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SALT LAKE CITY — Were you impressed?
It's a question Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham opened up his press conference with Saturday night following his team's lackadaisical defeat of Oregon State.
The game was unceremonious and a slight upgrade to that of a competitive scrimmage on the road to Utah's seventh win of the season. Although the game lacked an overwhelming feeling of excitement, it was still a win. It was a win that gets Utah one step closer to its eventual goal of making it to the Pac-12 Championship game in December.
"I'm impressed with the win, because we got a win," Whittingham said. "I'm probably way too hard on everybody and expect perfection. You just need to be happy with a win. In the Pac-12, you're happy with a win any way they come, any week they come."
As the No. 13-ranked team in the country, Utah has had flashes of brilliance followed by sporadic episodes of mediocre play, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Prior to losing to USC, Utah was considered one of, if not the best teams in the country based on its strong resume. Now, with only four games left in the regular season, Utah has exposed some of its weaknesses and still has more to prove in its pursuit of a special season.
Saturday's effort against Oregon State was lackluster and unfortunate based on what has come to be expected from Utah after a 6-0 start. On the surface, the Utes were bland against the Beavers — a "meh" performance. But behind the quiet effort of the second and third quarter was an offense that managed its expectations well and did everything it needed to in securing a win.
Quarterback Travis Wilson threw for 198 yards and one touchdown on 14-of-17 passing, and was a much more efficient version of himself than the week prior when he threw four interceptions, including a pick six against the Trojans.
"This game I really focused on really taking care of the football, but still taking some shots down the field," Wilson said after the game. "I definitely had a lot to prove after the performance at the USC game and I just wanted to come out (Saturday) and give it my all and leave everything out on the field."
"He's was accurate," Whittingham said. "Even though it wasn't big numbers, when he was asked to throw he did a nice job."
Against the Beavers, the game plan appeared to be that of taking a quick double-digit lead, which Utah easily did, and then maintaining the flow of the game until the clock struck zero; forcing Oregon State to beat you instead of taking it to them. But Whittingham, instead, said the game plan was to "establish the run game and then play-action pass off the run and try to hit some big ones down the field, get some chucks."Utah ran 12 consecutive rushing plays to start the game before opening up the playbook when Wilson found Harrison Handley on a wheel route for a 39-yard touchdown. But that type of play to Handley was few and far between against the Beavers. Whittingham expected more shots down field and an offense that was more productive.
"We should have thrown more," Whittingham said. "That seems to be a recurring theme. We need to throw the ball more, especially to Scottie. Usually good things happen when Scottie gets the ball thrown to him."
The question Utah needs to address is whether it should stick with the grind-it-out fashion run game behind Devontae Booker with some occasional deep passes or maintain a goal of having a more balanced attack using the spread offensive scheme: a 250-yard night in both the run and passing game.
Although individual game plans differ, Utah said after the USC loss that the overall offensive approach was too pass-heavy after Booker was allowed only 14 touches in the losing effort. Against Oregon State, the passing game was too light, with more needed in the play-action game. Is it a matter of being too reactive to the previous game's performance for the coaching staff or is it all about scheming against the current opponent?
"The whole objective when the clock struck zero was to make sure that we're 7-1, and that's what we accomplished," Whittingham said. "That was the No. 1 objective. How we got that done wasn't really of consequence tonight, but obviously we've got some things to fix and some issues."
A flashy, blow-out-the-Beavers win wasn't necessary for Whittingham; it was all about getting the win, whether by a single point or more didn't matter. And most importantly, it was an opportunity to shake off the effects of losing to USC and not letting them beat Utah twice. But with the USC loss and the Oregon State win behind the program, it's time to hone in on a more consistent offense in the final four games of the regular season.
"We've got to figure that out," Whittingham said. "We can't be inconsistent as we were on offense. Although we did a lot of good things on offense, we've got to be more consistent throughout the game."
