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Utah has received extensive criticism this fall because of its anemic offense. Saturday night, the Utes might not have completely silenced the critics, but they did make a statement. And it wasn't just on offense.
The Utes were averaging 20.1 points a game entering Saturday night, ranking 107th in the nation. Utah ended up scoring 28 just in the first half and tacked on 21 more in the second half for good measure to defeat California 49-27.
Every position contributed in the Ute victory. Here is how:
Quarterback: A-
Travis Wilson got the start yet again and had a decent game with decent numbers. He passed for 156 yards but averaged 9.8 yards a pass. He completed over 65 percent of his passes. He didn't throw for any touchdowns but set up plenty of rushing yards for his running backs.
Running Back: A+
You would think a full moon was out as the Wolfman came out to play. Running back John White IV scored two touchdowns and rushed for 105 yards. He averaged 4.8 yards a carry and helped out his running mate, Kelvin York, before and after York was injured in the third quarter. York still ended with 51 yards and a touchdown of his own. Even quarterback Wilson ran it in for a score.
Wide Receivers: A
Utah's wideouts showed up with three of the receivers catching balls for over 30 yards apiece. They all averaged over 10 yards a catch even though none of them scored a touchdown. They made room (and covered some space) so that White and York can run it in for the touchdowns.
Offensive Line: A
The offensive line protected the quarterback really well Saturday night, only allowing two sacks the entire game for a loss of 13 yards. The offensive line made many openings for the Wolfman to rumble up the middle for chunk yardage.
Offense: A+
For struggling all season, the Utah offense did really well and decided to show up against a Pac-12 foe, posting 49 points on 344 offensive yards. Although the Utes had 49 total points, 28 of them were scored on the offensive side of the ball. The rest of the points were scored either by the defense or special teams.
Defensive Line: A-
They sacked the quarterback four times for a loss of 20 yards. They pressured the quarterback most of the night — but not enough. Cal QB Zach Maynard still ended with 288 passing yards on the game. The running game also ran up the field for 153 yards.
Linebackers/Secondary: B+
With an interception that eventually led to a touchdown, the Ute secondary was watching closely where the ball was going. Unfortunately for the Utes, Maynard seemed to find his targets to pick up big yardage late in the game. Maynard threw for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and 288 yards in the entire game.
Defense: B+
The lasting effect is the final effect. The Utes became lazy near the end of the game to give up 21 points in the second half. Yes, they were up 42-13 entering the fourth quarter, but they need to finish games strong.
Special Teams: A++++++++++
With two 100-yard kickoff returns by Reggie Dunn (first time in school history) and four touchbacks out of eight kickoffs, the Utah special teams were just that: special. The statistic that stands out of course is four kickoff returns for 230 yards. Enough said.
Overall: A
The Utes dominated from the beginning of the game. The special teams started it off with the first of two 100-yard kickoff returns. The defense forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. The offense sealed the deal with four rushing touchdowns. Utah played very well, but near the end the Utes seemed to drag. Either way, Utah got the win and now looks forward to hosting Washington State next weekend.
Alex Rivera is the assistant sports editor of the UVU Review. You can contact him at arivera.2011@hotmail.com or through his Twitter account @A_River_Uh.
