Analysis: Utah's visit from Cal felt like a referendum on season, and Utes came through

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah had to win Saturday.

No, the Pac-12 was not handing out the conference championship trophy, but Saturday mattered. Off a bye, which was preceded by a tough-to-stomach loss at Oregon State, at home, and against a Cal team they should beat no matter who was at quarterback, the Utes needed to win.

In some ways, Saturday's 34-14 victory felt like a referendum; a referendum on this season, what this Utah team is, and maybe what this Utah team could still be if some puzzle pieces start to fit correctly and some things beyond just Cam Rising's availability start to break right.

A no-show Saturday, or even a too-competitive win, would have told you all you needed to know about what the last six weeks of this fall will be.

Whatever you think about the Utes and where they're going, Saturday was a reason for optimism. They looked as healthy as they've been all season, the defense continues to leave a sizeable mark on opponents, Bryson Barnes did more than he was probably asked to do, Sione Vaki upped his workload considerably, and in the end, Utah gets to keep playing games that matter as October wears on.

If you've been paying attention to this program this season, and you don't think it absolutely had to get one Saturday, well, pay closer attention.

Sione Vaki goes both ways to rave reviews

By the time Utah showed up in Corvallis on Sept. 29, Micah Bernard was out for the season and Ja'Quinden Jackson was out that night, so in an effort to provide some depth, if not a spark, sophomore safety Sione Vaki was given a small handful of plays as a running back.

That experiment worked well enough that Vaki's offensive play sheet was expanded vs. Cal as Jackson returned, but now Chris Curry is out for the season after a non-contact injury in practice Monday.

Vaki had a coming out party and finished with 15 carries for 158 yards and two touchdowns as Utah used him in a variety of ways: as a running back, as a quarterback out of the Wildcat, and as a potential receiver on a wheel route that did not hit.

Back to providing a spark. Utah's offense has been anemic. Entering the day, its passing offense ranked last in the Pac-12 and 121st nationally, and last in the Pac-12 and 125th nationally in total offense. The running game has largely been on a milk carton as teams have flooded the box, knowing that there hasn't been much of a passing threat lately.

So, here comes Vaki, who was a slot receiver at Liberty High in California with some legitimate athleticism, terrific vision out of the backfield, and the ability to handle the ball in a number of ways. Based on what Utah's offense has been, to say Vaki provided a spark would be an understatement.

Whittingham indicated postgame that not only would Vaki continue to play offense, but that offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig would continue adding plays to the 15 Vaki had for Saturday.

Whittingham did admit there will be a need to keep an eye on giving Vaki too much responsibility while playing both ways, but there didn't seem to be much concern, including the physical toll such a responsibility may take.

For what it's worth, I do think this whole thing is a bit of an indictment on the offense, that they had to pull a defensive player over to offense to get things going. Vaki had seven touches against Cal before Jaylon Glover got on the field, and his first target came before Devaughn Vele's first target.

Vaki only had two targets, but on the first one, he ran a little wheel route up the right sideline, only to have Barnes put too much air under the pass and overthrow him on a play that looked destined for a touchdown if they could have connected. That particular play had a bit of a different feel to it, almost like Vaki was the most-capable playmaker at Barnes' disposal.

Whittingham compared the whole thing to when he had Eric Weddle and Matt Asiata playing offense years ago. That's how capable a weapon Whittingham believes Vaki is.

Bravo, Bryson Barnes

Let's get two things out of the way first.

One, Barnes and Whittingham both revealed postgame that the spearing of the former absorbed at Oregon State, which sent him to the hospital that night, turned out to be just bruised ribs, which seems insane if you saw the play. Two, Barnes working his way through bruised ribs to start Saturday is commendable, because that is a very tough thing for just regular people to deal with, let alone football players who are supposed to be inherently tough and OK with physicality.

Utah's quarterback situation has been a mess, from Barnes starting the opener with Nate Johnson making cameos, to Barnes getting bench at Baylor, to Johnson's struggles, to Johnson getting benched at Oregon State, to Johnson coming back in that game after Barnes got speared.

