During Utah’s Pac-12 opener against USC last week on Friday Sept. 23, the Utes managed to come back from a 24-10 deficit in the third quarter, and they won the game, 31-27.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham said that he was pleased with the way his offense performed, but added that junior quarterback Troy Williams played well. Whittingham continued on to say that he was “lights out” on the last few drives of the game, and it felt good to get a win over USC. He thinks Williams has done a nice job as the starting quarterback because he has quick release, a strong arm and, most importantly, he is decisive.
“It is awesome the way Troy has stepped up,” Whittingham said. “For Troy, to demonstrate and become a leader in such a short period of time really speaks to his maturity, how he handles himself and how his teams see him.”
In the final quarter, Utah mounted a comeback. After two fourth-down conversions and a 93-yard drive, Williams threw the game-winning touchdown to senior Tim Patrick with 16 seconds remaining, ultimately snagging the victory.
“I feel like I played decent,” Williams said. “I did a great job just keeping my composure, handling all the emotions and finishing towards the end.”
In four games, Williams has a completion rate of 62.5 percent, he is 75-of-120 for 993 yards, and he has scored six touchdowns. However, he has thrown four interceptions. In one of his better games against USC, Williams also scored his first career rushing touchdown, and he threw over 270 yards.
“We have had a good yardage in the passing game,” Williams said. “Our running game is very effective as well. I don’t want to say I turned the tide or anything like that. I’m just trying to go out there and continue to contribute to my team.”
Williams said that although he feels like his progression over the season is coming along, he wants to continue to try to get better each week. Williams added that he will continue to put in the extra work after practice and do anything that can help separate himself from the rest.
“I also want the offense to just continue to work on taking care of the ball,” Williams said. “We had a couple of fumbles out there. Just continue to finish in our red zone and score touchdowns. We love Andy [Phillips], three-points are good all the time, but we want to score [touchdowns] and put some teams away.”
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