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SALT LAKE CITY — Call it an identity crisis or failing to live up to expectations, but Utah football was not living up to the standards it had set for itself prior to the season start.
And that’s not just locker room talk about lofty expectations with little actual chance of the goals becoming a reality. No, Utah entered the season as a strong contender in the Pac-12 and was slated to have a big season. Talk about a Pac-12 Championship appearance, albeit a difficult road, was not out of the realm of possibility this season.
But after devastating losses to Washington and Washington State, two losses that were not out of Utah’s possibility of winning, the program was desperate for a reboot; an opportunity to finally showcase the hard work the players have put into the season since January.
That opportunity didn’t seem close, though, as Utah was on the back end of a two-week road trip against another Top 15 program. But Utah players said they tuned out the outside noise, continued to believe in themselves and entered the game Saturday with a chip on their shoulder and a vision for success.
What unfolded was a team-balanced approach in a 40-21 dismantling of then-No. 14 Stanford. The offense scored on seven of its nine drives, the defense limited the Stanford run game to 42 rushing yards in Bryce Love’s absence and placekicker Matt Gay was a perfect 4-of-4 in his field goal attempts, including a vital 48-yard field goal as time expired at the half.
“It’s always been there,” quarterback Tyler Huntley said following the game. “We just found a way to hurt ourselves in previous games. But I felt like we came together as a team today and put it all together.”
Huntley entered the postgame press conference repeatedly shouting, “What y’all gotta say about our receivers now?” It was the outward expression of the frustration he and the other offensive players felt over the last couple weeks. But Saturday, he and his counterparts finally lived up to the expectations.
The junior signal caller had his most impressive performance as a Ute Saturday, completing 17-of-21 passes for 199 yards and one passing touchdown — a game-changing 57-yard touchdown pass to Samson Nacua. On the play, Huntley nearly got sacked and was on one foot as he heaved the ball in Nacua’s direction for a perfectly-placed ball.
Finally, a positive play for a big-time score. Oh, and without a holding penalty to negate the drive.
“We always knew it. We were never down on ourselves that we wasn’t good or nothing,” Huntley said. “We just continued to fight through adversity and we came out with a win today.”
Utah managed 421 yards of total offense, 2 yards short of Stanford, and an all-around performance behind a diverse style of play and an aggressive mindset. But head coach Kyle Whittingham said there wasn’t any new mindset about being aggressive against the Cardinal; it was that the team was finally able to execute its drives without being hampered by penalties or dropped passes by the receivers.
Utah’s final drive of the first half was evidence of their aggressive mindset against the Cardinal. With 24 seconds remaining in the half and a 14-point lead, Utah could have seemingly taken a knee and ended the half proud of the team’s effort. But Huntley pushed the tempo, moved the chains and came away with Gay’s 48-yard field goal.
Although only 3 points, it was an indication that Utah wasn’t ready to quit and wanted to maintain its momentum going into the halftime break. It’s a drive that Whittingham said he’s most proud about and one he was least worried about with a placekicker that can consistently hit from 60 yards out.
“I thought one of the bright spots, real bright spots, was our offense’s ability to get the field goal in the first half,” Whittingham said. “It got us momentum going into halftime, so that was a big positive."
Statistically, it was the best offensive performance of the season. Utah managed to collect 68.4 percent of the night’s necessary yardage — yards remaining on a drive to score —and averaged 4.0 points per drive. That’s the most against a Power-Five opponent this season by a long shot. Utah’s next best performance was against Washington State, where they only managed 41.6 percent of necessary yardage and 2.0 points per drive.
Similarly, Utah’s play-calling was predominantly run-heavy against the Cougars, finishing at 69.4 percent of all plays. The strategy worked against the Cougars, but penalties and a lack of push in the second half crippled Utah. But Whittingham said that as long as the offense stays on schedule, Utah has a lot of flexibility in its play-calling.
“I think that’s a common denominator with everybody,” he said. “If you can stay ahead of the chains, you have a lot of options, and we were ahead of the chains most of the night.”