At the midway point, Whittingham believes Barnes gives his team the best chance to win, and he's right for two reasons. Barnes has a better command of the playbook and, more importantly, Barnes throws a better ball and is more capable of moving the offense. Unless Rising shows up at some point, this now feels like it's Barnes' offense for better or worse, simply because he's better than Johnson.

To say Barnes was unspectacular Saturday is unfair, but that's because he didn't need to be, nor does he ever need to be. Barnes needs to run the offense, not turn the ball over, and here and there, make a throw, make a play. He did all of that, going 15-for-21 for 128 yards, plus 50 rushing yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

You're probably going to need more than that through the air if you think you can beat USC at the LA Coliseum, but for now, he did everything he was asked to do against Cal, if not a little more. Utah was 11th in the Pac-12 and 117th nationally in scoring offense at 19.2 points per game. They scored 34 against the Golden Bears as Barnes directed scoring drives of 10 and 15 plays, respectively, plus two other drives that went double-digit plays.

A couple of balls he threw probably get picked off by better teams, granted, but there's not a ton to complain about on a day the offense rushed for 317 yards.

The big question now is, what about Johnson? That two-QB plan that worked against Florida, but faded at Baylor, was not in the cards Saturday as Whittingham said Johnson did not have a role, but was No. 2 on the depth chart. Whether or not his speed and athleticism will see a role at USC remains to be seen.

Utah is getting healthy

This has been an uncommon season in terms of the amount of injuries Utah has incurred, and that doesn't include Rising and Brant Kuithe, both of whom sustained season-ending knee injuries last season. The good news, though, is that the Utes are finally starting to get healthy.

Ja'Quinden Jackson, banged up for most of this season, looked as good as he has in weeks, finishing with 94 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Connor O'Toole made his season debut at defensive end with a half-sack and a pass breakup. Devaughn Vele and Money Parks both played, Simote Pepa is fully integrated into the defensive line rotation, Van Fillinger returned from injury with two sacks.

Johnny Maea, the projected starting center during fall camp, dressed and warmed up as the No. 2 center, but did not play. If and when Maea is finally ready, that center position is still intriguing. Koli Faaiu started in place of Jaren Kump, who started the first five games. Kump warmed up as the No. 3 center. It is unclear if Maea steps in for Faaiu when ready, or if that turns into an in-season practice competition.

Other things on my mind

• The targeting call in the second half on Cole Bishop was at best, questionable. Whittingham did a nice job of keeping things politically correct postgame, but you could tell his initial reaction to the play was somewhat incredulous. Utah is appealing the call, but as of now, Bishop is suspended for the first half at USC, which is significant given the Trojans' stable of skill position talent. If the call is upheld and Bishop has to sit, Nate Ritchie will start.
• Back to Jackson for a moment. There were a couple of runs where he got to the second level, took on a defender, and ran him over. When Jackson is going well, he is a load to bring down. Furthermore, he did a nice job of picking up the blitz once or twice in pass protection, which was an offseason point of emphasis.
• Mikey Matthews leads Utah in receptions (21) and receiving yards (202) after catching all seven of his targets for 53 yards. Matthews has looked very capable in taking on an immediate primary workload, which makes you think about back at the start of spring ball when Whittingham made a very loose Britain Covey comparison before walking it back a bit in an effort to suppress some hype that had built as a result.
• There were a couple of real breakdowns in the secondary, which isn't a new thing this season. Redshirt freshman Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who was making his first start, overthrew his receivers who had gotten a step on defenders two or three times. On at least two of those, a completion was likely going for a long score. On the 48-yard touchdown in the first quarter from Mendoza to running back Jadyn Ott, Lander Barton whiffed on a tackle, and there wasn't another Utah defender in the same zip code as Ott scampered in.
• Aside from the touchdown, Utah quietly did a nice job defending Ott, the Pac-12's second-leading rusher entering the day, holding the true sophomore to just 46 yards on eight carries. Cal finished with just 66 rushing yards, a shade under what the Utes' No. 3-ranked rushing defense is giving up per game.

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