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SALT LAKE CITY — On a warm, sunny afternoon in Salt Lake City, the temperature in Rice-Eccles was significantly hotter as the Utes offense exploded behind starting quarterback Travis Wilson.
Utah rushed out to a 49-0 lead at the half before cruising to a 70-7 win over Weber State.
There was no letdown for Wilson, who built on his solid performance last week to lead the offense with five touchdowns — three passing and two rushing. His final statistics? 14-19 for 264 yards and three touchdowns passing, three carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns rushing.
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The most common complaint regarding Wilson was that he wasn't "athletic" enough to be considered a threat in the rushing game. He proved those doubters wrong, unleashing breakaway speed for touchdown runs of 38 and 51 yards.
To say that Utah has solidified its quarterback situation for the 2013 season is an understatement, as Wilson finished with a quarterback rating of 242.5.
That said, here are three other observations about Utah's win vs. Weber State:
Slow start for the offensive line
The offensive line struggled to get the rushing attack going early. While the Utes finished with over 300 yards rushing, in the first quarter they only had 37. After some adjustments the Utes finally got into a groove, but the Utes need to figure out how to get the rushing attack running on all cylinders as they head into conference play next week against Oregon State.
Tenny Palepoi is the real deal
Replacing Star Lotulelei is no easy task. But Palepoi is doing his best to fill into the shoes of the first round NFL draft pick. Palepoi was constantly in the backfield, racking up four sacks according to my count (only 1.5 on official stat sheet). The Utes front four was able to put pressure without having to bring the blitz.
Big plays of 20+ yards
Big plays make for exciting football. Wilson had two runs over thirty yards that went for touchdowns, while adding passes of 57 yards to Dres Anderson and 80 to Sean Fitzgerald, both of which went for scores. Dennis Erickon's influence on Utah's offense can already be seen in the Utes first two games.
