If you’re a fan of powerful, attacking football, then Saturday’s Utah vs. Houston game may not be for you.

As bad as Utah’s offense has been this season — and it has been bad, especially over the last three games — Houston’s offensive performance has been even worse.

Averaging just 303 yards per game (No. 121 in the country), the Cougars (2-5, 1-3 Big 12) are downright awful on the offensive side of the ball and have been outscored 115-33 in their four Big 12 conference games.

Houston quarterback Donovan Smith has a negative touchdown-to-interception ratio (4:8), has thrown for just 867 yards with a 65.4% completion percentage and has been sacked 17 times this season (in total, Houston has allowed 24 sacks, no .125 on FBS).

Trying to find a spark on offense after two shutout losses, Houston replaced Smith with quarterback Zeon Chriss for the Cougars’ 30-19 win over TCU two weeks ago — their first Big 12 win this season — but he left in the first quarter of the match. 42-14 loss to Kansas last week due to injury.

Chriss is expected to be available against Utah, Houston coach Willie Fritz said, but with two players returning from injury for Houston — Chriss and starting receiver Stephon Johnson — another Cougar is leaving for the season.

Starting left tackle Dakota White suffered a season-ending injury last week against Kansas, making the situation even worse for Houston in the trenches this week.

“I think he’s doing well,” Fritz said of Chriss. “Obviously this is the start of the week. He felt like it was something he was worried about. We probably could have let him go, but you just don’t want to do that so early in the game.”

If Chriss starts against the Utes, can Houston recapture some of that offensive momentum they showed against TCU? Led by the second-year signal caller, who threw for 141 yards and a score and ran for 97 yards and a touchdown, and aided by four Horned Frogs turnovers, the Cougars finally got back into the win column.

While it’s a small sample size, Chriss has been more dynamic than Smith, and if he gets the start, he’ll bring a different dimension to Houston’s offense.

Houston will face a Utah defense that has been largely good, but not yet at an elite level. Still, the Utes will pose the Cougars’ biggest defensive challenge since being shut out by No. 1 earlier this year. 10 Iowa State.

“Well, they’ve always been a very physical team, fundamentally solid in everything they do,” Fritz said. “I’ve watched them a little bit over the years, probably in the past I’ve had a chance to watch them once or twice a year and that’s what I see from them.”

Utah has been good at shutting down just about everything Houston has struggled with this season – including passing offense (Houston is No. 123 in the nation in passing yards per game; Utah is No. 27 in yards allowed ) and third-down conversions (Houston ranks No. 125 in third-down conversion rate; Utah defends third downs at the fifth-best clip in the country).

Saturday’s game could also give Utah’s defense a chance to get back on track in the things they haven’t been productive at, like generating turnovers (Houston has given the ball away 14 times this season) and sacking the opposing quarterback (Houston has allowed 24 sacks). bags this season).

Even if Utah’s defense holds Houston to an FBS-worst 13.7 points average, there’s still a problem on the other side of the ball for the Utes, who have scored under 14 points in two of their last three games .

Just like when Utah played TCU, there should be opportunities for this offense to move the ball and get into the end zone if they play at an average level, but in the last three games the offensive output has been quite below average.

Houston’s defense ranks No. 66 in points allowed per game (23.57) and No. 72 in rushing yards allowed per game (145.7). The Cougars also weren’t particularly good at getting to opposing quarterbacks, ranking No. 109 in sacks (10 on the season).

There appears to be an opportunity to bring back Micah Bernard to start against the Cougars, but until Isaac Wilson and the passing game show up, teams will continue to load the box and make it difficult for the Utes’ run game .

The area where Houston’s defense shines most is against the pass, where it ranks 19th nationally in passing yards allowed per game (173.9). Utah needs to get some production through the air to avoid its fourth straight loss, but given the way Wilson and the offense performed against TCU, which ranks 10th in passing yards allowed, it could be another uphill climb on Saturday become.

We’ll see what changes interim offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian makes in his first game at his new position and if he can help the Utes shake off the offensive blues. It starts with giving Wilson more fast routes – and hot routes – so he can get the ball out faster when he’s under pressure.

“I mean, we’re not recreating the wheel here. We’re going to keep it simple, really help our O-line, more speed and space, just simple things. Really simplify things for our team,” said Wilson.

Receiver Money Parks added that he thinks Utah will be more of an up-tempo offense under Bajakian.

Again, there doesn’t have to be a complete offensive turnaround, but if the Utes can score 21 or 28 points against Houston, they’ll likely be in a good position to break their losing streak.