I warned ya Puka was elusive
In last week's Puka preview I got bold and predicted he would have the second best receiving season ever at BYU. (Yikes -- despite his running prowess we're off to a bad start on that one)
That was a subjective statement. What I said about Puka's shiftiness was not.
Last year Puka was ranked the 10th most elusive receiver in all of college football by PFF11. The PFF elusivity score is a ratio of missed tackles created (dodged or broken) over rushing attempts. and versus USF he was up to his usual tricks. He put an awesome hesitation move into his first touchdown run and broke a tackle on another. He ranks 27th in the country in elusivity score after week one, and that's 27th among all offensive positions, not just WRs. The guys is fast, shifty, and strong. If the honor code allows ankle donations I'll gladly offer mine.
How fast is Jaren pulling the trigger?
Jaren Hall's average time to throw on Saturday was 2.41 seconds. His average last season was 2.98 seconds. The math tells us our QB was a full half-second quicker against than USF than his 2021 average; in fact the 2.41 mark against USF was faster than any individual game from 2021.
How fast is Jaren pulling the trigger?
Jaren Hall's average time to throw on Saturday was 2.41 seconds. His average last season was 2.98 seconds. The math tells us our QB was a full half-second quicker against than USF than his 2021 average; in fact the 2.41 mark against USF was faster than any individual game from 2021.
This could mean a few things.
1) Jaren is more experienced than ever, is processing at an elite level, and therefore is getting the ball out quicker
2) Jaren had less need to scramble last week and therefore got the ball out quicker
3) BYU called more quick hitting passes due to a simple opponent and favorable game state
I hope the answer here is number one -- and over the course of the season that may prove true -- but on Saturday it was due to #3 because ...
BYU attempted a lot of layups
Last season Jaren Hall threw behind the line of scrimmage on 19% of his passes and he threw short (between 0 to 9 yards) on 28% of his passes. Collectively that's about 47% of his throws coming in the very short territory. Against USF a whopping 62% of his passes came on these quick, easy throws.
I think we can chalk this up to the favorable game state more than a shift in identity. But this brings up a familiar question.
How good is BYU at layups?
I've mentioned before that in 2020 BYU was unstoppable at passes behind the line of scrimmage, averaging 8.4 yards every single time they tried such a throw. That was second in the country behind only Drew Plitt of Ball State who averaged 8.7 on his attempts. Grimes and Arod turned BYU into a lethal short-passing team. Screens returned to the playbook. Creativity reigned.
In 2021 BYU lost three yards off their average, as Hall threw for 5.5 YPA on each of his throws behind the LOS. That dropped BYU from 2nd in the country to 47th. (The national leader was Georgia's Stetson Bennett with 9.2 YPA).
Through one game in 2022 BYU is up slightly from 2021 at 6.3 YPA. Can BYU unlock a couple extra yards on their layups by scheming up creative screens, or by getting the ball to Puka, who nabbed 22 yards on his lone pass which came behind the LOS? Or was the short-passing success of 2020 mostly due to weaker opponents?
Other Early Season Comparisons
Last year BYU ran jet sweeps on 6% of their runs. Against USF they about doubled that, calling for the sweeps 11% of the time. I guess if the first time you call a play it results in a touchdown you might try it a few more times.
Good start for Brooks
Last year Allgeier forced a miss tackle once every 3.5 rushes. On Saturday Brooks forced seven missed tackles on 13 attempts, good for a missed tackle once every 1.8 carries. Yes, it was against a team that looked overmatched from the kick, but I'll take it.
Who Got Dem Snaps
BYU's depth chart is confusing. The coaches list 100 positions and they put OR at almost every spot. Sometimes they list guys higher on the depth chart (eg Micah Harper) who end up getting less snaps than players below them (eg Ethan Slade). I like looking at snaps played because it's where the coaches have to tell the truth -- after all is said and done who are they trusting on the field? Snap counts are especially interesting at the start of the season. Let's take a look.
Who got Dem Snaps -- TE Edition
I did not forecast Isaac Rex leading the TE group in snaps! Consider the lad recovered! Rex played 46 snaps, while Masen Wake played 44, and Dallin Holker picked up only 21. I think I'm in the minority but Dallin Holkermania is my favorite of the TE group. Give my guy more reps!
Who Got Dem Snaps - RB Edition
Saturday must have been fun for Lopini Katoa. With Allgeier out of the picture Katoa was on the field for 29 offensive snaps. Yes that trailed Brooks -- who was on the field for 36 plays -- but Katoa didn't have a single game last year where he was used that much. It's been written in many outlets already, but Katoa just seems like the ultimate team-first player. I'm happy for the guy.
By the way, Katoa's career numbers? 2,348 scrimmage yards, 25 TDs. Those stats are solid. Over his four prior years he's averaged about 548 scrimmage yards per season. If he duplicates that this year he'd finish his career with the 15th most scrimmage yards in BYU history.22. The list if you're curious: Unga, Brown, Williams, Willis, Heimuli, Hoffman, Bellini, Blanc, Staley, Collie, Allgeier, Mahe, Hooks, Hill. Granted those gaudy numbers would come over five years, but still! Plus Katoa -- if he stays healthy -- will have to be the leader in games played at BYU right? Go down in history man.
