From the stands: Year 1 in the Pac-12

Estimated read time: 5-6 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 -- Roller coaster: That is the way I would describe Utah's inaugural season in the newly formed Pac- 12 conference. The season opened with such promise with a barn burner in the Coliseum against USC, a proverbial pinch-me-we-are-in-the-big-leagues moment. With a 60 percent Jordan Wynn, Utah was a late drive away from possibly winning the Pac-12 opener. Utah then bounced back with a dominating 54-10 win versus the boys in Provo. After the bye week is when reality really set in. Especially when #9 ran out on that field after the half against Washington opposed to #3.

Up to that point Jordan Wynn was constantly under the microscope. "How's the shoulder?" he kept getting asked. In the first half against the Huskies it appeared the old Jordan Wynn was back. He was 12 of 17 for 149 yards with one touchdown and one pick while moving the Utes without hesitation up and down the field. Once Jon Hayes came out on the field the complexion of the season changed completely. Offensive Coordinator Norm Chow had to take his smooth flowing, west coast-style offense with a lot of play action and tight end action down to a simplified ‘don't turn it over' offense.

That's where I'll start with the overall evaluation:

U Fan Cast Round Table Part 1

Listen now:

Norm Chow "The Name of Chow"

U Fan Cast Round Table Part 2

Listen now:

In 2010 Utah went from averaging over 40 points per game and having an unstoppable offense under co-offensive coordinators Aaron Roderick and Dave Schramm to being a predictable, inept unit. Coach Kyle Whittingham wanted a more run-based west coast-style offense, so he called on a former Ute.

Enter Norm Chow.

When Wynn was on the field the play book was very diverse and unpredictable. Early in the season there were yards just not a lot of touchdown conversion, something that could have been predicted with the implementation of a new system. When Wynn went down Chow went into full blow damage control mode. With the lead of Chow and offensive line coach Tim Davis, John White IV emerged as one of the best big play running backs in Utah history running for 1,400 yards.

With a diverse set of ways to run the same play (hand it to White) and to minimize the turnovers by Hayes, Chow stabilized what many viewed was a sinking offensive ship. Chow will be a valuable asset moving forward with his Pac- 12 experience as well as his ability to bring in big name recruits. Year one with Chow I would consider successful considering the quarterback situation.

Wall of Whitt/Sitake

Pac-12 Scoring Defense: #1

Utah's defense ranked among the top three in
every statistical category in the Pac-12. (AP
Photo) — Utah's defense ranked among the top three in every statistical category in the Pac-12. (AP Photo)

Pac-12 Total Defense: #3

Pac-12 Rush Defense: #2

Pac-12 Pass Efficiency Defense: #1

Pac-12 Interceptions: #1

Those stats should speak for themselves. Only giving up 19 points per game this Ute defensive unit was asked time and again to save the Utes and to hold water until John White could get rolling. Only on a couple occasions this year did the Ute defense have issues with some opponents especially considering in a few games they spent a little too long on the field.

With stars like Derrick Shelby, the Kruger bros, Star Lotulelei, and Brian Blechen among others this defense had play-makers all over the field.

With the emergence of Conroy Black and Ryan Lacy on the outside this defensive unit passed every test in the Pac- 12 this season. They matched up with the likes of Matt Barkley, Robert Woods, Juron Criner, and Nick Foles and never shied away from the task; often times winning the head-to-head match ups. Moving forward with young stars like Blechen, Star (if he returns), and emerging star Eric Rowe this defense will be around the top of this conference for years to come.

In the conference of quarterbacks this defense will always keep the Utes in the Rose Bowl hunt.

Area of need: Depth

The Utes had multiple season ending injuries this season, as well as injuries to the offensive line at the beginning of the season. In a conference like the Pac-12, where week in and week out there is high level competition, having the quarterback situation like Utah did this year just won't work going forward. Utah needs a backup quarterback that is capable of at least moving the ball consistently for the offense, not necessarily a play maker.

When it became apparent this year that Jon Hayes was going to struggle reading the defenses all the pressure moved to John White. In regards to the offensive line when you need to move defensive linemen, like Latu Hemuli, over to the offensive side of the ball that shows the lack of depth you have.

If Utah has a productive back up QB this year the Utes are easily in the Pac-12 title game and who knows, maybe pulls an upset. With the early commits thus far of Elite- 11 Quarterback, Travis Wilson out of California and Gatorade Player of the Year out of Utah, Chase Hansen, Utah is sitting pretty with incoming QB's. With Wynn more- than-likely getting two more seasons, if healthy, he will prove to be a tutor for both those young kids. Utah is also addressing the offensive line by making that either priority No. 1 or 1a with their targets and early commits.

Utah QB Jordan Wynn on the sideline (AP Photo)

Before this season started, Raven and I on the U Fan Cast podcast figured 8-4 would be the water mark to set. We were not far off that prediction with the 7-5 results the Utes had this year. The one main disappointment this season would be the 3-3 home record. Utah needs to take care of home field. Returning to dominance at Rice-Eccles will be crucial next season.

All-in-all Utah is very close. If Matt Barkley leaves for the NFL, Utah will be one of the favorites next year to win the south. With this team maturing and another year under Norm Chow's system we may be close to a very big year. If Utah remains healthy and offensively consistent next season it could be a Rose-y one for the Utes.

Shane Roberts is a producer/writer for the U Fan Cast on TheUFanCast.com, a Utah-centric podcast that gives a voice to the fan. Twitter: @Shane_U_FanCast