Throwing only 26 passes throughout the entire game, as the Utes did Thursday night against Utah State, seemed to be the character of the old offense for the U football team- rather than the much-hyped new brand of football.
However, giving the ball to running back Brandon Warfield was just too easy against the Aggies.
“If he is going to run the ball that way, then why not keep giving it to him?” U quarterback Brett Elliott said.
Warfield ran the ball 33 times for 173 yards, but many eyes were focused on the play of the quarterbacks, which was far from remarkable.
The question of what two quarterbacks would play was answered at game time, as both Elliott and sophomore Alex Smith saw action.
Elliott took the vast majority of the snaps, and in the limited passes he threw, he didn’t perform extremely well.
“The players were there but I just couldn’t make the passes,” Elliott said.
In the first half, Elliott looked good on the second Ute offensive drive of the game, which resulted in a touchdown pass to receiver Larry Miles.
After that, however, Elliott threw two interceptions, both of which were in Aggie territory.
“I just struggled with my reads today,” Elliott said.
The first pass that was intercepted was overthrown into the end zone, while the second pass was a hurried toss into a crowded defensive backfield.
Elliott finished the game completing 11-of-19 passes for only 94 yards and a touchdown.
Although Smith played mostly at a time where the game was in hand, he still put up impressive numbers.
The sophomore completed five of seven passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
Smith’s performance may cause some controversy for next week, but Elliott will still likely get the start, considering he played during manyh of the game’s most pivotal moments.
Regardless of which quarterback was playing, the Utes didn’t seem to have much trouble moving the ball on the ground-and that includes several runs by the quarterbacks themselves.
“We had them on their feet through the whole game,” Warfield said.
Still, U football coach Urban Meyer was not happy with what he saw.
“I was not pleased with the offense,” Meyer said “When we get this thing going, you will really see what this offense can do.”
Even though Meyer’s club didn’t play up to their full potential, the team still put 40 points on the scoreboard.
“If we can up 40 points on a bad day, then we feel pretty confident about it,” Elliott said.
But the Utes must get more efficient if they wish to compete with the tougher teams on the schedule.
“We have to play great defense and limit turnovers on offense,” Meyer said.
This was the first game with the new offense, but there is no time for poor play, as Texas A&M is up next.
“We don’t have time to get comfortable [in the offense], because of our conference schedule,” Warfield said.
Elliott, however, seems to be the player that needs to get focused very quickly.
“I got more comfortable throughout the game,” Elliott said. “We should play better next time.”