Is an up-tempo offense what Utah needs to compete?

SALT LAKE CITY — In the two weeks since fall camp started for the University of Utah football program, the overarching theme has been about the increased speed and tempo. And while the attention has been on improving the offense, the question is whether it will make the team more competitive.

As Utah adds teams like Oregon and Stanford to the schedule — teams with prolific, fast-paced offenses — the Utes are forced to address their lackluster offenses of years past and open up the playbook with improved talent.

In the offseason, Utah hired former Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson to share the offensive coordinator position with former Utes quarterback Brian Johnson and provide added leadership. Erickson's presence has already been felt, with the attention placed more on a high powered, up-tempo offense.

"We're gonna go real fast all the time, but when we want to go real fast we limit it down to what we're running — formations and all that stuff," Erickson said. "It might be in the second quarter, it might be at the beginning of the game, it might go for two or three series and then we'll go back to our regular tempo, which is also very fast."

Under Erickson's leadership, he and Johnson have put together an offense that will encompass anywhere from "three to four different speeds." In the fastest speed, the team may snap the ball with as many as 35 seconds left on the play clock, giving defenders little time to make adjustments and read the offensive scheme.

"We really control the tempo, we really dictate that as we go," Johnson said, speaking about what he hopes to see in the upcoming season. "It's not so much about going fast, it's about the change of speed that really gets the defenses moving.

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"It's a chance to get some bigger plays," Johnson added. "It's hard to go into 12 or 13 drives without any chunks. So you've got to create some chunk yardage. And us increasing the tempo and stressing the deepness and forcing (the defense's) hand, we're able to do that. The key is obviously to stretch the defense and force the tempo."

While the team is expected to occasionally utilize a no-huddle offense, Johnson said the team expects to snap the ball with at least 18 to 20 seconds left on the play clock regularly, which is an improvement on the last two years of play.

In the two years since joining the Pac-12, the Utes have averaged 64.2 plays a game and have been in the bottom 20 schools in pace of play. The offense has been lethargic and disjointed, and produced little in the way of scoring — of all the 124 FBS teams, Utah ranked 75th in points scored per game.

The offense has struggled to gain momentum and yardage, with Jordan Wynn, Jon Hays and Travis Wilson seemingly rushed against the clock. Many times in the previous two season the quarterback under center appeared rushed as the play clock nearly expired — almost as if there was no plan on the field.

Some of the problems could have been the inexperience of Johnson at offensive coordinator, but the blame likely rests on the shoulders of the quarterback play, which was always in flux. Consistency, which Coach Whittingham has spoken of ad nauseum, has been absent since Johnson led the Utes to a Sugar Bowl victory in 2009.

"We've got to get more consistency and overall production out of that position," Whittingham said. "We haven't had the guy that has played the position how we need it played from start to finish the season. We've got to get that if we're going to be any good."

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Fully padded up the Utes took the practice field for day five of fall camp and the coaches told us that the tempo is still not fast enough.

To start the 2013 season, Utah has more depth and talent in the quarterback position than they've likely ever had. Behind Wilson the Utes have sophomore Adam Schulz, freshman Connor Manning and freshman Brandon Cox. All of them have the talent and ability to pick up where Wilson leaves off if he is forced to leave the game because of an injury.

"I'm definitely really confident in the offense we have," Wilson said. "So far it's been going really well. Every day we're just progressing, getting better at it. It's still a learning process, but it's been going really well."

With a talented group of quarterbacks ready to lead the Utah offense, Johnson believe an increased tempo on offense will help the team put points on the board.

"Obviously, mathematically, if we run more plays then we've got more opportunities to score more points," Johnson said. "We want to get to the line with urgency and get the ball snapped as soon as possible."

And while the increased speed and urgency will likely add to the productivity of the offense, it is the consistency at quarterback that will make all the difference. If the offense can't move the ball, it doesn't matter how quickly the ball is snapped.

Above all, Erickson said at least the increased tempo in practice will help the defense accommodate to the play of many of the Pac-12 teams they'll face, namely Stanford and Oregon.

"It's helped our defense, too, because they're going to see that a lot as we play in the season because we play six or seven teams that run the no-huddle stuff," he said.

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