Should Utah run more hurry-up offense?

At his Monday afternoon press conference, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham still didn’t have many answers for his team’s second-half offensive letdown in the 35-28 loss to No. 5 Washington.

Utah looked as good on offense as it has all season in the first half, gaining 306 total yards, with 238 of those coming through the air via quarterback Bryson Barnes.

Two-way player Sione Vaki was explosive on a 53-yard catch-and-run, and wide receiver Devaughn Vele had a fantastic performance with four catches for 122 yards.

“We were outstanding in the first half after the first two drives faltered. We had four straight touchdown drives, over 300 yards of offense, a bunch of first downs and really, probably our best half of football, maybe of the season,” Whittingham said.

The Utes scored four consecutive touchdowns and entered the halftime break up 28-24, believing they could pull off an upset that could have big ramifications in the College Football Playoff rankings.

One could reasonably deduce that the Utes wouldn’t end with 600-plus yards of total offense and 56 points, but no one could have predicted the offensive performance in the second half.

Washington outgained Utah 197-76 in the final two quarters, outscoring them 11-0 to win by seven points.

Just one touchdown from the Utes could have put them in position to win the game, and even after all of the second-half offensive ineptitude, Utah still had the ball with 1:38 remaining after a blocked field goal.

But just like the previous six times they had the ball, the final drive ended with no points.

Whittingham said he’s never seen anything like what happened to Utah’s offense in the second half after such a prolific first half.

“I’ve been coaching a lot of years and I’ve never seen such a dramatic difference in two halves by an offense. We went from outstanding to not being able to do much of anything in the second half,” Whittingham said.

In the immediate aftermath postgame, Whittingham said it may have been a case of the offensive line not being as dominant up front, which led to the run game not getting going in the second half.

Barnes, who was under duress quite a few times, was inaccurate, completing 4 of 13 passes for 29 yards in the second half.

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Whittingham said postgame that he’d have to go to the tape to see more definitively if Washington was doing anything differently in the second half and what the cause of the offensive no-show was.

But after watching the film three times since the loss, Whittingham is still searching for answers.

The longtime Utah coach said that the Huskies didn’t change much schematically — he noted that Washington’s defense did go “a little more middle closed in the second-half structure and maybe just a hair less pressure,” but nothing dramatic.

“I mean, I’ve watched the film three times and can’t tell you why we were so productive in the first half. ... We blocked well, we caught well, we threw well, we ran well, we did so many good things, and then had we just done half of that in the second half, we probably could have come away with the victory,” Whittingham said.

All of that success in the first half was flipped in the second half.

When it comes down to it, Whittingham thought offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig’s playcalling, which worked wonders in the first half, was about the same in the second half, but the execution was just lacking.

“I wish we had an answer, but again, the play calling was very similar as far as our approach. There was no dramatic change in the weather. I mean there was really nothing that you can really pin it to. It was just great execution and production in the first half, not so good in the second half, to put it mildly,” Whittingham said.

Utah didn’t run the uptempo offense as much in the second half, which was a big reason for the first-half offensive success, Vele said Saturday on the ESPN 700 postgame show.

“I think pressing the tempo was our biggest thing,” he said. “When we go into that no-huddle sequence of events, I just feel like we just move the ball a lot more effectively.

“The defense doesn’t get the calls that they need. They can’t make the blitzes or the reads that they need because we’re already on the ball making a play or running the play, so I felt like that was something that was super effective for us and we’re able to utilize it to our advantage.”

When asked about if he knew why Utah went away from the uptempo offense, Vele said, “I would like to know the same reason as well. Us as players, we just do what coaches tell us to do. We can’t make the plays, we can’t tell them what to run, we just tell them what we see.

“I’d like to know as well, but we still have to work with what we’re given. We can complain, we can piss and moan, whatever, but at the end of the day, we just have to make plays. Whatever play is called, a play is a play, because we have to make it. I just felt like we didn’t do that in the second half and everyone could see why we weren’t able to finish the game off.”

Utah’s offense has looked at its best when it runs the hurry-up offense. The Utes ran the uptempo offense at times during the Arizona State game and the first half of the Washington game, and though they didn’t score a touchdown in Oregon game, Utah had its most productive drive of the game in the two-minute drill.

