ANN ARBOR, Mich.?The clock read 8:50 left in the fourth quarter. The play: An eight-yard gain on a swing pass to wide receiver Travis LaTendresse.
The significance: It was the first time the Ute offense had crossed midfield.
The Ute offense, particularly the running game, sputtered for the second straight week as the Utes couldn’t put together a worthwhile drive nearly all game.
Utah’s ground game gained 13 yards on 20 carries, a paltry 0.65 yards per carry. The rushing game accounted for just one of nine Ute first downs in the game.
Utah, again without the nation’s leading rusher Marty Johnson after his season-ending injury, was led by Brandon Warfield’s 18 yards on 10 carries. J.R. Peroulis ran 7 times for -6 yards.
Would Johnson’s presence have made a difference?
“They were obviously very solid even if we had him,” quarterback Lance Rice said. “But with his size, Marty could’ve broken some tackles.”
The struggle in the running game was just as confusing to starting tackle Sean Souza as it was to running backs Peroulis and Warfield.
“I kept asking the running backs, ‘What’s the problem?'” Souza said. “They had real good linebackers, they filled holes fast. And their defensive line was well-coached. They were quick guys, disciplined guys, and their technique was good.” Souza said.
Without the run, the flexibility of the Ute offense was limited.
“We were sitting in pass mode all the time. We didn’t move the line of scrimmage?we were playing one-dimensional football,” coach Ron McBride said.
With the offensive inefficiency, the Ute defense was kept on the field that much longer. The Michigan offense was on the field for 35:52 compared to Utah’s 24:08.
“They played a lot of snaps, but there’s going to be more games where they will be lots of snaps,” defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham said.
“We need to keep the defense off the field. We need to come up with something that will work. The Michigan defensive line did a lot of slanting, but that’s no excuse,” J.R. Peroulis said.
“As a defense, we can’t be anything but pleased,” Sheldon Deckart said. The senior linebacker said the Michigan offensive line was the best he’s seen. He described them as “stout fellas” who were very physical.
“We slugged it out for 60 minutes. Two or three times we could’ve thrown in the towel, but we kept swinging,” Whittingham said.
Those stout fellas paved the way for 175 Wolverine rushing yards.
Still, Utah held the Michigan point total to the lowest by a non-ranked opponent at home since 1995.
Yet, on the offensive, Utah converted just 3-16 third down attempts and crossed midfield just the one time. The Ute offense went three and out seven times during the game and it only sustained one drive over 28 yards.
But unlike last game versus . Arizona, the Ute defense wasn’t able to force turnovers that set up easy scoring opportunities.
“The bottom line is [the offense] had to make more plays,” Rice said. “We had too many three and outs. We need to get more first downs to keep the defense off the field.
“Last year, we scored on first drives so many times. We haven’t done that so far this year,” he said.
“We’ve got to make more plays earlier to keep the drives moving,” offensive coordinator Craig Ver Steeg said.
Still, the team is still confident, and it is surprisingly not developing a rift?yet.
“I still think we’re going to run the table [in the MWC]. We know our offense is going to come around,” Deckart said.