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SALT LAKE CITY — From top to bottom, the Pac-12 has talented quarterbacks in place to put points on the board and run their respective offenses. In fact, a defensive focus is a rarity for nearly every team in the conference.
From Heisman front-runner Marcus Mariota to passing extraordinaire Connor Halliday, the Pac-12 has several quarterbacks that can run up the score at will. But Utah is different, in many ways.
Quarterback Travis Wilson is the leader of Utah's offense, with his faults, but he isn't being given the opportunity to make plays. It’s time Utah allows Wilson some freedom.
Last season, Wilson averaged 7.7 yards per attempt and 203 yards per game in just over half the season, accumulating 1827 yards on the season. This season, however, in one fewer game, Wilson is averaging 6.6 yards per attempt and 135.5 yards per game for a total of 1084 yards on the season.
Wilson has also taken fewer shots down the field this season, completing only 20 passes over 15 yards and 10 passes over 25 yards. Last season, Wilson completed 37 passes over 15 yards and 20 passes over 25. In comparison, the average completions in the Pac-12 over 15 yards are 48.25 and 19.34 over 25 yards. Only Washington’s Cyler Miles has comparable numbers to Wilson, and Washington ranks 11th in passing offenses in the Pac-12.
But the decrease in deep passes and overall passing production is by design. Prior to the season's start, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said the offensive scheme involved an up-tempo offense that featured quick, high-percentage passes. The reason? Keep Wilson from throwing interceptions.
Offensively, we've still got to throw the ball better in order to attack that kind of aggressive blitzing defense we faced tonight. We've got to be better putting the ball up the field and make them pay for that a little bit. In hindsight we should have thrown it a little more, but their DBs were gloving us up; we didn't have much separation.
–Kyle Whittingham
“We’ve got to be great with what we call ‘pitch and catch,’ we’ve got to have a high completion percentage, we’ve got to make the high-percentage throws,” Whittingham said in August. “You’ve still got to stretch the defense; you’ve still got to take your shots over the top to keep people honest. But we have to throw the ball at a much higher efficiency rate than we did last year.”
The problem, though, is Utah isn’t taking the “shots over the top to keep people honest.” The offense is playing conservatively, avoiding most forms of aggressiveness unless the team is in dire need of a score — see Utah’s final drives against USC, Oregon State and UCLA.
Last season Wilson lived and died by the deep pass but had 16 interceptions. Now, Wilson is the only quarterback in the country with over 150 pass attempts this season who doesn't have an interception. And while it has benefited Utah to not have interceptions with Wilson under center, the production value from the offense has gone down and Utah is ranked 12th in the Pac-12 in passing offenses.
As was evident in its game against Arizona State, Utah was content with a conservative style of play, where the team relied on running back Devontae Booker to make up most of the offense and a few short passes to occasionally mix it up. The defense and special teams were then called upon to hold Arizona State and to get the win.
“Offensively, we’ve still got to throw the ball better in order to attack that kind of aggressive blitzing defense we faced tonight. We’ve got to be better putting the ball up the field and make them pay for that a little bit," Whittingham said after Saturday's game. "In hindsight we should have thrown it a little more, but their DBs were gloving us up; we didn’t have much separation."
Although Utah may be vulnerable freeing up Wilson and allowing him to take shots down the field, it’s likely what makes him the most comfortable. Give Wilson a chance to run the offense and make some plays and see what happens. If it fails, which it could, either go back to the game plan of Booker running the ball or switch up the quarterback and get the offense moving.
At the very least, the offense needs to go back to the drawing board and find a way to get the ball in its receivers’ hands. The defense has proven to be special this season and keeps the team in the game, even with key injuries, but the offense has to contribute more than several three-and-out series.
