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SALT LAKE CITY — From Heisman trophy winner Johnny Manziel to the elusive Chuckie Keeton at Utah State, college football is full of great quarterbacks.
Especially in the Pac-12. Four of the nation's top quarterbacks call the "Conference of Champions" home.
Some names on the list of top quarterbacks so far in 2013 you'll recognize — Arizona State's Taylor Kelly, Oregon's Marcus Mariota and UCLA's Brett Hundley. The fourth? Utah's Travis Wilson.
You're joking, right?
Nope.
Travis Wilson's five touchdown performance against Weber State "was one of the finest quarterback performances in the last decade" (ESPN Stats & Info).
"He did a nice job," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "He threw the ball efficiently again for the second week in a row. He didn't get 300 yards, but his completion percentage was outstanding. No interceptions."
A nice job? Yeah, you could say that! Throwing for 264 yards and three touchdowns might be normally deemed just a nice job, but the fact that it all came in just 30 minutes is far more impressive. Breaking that down, Wilson had the Utes offense averaging 8.8 yards per minute through the air.
- 1. Jameis Winston, FSU - 252.2
- 2. Bryce Petty, BAY - 249.5
- 3. Teddy Bridgewater, LOU - 228.1
- 4. C.J. Brown, MD - 216.0
- 5. Taylor Kelly, ASU - 208.7
- 6. Corey Robinson, TROY - 206.7
- 7. Blake Bortles, UCF - 203.6
- 8. Travis Wilson, UTAH - 202.2
- 9. Maxwell Smith, UK - 202.1
- 10. Aaron Murray, UGA - 194.8
- 1. Bryce Petty, BAY - 98.3
- 2. Marcus Mariota, ORE - 97.3
- 3. C.J. Brown, MD - 97.3
- 4. Brett Hundley, UCLA - 96.9
- 5. Teddy Bridgewater, LOU - 96.8
- 6. Jameis Winston, FSU - 96.3
- 7. Taylor Kelly, ASU - 96.3
- 8. Nate Sudfeld, IND - 93.1
- 9. J.W. Walsh, OKST - 93.1
- 10. Travis Wilson, UTAH - 92.0
- 1. Travis Wilson, UTAH - 99.7 (WEB Wk 2)
- 2. Zach Mettenberger, LSU - 98.6 (UAB Wk 2)
- 3. C.J. Brown, MD - 98.1 (FIU Wk 1)
- 4. J.W. Walsh, OKST - 98.1 (UTSA Wk 2)
- 5. Marcus Mariota, ORE - 97.7 (NICH Wk 1)
- 6. Teddy Bridgewater, LOU - 97.2 (OHIO Wk 1)
- 7. Marcus Mariota, ORE - 97.0 (UVA Wk 2)
- 8. Brett Hundley, UCLA - 96.9 (NEV Wk 1)
- 9. Derek Thompson, UNT - 96.6 (IDHO Wk 1)
- 10. Jameis Winston, FSU - 96.3 (PITT Wk 1)
Wilson even showcased that he isn't just a throwing quarterback, breaking off touchdown runs of 38 and 51 yards.
"You saw his speed capability," Whittingham added. "I think you got an idea of what kind of speed he has on those two long runs."
"Travis was amazing," wide receiver Dres Anderson said. "I felt like he was going for the Heisman Trophy. He was running, passing, all of that. He looked great."
Wilson's quarterback rating on Saturday against the Wildcats was 99.7, the best single game performance by a quarterback since Andrew Luck posted a 99.9 against Cal in December of 2010.
Through two games, Wilson's quarterback rating is 92.0, good enough for tenth in the nation. Just looking at passer ratings, Wilson ranks even higher, coming in at No. 8 with a 202.2 rating.
The high ranking is partly due to the fact that Utah has been successful finding plays of 20 yards or more. The Utes had nine in the first half against Weber State — five of them were passing plays. In week one against Utah State, the Utes had six plays of 20 yards or more — all passes.
"We really lacked in making big plays last year," Travis Wilson said. "That's something we really emphasized, and so far the last two games have been really good."
The Utes begin conference play as they host Oregon State (1-1) Saturday night in Rice-Eccles.
