BYU Red Zone Offense was garbage vs Boise

BYU ran 19 plays inside the red zone, only 4 were passes. They ran 10 plays that were Goal to go, just 2 were passes.



BYU simply did not put the ball into the end zone. They barely even tried to.



On the 15 runs inside the red zone, they averaged 0.3 yards per rush.



On the 8 runs with Goal to Go, they averaged -1.5 yards per rush. They only gained yardage on 3 of the 8 attempts.

That's a Bronco mendenhall defensive effort right there. Or just terrible offense.

What makes it even worse is Boise state was doing all of that with a 3 and 4 man pass rush. They really brought no pressure but blew up our offensive line with it. Absolutely pathetic.

Yeah the red zone stunk but we out gained Boise on their own turf. Overall, the play calling was not bad. And I'm not saying that I 100% agree with him, but listen to Matisch Monday on BYUSN where he says the red zone play calling on the last drive was not that bad.

I disagree with Matich on the merits of the redzone play calling, but I agree with him that the game plan was decent everywhere else.



I'm not against trying to run it in, but then do it smashmouth style--downhill, straight up the gut. This is where we're missing Francis Bernard. With a guy like him, I think Grimes would have had the confidence to call more straightahead run plays. He wasn't a burner, but he'd get the tough yards. Squally clearly isn't back to full strength--he only ran it 5 times. And Katoa must have got hurt because he only had 1 carry and it went for 8 yards. So given that they were relying heavily on Hadley--serviceable though he was--who had just a few weeks before been playing linebacker, I'm surprised that Grimes called as many runs as he did with the personnel he had.

What did Canada do to get in Grimes' doghouse? He's the big, strong, inside the tackles guy. Why did we not see him? Fumblitis?

CrimsonCoug wrote:

I disagree with Matich on the merits of the redzone play calling, but I agree with him that the game plan was decent everywhere else.



I'm not against trying to run it in, but then do it smashmouth style--downhill, straight up the gut. This is where we're missing Francis Bernard. With a guy like him, I think Grimes would have had the confidence to call more straightahead run plays. He wasn't a burner, but he'd get the tough yards. Squally clearly isn't back to full strength--he only ran it 5 times. And Katoa must have got hurt because he only had 1 carry and it went for 8 yards. So given that they were relying heavily on Hadley--serviceable though he was--who had just a few weeks before been playing linebacker, I'm surprised that Grimes called as many runs as he did with the personnel he had.

I think Grimes has had some decent play calling games and the offense has played better than the points produced would suggest.



Some numbers to consider:

Boise had 5 plays of 10-19 yards and 2 plays of 20+ yards.

BYU had 9 plays of 10-19 yards and 4 plays of 20+ yards.



Through 9 games, BYU has 85 plays of 10-19 yards and 27 plays of 20+ yards.

Through 9 games last year, it was 63 and 26 plays.



Through 9 games, BYU has 27 3-and-outs.

Through 9 games last year, BYU had 38.



Through 9 games, BYU has converted 16 3rd-and-7-or-longer.

Through 9 games last year, BYU had 11.



Through 9 games, BYU has score 198 points

Through 9 games last year, BYU had 138.

Grimes is better than Detmer. We've seen some excellent play calling this season and some spectacular plays, which we did not see under Detmer.



I think Grimes is guilty of over thinking things a bit, especially when in the red zone.



If we keep Sitake, I hope we keep Grimes.



WR play has been a lot better that last two games. I don't know how much of that is coaching versus Wilson, but it's improved.

Great stats, Spiff.

I agree--if Kalani stays (and I think he will), I hope Grimes stays too. There's bound to be some learning, but I think Grimes has the potential to be a very good OC for someone. He's got to earn his stripes somewhere. I'd prefer that BYU be the one to see the return on that investment.

cougarapologist wrote:

What did Canada do to get in Grimes' doghouse? He's the big, strong, inside the tackles guy. Why did we not see him? Fumblitis?

I don't think he's 100% over his ankle or whatever injury that's been plaguing him for most of the season.