This past weekend, the Bulldogs fell to a very good BYU team 45-14. But while the post-game headlines focused on BYU QB Zach Wilson’s 92% completion percentage, the Cougar run game shouldn’t be overlooked.
And while giving up 188 yards on the ground is not ideal, my real worry moving forward is this: 40% of the time a rush play was called, it resulted in either a first down or a touchdown.
I’m bringing up BYU because Tech faces a rush-heavy attack this week in UTEP.
Your first thought might be “Well, UTEP ain’t BYU”, and you’d be right. Because while the Cougars have been pretty successful at running the ball, UTEP has struggled a bit:
So while UTEP may run the ball a lot, they aren’t very good at it. But the Miners are 3-1 right now. So something must be going right.
Yes, two of those wins were over FCS schools (and the other was ULM) and the UTEP defense has done their job. But one thing that has caught my eye is probably the last thing you'd expect: the UTEP passing game.
Now, if we just look at touchdowns and interceptions, it looks a little bleak for the Miners:
That chart really makes it look like UTEP doesn’t really have a passing game at all. But if we factor in passing yards, things look a little more interesting:
UTEP has been a slightly below-average team at moving the ball through the air, but just can’t seem to get into the endzone. And while that probably deserves its own post, I’m mostly curious about how UTEP has gained those pass yards.
Because not only do the Miners run the ball a lot, QB Gavin Hardison has not been accurate, connecting on only 54% of his passes. So where are these pass yards coming from?
It turns out that while UTEP hasn’t been able to find the endzone over the air, they have been very explosive:
This is using the SP+ definition of explosiveness, which boils down to how successful you were on the plays that were successful. So when UTEP is able to complete a pass, it typically goes pretty well.
Not a lot of five-yard, dump-off passes from Hardison. Whether he’s throwing downfield, or the receivers are making moves after the catch, UTEP has been the third-best in the country at making the most of their receptions.
And with Southern Miss’s Tim Jones and BYU’s Gunner Romney still fresh in our minds, I don’t feel too safe facing a team that has had this much success with chunk plays in the passing game.
Especially when the Bulldog secondary still has a lot of growing to do.
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Nathan is also a contributor to gtpdd.dog, a lighthearted Louisiana Tech blog. Be sure to check out @gotechplsdntdie on Twitter.
