Utah-Notre Dame: The Good, Bad, and The Ugly

Who was good, who was bad, and what was ugly in the Utes second straight loss?

The Good

Sealver Siliga
You can probably put the whole defensively line on here, but Siliga was an animal. He was getting sacks, knocking down passes, getting pressure, blowing up running plays, and doing whatever he wanted out there. Great bounceback game for the junior.

The Corners
Tommy Rees was very accurate on Saturday. Brandon Burton was pretty good against Michael Floyd holding him to only 4 catches. This unit was much better after watching the game a second time.

The Bad

The Offense
Too many stalled drives and no fluidity to the offense. More carries for Matt Asiata is a must. The drive where they handed it off to him time and time again got them down the field with relative ease. The passing game is suffering due to a lack of deep passes. No creativity right now.

Brian Blechen (at times)
Blechen is a true freshman, so he’s going to make true freshman mistakes, but the one he made on the 26 yard touchdown pass was awful. He took an awful line and was nowhere near the receiver. You can blame it on him being a freshman, but he’s as accountable on the field as everyone else, freshmen, senior, or whoever.

The Linebackers
Where have you gone Chad Manis? Get back soon. Manis being out has been a big blow as Walker and Martinez have not been as affective without him. Boo Anderson isn’t ready yet and J.J. Williams is likely out for the year now. Too many poor angles by this group and they were pushed around a lot. The Ugly

The Penalties
10 penalties in the first half killed more chances for points. The constant false starts by the linemen were inexcusable. Sclauderaff had two himself. I don’t think he had two the entire season coming into this game.

The Coaching
Where’s the motivation? Where are the offensive adjustments? Where’s the fire and the passion? Where is the accountability for all of the penalties? Sometimes ripping into your players on the sidelines needs to take place. Kyle Whittingham and Dave Schramm should have been all over the offense on the sidelines.

Special Teams
YIKES!!! How can you have another punt blocked like that? Sam Brenner and Neli A’asa looked like they were on another planet on that play. No vision. Sean Sellwood has turned into a below average punter the past few weeks. Shaky couldn’t get a return going at all, and when he did, he fumbled.