Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — While all eyes were on the quarterback in the grey jersey and blue helmet, it was the one that was decked out in all red whose error-free performance led his team back from a nine point deficit for a 30-26 win Thursday night.
Utah quarterback Travis Wilson threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns, completing 61% of his passes while also picking up a critical first down on the ground late in the fourth as the Utes held on to beat Utah State in Rice-Eccles Stadium.
"The team responded well," Wilson said. "We never doubted ourselves and kept our confidence up. We were able to make some big plays downfield that set us up well for our touchdowns."
- 1. Nate Sudfeld, IND: 244.7
- 2. Blake Bortles, UCF: 226.1
- 3. Nick Montana, TULN: 176.4
- 4. Travis Wilson, UTAH: 174.9
- 5. Gary Nova, RUTG: 170.1
- 6. Ross Metheny, SOAL: 164.8
- 7. Chuckie Keeton, USU: 159.9
- 8. Colin Reardon, KENT: 156.8
- 9. Keith Wenning, BALL: 156.2
- 10. Logan Kilgore, MTU: 152.2
Big plays indeed. The Utes longest pass last season was a 47-yarder in mop up duty against Washington State. Against the Aggies, Wilson had two passes over 50 yards, including a 51-yard strike to Anthony Denham on just the fourth play of the game.
"We had great efficiency in the passing game," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said.
And leadership. When the odds were stacked against them, Wilson rose up to the occasion. Down 23-14 in the third quarter, facing a third and 14 from their own 22, Wilson found Dres Anderson for a 56 yard gain despite a relentless Aggie pass rush. The play set up a field goal as the Utes scored ten points in less than a minute in a critical stretch in which Utah retook the lead.
Just a two weeks ago teammates elected Travis Wilson as a team captain — a great honor reflecting Wilson's leadership and influence on the team.
And in the Utes first game of 2013, Wilson, only a sophomore, proved that he was worthy of wearing the captain's C on his jersey, finishing with an unreal quarterback rating 174.9, averaging 10.8 yards per pass attempt (17.8 per completion).
Yes, on a night that the Utah defense struggled to contain a legitimate Heisman contender at quarterback, it was Wilson and the Ute offense that earned their stripes in a stadium that was, well, quite full of them.
