three games were TOs. U$C went 4-0 on TOs vs Utah, 3-1 on TOs vs UCLA, and 4-2 on TOs vs ASU. They weren't so dominating on things like yds from scrimmage; that being even vs ASU (455-454), a slight edge vs Utah (380-353), and a somewhat larger edge vs UCLA (410-367).
While it does look like they have run more under Helton, the standard line that Helton has pushed them away from a pass-happy attack towards a power-run oriented offense seems to be overstated.