Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Ryan Davis, a New Mexico transfer, emerged as Utah's leading receiver this season.
- Utah's improved passing game led to a 48-14 win over West Virginia.
- Coach Whittingham praised the balanced offense, which had a 68% passing success rate.
SALT LAKE CITY — New Mexico transfer Ryan Davis didn't move the needle much for the Utah fan base when he transferred from New Mexico with a pair of teammates.
It wasn't so much Davis but more for the excitement of dynamic dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier — Davis' teammate in New Mexico — and the heralded freshman running back Wayshawn Parker from Washington State.
Davis had shown consistent production at New Mexico over the years, and finished as the team's second-leading receiver with 747 yards and three touchdowns last seasons. But at 5-foot-11, many were looking for a prototypical outside threat to be the team's WR1.
Through five games this season, Davis has been Utah's most consistent weapon and a focal point to help the team make strides in an all-important passing game to compliment a run-first offense that averages 242.6 yards per game.
Davis leads the team and is the sixth-best receiver in the Big 12 through the first five weeks with 348 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
His performance against West Virginia was his best to date, accounting for 107 yards and one touchdown on a perfect seven catches, while recording an 87.5 receiving grade from Pro Football Focus.
Unless otherwise overtaken, Davis is Utah's WR1, and is a proven and trusted receiver for Dampier in the passing game.
The two have shared a connection since Dampier's freshman season as a backup in New Mexico, and as such, Dampier said "our trust level is really high." That fact has shown up on the field.
"He's a guy that works during practice and it very much translates to the game," Dampier said. "So he's a hard worker for sure."
That hard work is just a part of Utah's emphasis to be more electric in the passing game, and more diverse in the play-calling all around. Though the team has found success with a multi-faceted run game, Utah learned against Texas Tech it wasn't enough.
The Red Raiders turned a strength into a one-dimensional scheme that was snuffed out en route to a 34-10 win on Utah's home field.
That type of performance couldn't happen again if Utah had any real hopes of a potential shot at a Big 12 championship. And on Saturday, offensive coordinator Jason Beck showcased a more diverse and balanced offense.
On the first Utah drive alone, Dampier had seven passing attempts on 12 plays — and they weren't just short passes, either. The first passing play was a 20-yard toss to Dallen Bentley, with several intermediate throws added on the drive.
In total, Utah had six "big-time throws," or passing plays over 15 yards, and finished with a season-high 290 passing yards in a 48-14 win over West Virginia. The passing game had a direct effect on how well Utah was able to move the ball.
Utah didn't punt once in the game and scored on all but one of the nine drives (one ended in an interception).
"We know that that was something that hurt us last week, and we needed to be able to push the ball down the field better," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "We did that this week. Receivers stepped up, answered the challenge. I thought we had a good scheme going in — a right dose of run and pass, play action off the run game. ... The throw game really was in a much higher gear this week than in weeks past."
That higher gear was made clear in the advanced stats that show the importance of an improved passing game.
Against West Virginia, Utah had a 68% success rate — picking 50% of yardage on first down, 70% on second down and 100% on third or fourth down — on passes and had season highs on pass explosives and predicted points added, or PPA.
To further the point, on expected passing plays — a play in which an offense is expected to throw the ball — Utah was even more efficient, with a 73.3% success rate.
In comparison, Utah's overall success rate against its last three opponents was under 50%, with the Texas Tech game being a season low 35.7% — so not great.
What it all means is Utah's success passing the ball on Saturday had a direct correlation with winning; or put another way, the offense moved down the field more efficiently by not being one-dimensional. In term, that kept the confidence and energy flowing throughout the game.
The result came against one of the worst teams in the Big 12, but it was a night and day difference to how Utah approached its offensive game plan. In the prior three games, Utah generally lacked the energy and aggressiveness it featured against UCLA in a blowout win.
That all changed Saturday.
And the hope for Utah football is that a more pass complimentary game plan will translate to more wins in the coming weeks — this time against tougher competition.
