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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utes are preparing this week for their first road game of the young 2015 season. Utah's opponent, Fresno State, is one that the Utes are fairly familiar with, having played them last year in Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Here's a look back at the 2014 matchup between the Utes and the Bulldogs, a 59-27 Utah win.
There was plenty of intrigue heading into the game on both sides. Utah was playing its first real opponent that season, having only played and defeated FCS foe Idaho State. The Bulldogs were hoping that a 52-13 loss at USC the week before wasn't indicative of things to come.
Utah's defense was solid right from the get-go, forcing five straight Fresno State three and outs, while the offense showcased some fireworks of their own. Quarterback Travis Wilson threw touchdown passes to Kenneth Scott, Dres Anderson and tight end Westlee Tonga as the Utes opened up a 24-0 lead halfway through the second quarter.
"I was really pleased with the offense, the tempo and the execution," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "The offense just played a really clean game. Travis looked good, really distributing the ball well for us."
Wilson's first three touchdown passes matched his career high, but he wasn't close to being done.
Utah Utes wide receiver Dres Anderson (6) catches a touchdown over Fresno State Bulldogs defensive back Curtis Riley (9) as the University of Utah plays Fresno State in NCAA football Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014, in Salt Lake City. Tom Smart Deseret News
After Fresno State finally got on the board, Wilson and the Utes answered less than two minutes later, finding the end zone on a 36-yard sideline catch and run by Scott.
Wilson added another score to open the second half, this time to Anderson. At that point, the Utes were up 38-7, and Wilson's day was done. Wilson's five touchdown passes were the most for a Ute since 2008 when Brian Johnson had five against San Diego State.
"(The game) came a little bit easy to me today," Wilson said. "We would like to have a few more completions, but we made some big plays off of the completions that we did make. I am just happy that we connected a lot in the end zone with the passing game."
Utah's defense, meanwhile, racked up seven sacks and defensive end Nate Orchard recovered a fumble.
"Guys were just relentless, just wanted to get to the quarterback and help our defensive backs out and we do that by getting sacks," Orchard said.
The Bulldogs made the score somewhat respectable by adding three touchdowns in the second half, mostly against the Utes second string defense.
"Really, the only negative is that we got a little sloppy at the end. With the No. 2 defense out there, that is going to happen sometimes. Still, we have to better than that," Whittingham said.
Fresno State finished the 2014 regular season with a record of 6-6, earning a trip to both the Mountain West Conference championship game as well as the Hawaii Bowl. The Bulldogs lost both of those games to finish 6-8, far from their 11-2 campaign in 2013 in which they were essentially one game away from playing in a BCS game. Robert Jackson is the cross platform sports and weather producer for ksl.com and KSL-TV.
