I have several reasons why I am fearful about tonight's game in Salt Lake City against No. 15 Utah. It is on the road, for one. The Beavers always seem to be a bit "down" when they are playing on the road. Almost like it takes the Beavs about a quarter or so to get their heads about them before they start playing.
The second reason to be fearful is the Beavs win last week, one of the biggest victories in the history of the program. I am afraid that perhaps the team spent more time reading press clippings than practicing (a nasty habit the program has developed over the last few years).
But the biggest reason I am fearful that the Beavers won't pull this one out is based on the Utes' running backs - and in particular the size of the Utes' running backs.
A disturbing trend has taken shape on the Beavers' defense. When the Beavers face a "big" running back, our defense makes the "big back" look like Gale Sayers.
Consider this, in our two losses to Stanford and Penn State, Toby Gearhart ( 6'1'', 228 pounds) and Evan Royster (6'1, 220 pounds) ran for 147 yards on 19 carries and 141 yards on 17 carries, respectively. In those same games, Stanford and Penn State's "smaller" backs did not fare so well. Anthony Kimble of Stanford (6'1'', 200 pounds) and Stafon Green of Penn State (5'10', 189 pounds) ran for 49 yards on 18
carries and 19 yards on 11 carries, respectively.
In our two wins over Hawaii and SUC, Hawaii's backs (Kealoha Pilares, 5'10'', 190; Daniel Libre, 5'8'', 185) and SUC's backs (Stafon Johnson, 5'11'', 210; Joe McKnight, 6', 200) ran for a total of 47 and 58 yards, respectively.
The trend developing with the Beavers defense appears to be that the Beavers have a hard time stopping bigger running backs. Exhibit A is the Beavs' defensive performance against Stanford, where the Beavers tried to knock Gearhart over, rather than wrapping him up and gang-tackling. The same failed tackling was also evident in the Penn State game.
Utah's running backs are big. Darrell Mack stands 6-foot, 220 pounds - a fireplug if there ever was one. Matt Asiata stands 5'11'', 230 pounds, a "fireplug's fireplug", for sure. These are big backs that are not going to get knocked down very easily. The Beavers have to wrap these guys up and gang-tackle, otherwise it will be a long night for the defense.
Now, if I figured this out. If I noticed this trend, then surely Mark Banker and his staff have noticed this trend as well, and made sure the team worked on tackling the big guys all week, right? I sure hope so, otherwise it is going to be a long trip home from Salt Lake City.
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