Points could be close when Utah football and Houston play – Deseret News

If you're a fan of high-octane offensive football, Utah's game against Houston on Saturday may not be for you.

As bad as Utah's offense has been this season – and it's been particularly bad in the last three games – Houston's offensive performance has been even worse.

Averaging just 303 yards per game (No. 121 in the nation), the Cougars (2-5, 1-3 Big 12) were downright terrible on the offensive side of the ball, being outscored 115-33 across their four Big 12s 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 (Houston has allowed 24 sacks overall). , No. 125 in FBS).

Looking to find a spark on offense after two shutout losses, Houston replaced Smith with quarterback Zeon Chriss in the Cougars' 30-19 win over TCU two weeks ago – their first Big 12 win this season – but left the first fourth quarter of 42-14 loss to Kansas last week due to injury.

Chriss is expected to be available against Utah, Houston coach Willie Fritz said, but with two players set to return from injury for Houston – Chriss and starting receiver Stephon Johnson – another Cougar is out for the season.

Starting left tackle Dakota White suffered a season-ending injury last week against Kansas, making things even worse for Houston in the trenches this week.

“I think he’ll be fine,” Fritz said of Chriss. “Obviously it’s the beginning of the week. He felt like it was something he was worried about. We probably could have let him go, but you just don’t want to do that so early in the game.”

If Chriss starts against the Utes, can Houston regain some of the offensive dynamism they showed against TCU? Led by the second-year 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 in the win column.

Admittedly it's a small sample, but Chriss was more dynamic than Smith, and when he starts, he brings a different dimension to Houston's offense.

Houston will face a Utah defense that has been good for the most part, but not yet at an elite level. Still, the Utes will pose the Cougars' biggest defensive challenge 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 looked at them a bit over the years, I used to probably get a chance to look at them once or twice a year and that's what I see in them.”

Utah has been good at shutting down just about everything Houston has struggled with this season – including the passing offense (Houston is No. 123 nationally 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 country).

Saturday's game could also give Utah's defense an opportunity to get back on track at things it hasn't been particularly successful 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 though Utah's defense is holding Houston to its FBS-worst average of 13.7 points, there is still a problem on the other side of the ball for the Utes, who have scored fewer than 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 are playing at an average level, but over the last three games the offensive performance has been significantly below average.

Houston's defense ranks 66th in points allowed per game (23.57) and 72nd in rushing yards allowed per game (145.7). The Cougars also haven't been great at getting to opposing quarterbacks, ranking 109th in sacks (10 on the season).

There appears to be a chance for running back Micah Bernard to get going against the Cougars, but until Isaac Wilson and the passing game show up, teams will continue to load the box and make it difficult for the Utes' running game.

The aspect where Houston's defense shines the most is passing, where it ranks 19th nationally in yards allowed per game (173.9). Utah will need to produce some production through the air to avoid its fourth straight loss, but given Wilson's performance and the offense against TCU, which ranks 10th in passing yards allowed, things could look up again on Saturday.

We'll see what changes interim offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian makes in his first game at his new position and whether 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 quicker when under pressure.

“I mean, we’re not recreating the wheel here. We're going to keep it simple, really support our O-line, more speed and space, just simple things. Really simplify things for our team,” Wilson said.

Receiver Money Parks added that he believes Utah will be a faster 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.