If you’re a fan of watching high-powered offensive football, Saturday’s Utah at Houston game may not be for you.
As bad as Utah’s offense has been this season — and it’s been bad, especially over the past three games — Houston’s offensive output has been even worse.
Averaging only 303 yards per game (No. 121 in the nation), the Cougars (2-5, 1-3 Big 12) have been downright dreadful on the offensive side of the ball and have been outscored 115-33 over their four Big 12 Conference games.
Houston quarterback Donovan Smith has a negative touchdown to interception ratio (4:8), has thrown for just 867 yards on a 65.4% completion rate, and has been sacked 17 times this season (in total, Houston has allowed 24 sacks, No. 125 in FBS).
Trying to find a spark on offense following two shutout losses, Houston replaced Smith with quarterback Zeon Chriss for the Cougars’ 30-19 win over TCU two weeks ago — their first Big 12 win this season — but he left in the first quarter of the 42-14 loss against Kansas last week with an injury.
Chriss is expected to be available against Utah, Houston coach Willie Fritz said, but as two players are set to return from injury for Houston — Chriss and starting receiver Stephon Johnson — another Cougar exits for the season.
Starting left tackle Dakota White suffered a season-ending injury last week against Kansas, making matters even worse for Houston this week in the trenches.
“I think he’s going to be fine,” Fritz said of Chriss. “Obviously it’s the beginning of the week. He felt like it was something he was concerned about. We probably could have had him go, but you just don’t want to do that that early in the game.”
If Chriss starts against the Utes, can Houston recapture some of that offensive momentum they showed against TCU? Led by the sophomore signal-caller, who threw for 141 yards and a score and ran for 97 yards and a touchdown, and aided by four Horned Frogs turnovers, the Cougars finally got back into the win column.
It’s admittedly a small sample size, but Chriss has been more dynamic than Smith, and if he gets the start, he provides a different dimension to Houston’s offense.
Houston will be facing a Utah defense that has been largely good, but not at the elite level yet. Still, the Utes will present the biggest defensive challenge to the Cougars since they were shut out by No. 10 Iowa State earlier this year.
“Well, they’ve always been a very physical team, fundamentally solid in everything they do,” Fritz said. “I’ve watched them a little bit over the years, probably get a chance to watch them once or twice a year in the past and that’s what I see out of them.”
Utah has been good at shutting down just about everything Houston has struggled with this season — including passing offense (Houston is No. 123 in the nation in passing yards per game; Utah is No. 27 in passing yards allowed) and third-down conversions (Houston is No. 125 in third-down conversion percentage; Utah defends third downs at the fifth-best clip in the nation).
Saturday’s game could also provide Utah’s defense an opportunity to get back on track in the things they haven’t been prolific at, like generating turnovers (Houston has given the ball away 14 times this season) and sacking the opposing quarterback (Houston has allowed 24 sacks this season).
Even if Utah’s defense holds Houston to its FBS-worst average of 13.7 points, however, there’s still the issue on the other side of the ball for the Utes, who have scored below 14 points in two of their last three games.
Just like when Utah played TCU, there should be opportunities for this offense to move the ball and get into the end zone if they play at an average level, but in the last three games, the offensive output has been quite a bit below average.
Houston’s defense ranks No. 66 in points allowed per game (23.57) and No. 72 in rushing yards allowed per game (145.7). The Cougars haven’t been particularly great at getting to opposing quarterbacks either, ranking No. 109 in sacks (10 on the season).
There’s seemingly an opportunity for running back Micah Bernard to get going against the Cougars, but until Isaac Wilson and the passing game shows up, teams will continue to load the box and make it tough for the Utes’ run game.
The aspect where Houston’s defense shines the most is against the pass, where it ranks 19th nationally in passing yards allowed per game (173.9). Utah has to get some production through the air to avoid its fourth straight loss, but considering how Wilson and the offense performed against TCU, which ranks No. 10 in passing yards allowed, it could be another uphill climb on Saturday.
We’ll see what changes interim offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian implements in his first game in his new position and if he can help the Utes shake off the offensive blues. It starts with giving Wilson more quick routes — and hot routes — so he can get the ball out faster when he’s facing pressure.
“I mean, we’re not recreating the wheel here. We’re going to just keep it simple, really help out our O line, more speed and space, just simple stuff. Really simplify things for our team,” Wilson said.
Receiver Money Parks added that he feels Utah will be more of an up-tempo offense under Bajakian.
Again, there doesn’t have to be a complete offensive turnaround, but if the Utes can score 21 or 28 points against Houston, they’ll probably be in a good position to break their losing streak.