Monday Morning Offensive Breakdown (BTI's Rants and Ramblings)

On3 imageby:Bryan the Intern09/20/21

BryantheIntern

It’s time for your Monday Morning Offensive Breakdown and after 2 weeks of tons of positives and optimism, a little crash back to earth against Chattanooga. We’ll look back on Week 3 as either the point where we realized the offense actually wasn’t as good as we hoped or as the wake-up call an overconfident group needed coming into the meat of the UK schedule.

That doesn’t mean there were no positives on Saturday because there were still explosive plays to be had. But the overall efficiency was just not there and almost cost the Cats an embarrassing loss. So take a deep dive into the UK offense broken down by down and distance:

1ST DOWN

Against Chattanooga
Rush: 13 rushes for 51 yards, 1 TD
Pass: 11-14, 124 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Combined Season Stats
Rush: 58 rushes for 343 yards, 4 TD (2 fumbles)
Pass: 25-37, 460 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT
(1 sack allowed)

Analysis: A couple of touchdowns here and overall a pretty good yards per play average. But the rushing game especially just couldn’t find the big holes, with the longest run of 11 yards and over half the runs going for 4 yards or less. Levis was efficient in the passing game outside of the poor interception in the 2nd half. The playcalling was very pass-heavy early but ended up a near 50-50 split for Liam Coen.

2ND DOWN

Against Chattanooga
Rush: 7 rushes for 39 yards
Pass: 9-14, 93 yards, 1 TD

Combined Season Stats
Rush: 32 rushes for 239 yards, 2 TD
Pass: 16-28, 158 yards, 1 TD (2 sacks allowed)

Analysis: Much like first down the overall stats were pretty solid. The running game averaged over 5 yards a carry and Levis had a high completion percentage and a touchdown. But the chunk plays were just not there like they’ve been in the first 2 weeks. The big play being the Cummings touchdown in the 4th quarter. One positive is the decent yardage did put the Cats in more 3rd and short situations than long.

3RD DOWN AND LONG (6 YARDS AND MORE)

Against Chattanooga
Rush: No Plays
Pass: 1-3, 23 yards, 1 INT (converted 1 of 3)

Combined Season Stats
Rush: 1 rush for 7 yards (converted 1 of 1)
Pass: 10-15, 211 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 sack allowed (converted 8 of 16)

Analysis: Cats actually didn’t face this situation very many times, converting 1 of 3 opportunities. For the season, still hitting over 50% of these 3rd and long situations is an amazing improvement over past years. The Monday Morning Offensive Breakdown has struggled to keep track of these ugly stats since 2018 so it is refreshing to deliver some positive news for once.

3RD DOWN AND SHORT (5 YARDS OR LESS)

Against Chattanooga
Rush: 4 rushes for 25 yards (converted 2 of 4)
Pass: 2-4, 18 yards (converted 2 of 4)

Combined Season Stats
Rush: 10 rushes for 50 yards, 1 TD (converted 6 of 10)
Pass: 4-6, 27 yards, 2 TD, 1 sack allowed (converted 4 of 7)

Analysis: Cats actually downgrade a little here from the first 2 weeks. Hitting 50% is OK but to not convert 4 different times during the game is a key reason the Mocs stayed in the game. For now we’ll consider this a blip on the radar and not indicative of a trend. Against a better opponent in South Carolina, Cats need to go up from 50% though. Extending drives will be key.

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