LARAMIE, Wyo8212;Fans waiting for a Utah offensive eruption have to be asking where Utah’s second possession of the second half was all game in Utah’s 40-7 win over the Wyoming Cowboys.
It took Utah just two plays and 33 seconds for Brian Johnson to nearly double his passing output in the first half as he hit Freddie Brown on a 41-yard pass before capping off the drive with a 13-yard swing pass to Matt Asiata to take 34-0 lead. It was Utah’s second offensive touchdown of the game.
The wind played a huge factor on offense for both teams.
“It was tough for both for both offenses to move the ball under those circumstances,” said U head coach Kyle Whittingham. “The wind from start to finish, so neither team was very productive.”
The Cowboys actually out-gained the Utes in total offense with 252 yards, despite having one of the worst offenses in the country. Utah’s 242 yards of total offense was their lowest output of the season. Utah also had 119 yards through the air, the lowest total of the season. Brian Johnson finished with 110 yards on 10-for-19 throwing, his lowest output in a full game.
“The wind is more damaging to an offense than the rain or snow,” Whittingham said. “When you get the wind like that, it’s very difficult to throw the football in either direction.”
Despite the wind and the stronger focus on the ground game, Utah went the entire game without a turnover, the first time it has managed that feat all season.
“I’m very pleased we did not turn the ball over for the first time all year we haven’t turned the football over,” Whittingham said. “That was a positive there.”
Because of the wind, backup quarterback Corbin Louks saw his most productive day of the season. He led the team with 50 yards on the ground on nine carries, and even completed a screen pass in the first half for 9-yard gain.
Despite strong and steady wind gusts that reached upwards of 45 to 50 MPH, Utah’s offense could have stretched its lead bigger than its 27-0 at halftime.
Utah’s average starting field position in the first half was its own 46-yard line and included drives that started on Wyoming’s 41-, 49- and 47-yard line. Utah managed just six points on two Louie Sakoda field goals from 50- and 39-yards out on drives that started on Wyoming’s side of the field.
“It was tough. The wind kept changing, it actually changed (direction) twice,” Johnson said.
Utah didn’t get its first third-down conversion until 1:52 left in the first half. The team’s first offensive touchdown did not come until five seconds left in the second quarter on a 15-play 63-yard drive that included just three passes and one completion for seven yards. Johnson finished the first half with 28-yards passing on 5-for-11 passing.
“We just have to make plays, that’s the bottom line, regardless of the conditions” Johnson said. “All I can do is go out and try to execute what we’re trying to do offensively.”
After a stalled offensive drive to open the second half and the wind calm momentarily, Utah started its first and only second-half offensive scoring drive from its own 46-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Johnson faked a screen, and then threaded a needle to a streaking Freddie Brown, down the left side of the field.
“Brian threw a nice hole shot, what we call a hole shot,” Whittingham said. “The corner bit on the bubble screen and we played the ball right over the top, where it should be, to Freddie. It was a great throw.”
The 41-yard pass was the Utes longest play of the game. On first down from the Wyoming 13-yard line, Utah found success with some misdirection once again. Brian Johnson faked a reverse to the left and then rolled out to the right and found Asiata, who had flared out of the backfield, for Utah’s most efficient and quickest offensive score of the season.
“Brian made a couple of nice throws, but still, consistently you’re not going to be able to complete that many balls in that kind of weather,” Whittingham said.
But that’s about all the offensive fireworks Utah would display on the day. Utah had just 242 yards on offensive, gained 119 through the air, and tallied 123 yards on the ground.
“Botton line is, we wanted to come out here and jump on them early and be 7-0,” Johnson said.