Grading Utah’s lackluster win over Southern Utah


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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah shutout Southern Utah in its season-opening game, beating the Thunderbirds 24-0. The game is the first time a Utah team has shutout an opponent since the 2012 season when the Utes beat Northern Colorado 41-0.

In Thursday night's matchup, the highlight was the fact that football was back. Simply put, the game was boring and vanilla. Although much of that was by design, it was clear Utah wasn’t able to dominate the game the way it had predicted. While it’s easy to be discouraged by the lackluster start to the season, all is not lost for Utah fans.

The following is a grading of Utah’s performance against Southern Utah.

Offense: C+

To start, it’s refreshing to see an offense that has a semblance of a passing game. Yes, it was against Southern Utah, but the passes from quarterback Troy Williams were delivered on target and on time. Williams and the receivers around him, namely Tim Patrick, Troy McCormick, Tyrone Smith and Raelon Singleton, were a breath of fresh air for Utah fans.

In total, Utah had 298 passing yards, with Patrick taking the bulk of that with 105 yards and two touchdowns on five catches, including a 57-yard touchdown pass from Williams in the fourth quarter. Williams finished the game going 20-of-35 for 272 yards and two touchdowns.

Although the passing game was improved, it was the struggles on the offensive line that really set the tone for the game. Now before I get too critical, the offensive scheme on display Thursday night was generic and basic, by design, which makes it easier for opposing defenses to have an edge; however, Utah had no business getting bullied by Southern Utah.

The offensive line’s rhythm was out of sync, the ball was being snapped all over the place, and players looked stiff. While some of that can be credited to the jitters of playing real football again, it’s clear there is much to work on from the line. Williams struggled to maintain a solid presence in the pocket because it collapsed quickly as linemen missed assignments. The run game was stifled, in part, because the holes weren’t there.

Fortunately for Utah, the errors made against Southern Utah are relatively easy to correct. It’s not that the offensive line should be scrapped for a new line, it’s that the line has got a ways to go before the it is polished and in a good rhythm. Also, the more J.J. Dielman gets comfortable playing center, the better the line will be, which should happen soon.

Defense: B+

The defense started out slow, allowing the Southern Utah run game to take off. But the T-Birds’ opportunity quickly expired on its opening drive when Marcus Williams stripped the ball from Ty Rutledge and recovered the fumble. It only got worse for the T-Birds on another solid defensive play by Williams, who picked off quarterback Tannon Pedersen in the second quarter.

Overall, the defense had its way with Southern Utah, holding the program to 158 total yards of offense. Southern Utah managed 116 rushing yards, but only 42 passing yards. In addition, Utah held Steven Wroblewski, a potential NFL-caliber tight end, to only 12 yards.

With that being said, the defense wasn’t perfect. There were far too many missed tackles in the run game. Much of that was the inexperience at linebacker, but both Sunia Tauteoli and Cody Barton held their own and managed to have a solid night considering the issues with tackling Southern Utah.

Special Teams: A-

The only mark against the special teams unit was a missed 36-yard field goal attempt by Andy Phillips; however, Phillips injured his kicking foot in practice a couple weeks ago and isn’t 100 percent. The fact he’s out there kicking field goals is impressive.

Punter Mitch Wishnowsky has become the next rendition of Tom Hackett, having a solid night in his debut. Wishnowsky ended the night averaging 55.5 yards per punt, which barely outdoes Hackett’s single-game school record average of 55.4 yards. Wishnowsky downed two punts inside the 20-yard line and had a 66-yard punt. Basically, Utah is in good hands with its next Aussie punter.

Also, it appears as though Boobie Hobbs has found his home as Utah’s premier punt returner. Hobbs had several opportunities to break open a punt return for a touchdown, but narrowly missed out on avoiding a defender. He finished the game with five punt returns for a total of 55 yards.

Coaching: A-

It’s hard to really grade the coaching decisions when it was a vanilla game, particularly since Utah’s coaching staff didn’t need to open up the playbook. Any mistakes in the game were ultimately the mistakes of the players, not the coaches scheming incorrectly.

From a selfish point, I would have liked to see the coaching staff give Tyler Huntley more of an opportunity, but it’s understandable that Williams needs all the in-game reps he can get to acclimate to the game as the starter. Also, why not let Huntley try for the touchdown at the end of the game? Now I’m just being selfish.

Overall: B

Overall, it is what it is. It’s a good wake-up call ahead of the BYU game, but there’s also no need to panic. Remember when Utah’s offensive line got pushed around by Idaho State in 2014 and then came back the next week to beat up on Fresno State? Now that there is actual film to study, Utah will be better prepared to move forward with the season.

For now, focus on the fact that Utah seems to have a passing threat and can become more diverse on offense, which should open up the run game and keep defenses on their toes. Is Utah still capable of winning the South? Yes. Could this be a bad sign of things to come? Sure, but why focus on the negative?

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Josh Furlong

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