It’s worth noting that Utah isn’t going to run what Ludwig calls the “NASCAR series” the entire game. Ludwig will pick and choose spots to use it.

“No-huddle is as much for us, as much as anything, is the timing of it, not necessarily that we do it, but when we do it is key for us and I think no-huddle is most effective that way. If you do it the entire game it’s not as effective as if you can turn it on and off,” Whittingham said.

However, the Utes never really got into a groove to be able to go uptempo against Washington in the second half. Of Utah’s five real drives in the last two quarters (one of the six total second-half drives was a one-play safety), four ended in three- or four-and-outs.

Two things can be true here. When given an opportunity in the second half, whether that was after a completed pass or a run, the Utes elected not to run the hurry-up offense, but they did not have a lot of opportunities to do so with a lot of incomplete passes.

Here’s what happened in each of those five second-half drives.

Drive 1: Starts at 12:25 3Q, Utah leading 28-24

On the first play of the second half for Utah, Barnes pitched it to Vaki, who slipped on the wet turf, gaining just two yards.

On the next play, Barnes is pressured and dove forward while trying to escape it for a one-yard gain.

On third down, Barnes had two seconds to throw it before two Washington players broke through Utah’s offensive line on a well-designed blitz. Barnes threw it off his back foot and it almost resulted in an interception.

Drive 2: Starts at 7:56 3Q, Utah leading 28-27

Barnes has time and threw a pass to an open Miki Suguturaga just past the line of scrimmage, but Suguturaga dropped it.

On second down, Vaki ran to the outside left off of a handoff, which was blown up for a loss of four by Washington.

That puts Utah into a third-and-14 situation. Barnes had time to throw here, but Washington does a good job in coverage and the pass intended for Landen King is broken up.

Drive 3: Starts at 4:04 3Q, Utah trailing 33-28

This was, by far, Utah’s best drive of the second half.

Utah’s offensive line opened up some nice holes on the pair of Jaylon Glover runs and Barnes evaded pressure for a big gain.

Barnes’ 23-yard pass to Vele on third-and-6 was beautiful, as he let it go right before Washington defender Voi Tunuufi nailed him, leading to a roughing the passer flag that moved the ball into the red zone.

Barnes looked to grab his ribs — he played through bruised ribs against Cal — before going to the sideline. Nate Johnson entered the game and shovel passed it to Money Parks for six yards, but it was called back due to holding.

Barnes was back in the game on the next play, which was a pass to Dallen Bentley. Barnes, seeing a Washington defender on a corner blitz sprinting at him, dumped it off to Bentley, but it was just off the mark, and Bentley, as he went to try to grab it, stuck his hand out and tipped it to Washington’s Alphonzo Tuputala, who picked it off.

Tuputala had a clear pick-six, but dropped the ball before the goal line and Utah offensive lineman Michael Mokofisi jumped on it to get the ball back.

The next play would be a safety as Barnes handed the ball to Ja’Quinden Jackson deep in the end zone, Utah’s line got blown up as Spencer Fano got beat badly and Washington came away with two points.

Drive 4: Starts at 10:10 4Q, Utah trailing 35-28

Glover starts the drive out well with a nice six-yard run, then Barnes completed the pass to Suguturaga for the first down. Or so we thought. Officials called offensive pass interference, which I didn’t see on the play, and Fox commentator Brock Huard didn’t agree with the call either.

On second-and-17, Barnes got 10 yards on a quarterback run, setting up a key third-and-7. Barnes had less than two seconds before he was pressured by two Washington defenders that got through the line, and had to throw it away,

Drive 5: Starts at 1:38 4Q, Utah trailing 35-28

Utah somehow had life still after a blocked field goal when it looked like Washington had all but put the game away.

Barnes got the ball with 1:38 left in a one-score game. He had good protection on first down but sailed the pass to Mikey Matthews.

On second down, he was flushed out of the pocket and threw it to Jackson just past the line of scrimmage, and Jackson dropped it.

Barnes had time on third down, but checked it down to Jackson five yards behind the line of scrimmage, and Jackson fought to get back to the line of scrimmage.

On fourth down, Barnes felt pressure from behind and had to chuck it up, leading to an interception.