1) Jaren is more experienced than ever, is processing at an elite level, and therefore is getting the ball out quicker
2) Jaren had less need to scramble last week and therefore got the ball out quicker
3) BYU called more quick hitting passes due to a simple opponent and favorable game state
I hope the answer here is number one -- and over the course of the season that may prove true -- but on Saturday it was due to #3 because ...
BYU attempted a lot of layups
Last season Jaren Hall threw behind the line of scrimmage on 19% of his passes and he threw short (between 0 to 9 yards) on 28% of his passes. Collectively that's about 47% of his throws coming in the very short territory. Against USF a whopping 62% of his passes came on these quick, easy throws.
I think we can chalk this up to the favorable game state more than a shift in identity. But this brings up a familiar question.
How good is BYU at layups?
I've mentioned before that in 2020 BYU was unstoppable at passes behind the line of scrimmage, averaging 8.4 yards every single time they tried such a throw. That was second in the country behind only Drew Plitt of Ball State who averaged 8.7 on his attempts. Grimes and Arod turned BYU into a lethal short-passing team. Screens returned to the playbook. Creativity reigned.
In 2021 BYU lost three yards off their average, as Hall threw for 5.5 YPA on each of his throws behind the LOS. That dropped BYU from 2nd in the country to 47th. (The national leader was Georgia's Stetson Bennett with 9.2 YPA).
Through one game in 2022 BYU is up slightly from 2021 at 6.3 YPA. Can BYU unlock a couple extra yards on their layups by scheming up creative screens, or by getting the ball to Puka, who nabbed 22 yards on his lone pass which came behind the LOS? Or was the short-passing success of 2020 mostly due to weaker opponents?
Other Early Season Comparisons
Last year BYU ran jet sweeps on 6% of their runs. Against USF they about doubled that, calling for the sweeps 11% of the time. I guess if the first time you call a play it results in a touchdown you might try it a few more times.
Good start for Brooks
Last year Allgeier forced a miss tackle once every 3.5 rushes. On Saturday Brooks forced seven missed tackles on 13 attempts, good for a missed tackle once every 1.8 carries. Yes, it was against a team that looked overmatched from the kick, but I'll take it.
Who Got Dem Snaps
BYU's depth chart is confusing. The coaches list 100 positions and they put OR at almost every spot. Sometimes they list guys higher on the depth chart (eg Micah Harper) who end up getting less snaps than players below them (eg Ethan Slade). I like looking at snaps played because it's where the coaches have to tell the truth -- after all is said and done who are they trusting on the field? Snap counts are especially interesting at the start of the season. Let's take a look.
Who got Dem Snaps -- TE Edition
I did not forecast Isaac Rex leading the TE group in snaps! Consider the lad recovered! Rex played 46 snaps, while Masen Wake played 44, and Dallin Holker picked up only 21. I think I'm in the minority but Dallin Holkermania is my favorite of the TE group. Give my guy more reps!
Who Got Dem Snaps - RB Edition
Saturday must have been fun for Lopini Katoa. With Allgeier out of the picture Katoa was on the field for 29 offensive snaps. Yes that trailed Brooks -- who was on the field for 36 plays -- but Katoa didn't have a single game last year where he was used that much. It's been written in many outlets already, but Katoa just seems like the ultimate team-first player. I'm happy for the guy.
By the way, Katoa's career numbers? 2,348 scrimmage yards, 25 TDs. Those stats are solid. Over his four prior years he's averaged about 548 scrimmage yards per season. If he duplicates that this year he'd finish his career with the 15th most scrimmage yards in BYU history.22. The list if you're curious: Unga, Brown, Williams, Willis, Heimuli, Hoffman, Bellini, Blanc, Staley, Collie, Allgeier, Mahe, Hooks, Hill. Granted those gaudy numbers would come over five years, but still! Plus Katoa -- if he stays healthy -- will have to be the leader in games played at BYU right? Go down in history man.
Who Got Dem Snaps - Secondary
Ummm ... BYU had 39 different defensive players get a snap against USF. I mean, you expect to see scrubs in a blowout, but 39?? Even when BYU was blowing out the Navy Non-practicers 55-to-3 in 2020 BYU only rolled out 31 guys on defense. But anyway, to the positions.
Safeties were interesting. Malik Moore of course owned his position. But the other safety spot was relatively split with 13 snaps for Hayden Livingston, 10 for Ethan Slade, and 8 for Ammon Hannemann.33. Hannemann's position breakout by snap, according to PFF if curious: 21 at slot corner, 8 at safety, 6 in the box, 2 at corner, 1 punt return defense.
Overall the secondary lineup was pretty democratic. Hanneman and Moore played the most snaps (each with 38 snaps of 59 total), while the top four corners on the depth chart rotated pretty evenly (Jeudy-Lally 29 snaps, Robinson 28, Mandell 26, Hayes 26). I really like that foursome. They were on the field for 64 passing snaps and were collectively thrown at only 7 times.
Overall the secondary lineup was pretty democratic. Hanneman and Moore played the most snaps (each with 38 snaps of 59 total), while the top four corners on the depth chart rotated pretty evenly (Jeudy-Lally 29 snaps, Robinson 28, Mandell 26, Hayes 26). I really like that foursome. They were on the field for 64 passing snaps and were collectively thrown at only 7 times.
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