Consider the rhythm established.
After a few weeks of offensive patchiness, the No. 14 Utes came out with a vengeance and then some, stamped out 549 yards of offense and beat Colorado State 49-16 to run their record to a perfect 8-0 for the year.
“Yeah, very balanced,” quarterback Brian Johnson said in terms of the offense. “We played with a chip on our shoulder.”
Balanced would be an undermining term to the showcase the Utes performed at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Utah’s offensive attack utilized six different receivers and eight different ball carries, all of which led to an exciting performance put on for the 44,793 in attendance.
“We have so many playmakers,” Johnson said in reference to his offensive cronies. “All those guys touched the ball and made positive plays.”
Head coach Kyle Whittingham said last week that the offense needed to institute plays for the “playmakers” in order to help this offense reach its notable plateau.
Mission accomplished.
Johnson went 18-for-26 for 185 yards and two touchdowns, which helped the offense shake off the rust and shine in front of its home crowd.
“It was our cleanest performance as an offense this season,” Whittingham said. “It was our most consistent performance of the season.”
Senior wideout Freddie Brown led the Utes with four receptions and 78 yards. Junior David Reed had perhaps his most impressive game as a Ute.
With Utah up 14-10, changeup quarterback Corbin Louks was in behind center. Louks faked a hand off and made a play-action pass to Reed, who was in one-on-one coverage.
Reed soared over defensive back Nick Oppenneer and snagged the jump ball out of the air for a 37-yard reception that set up Matt Asiata’s ensuing 3-yard touchdown run.
“Yeah, that was a great play by David Reed,” Louks said. “He really went up and made a great catch.”
Whittingham echoed his quarterback’s thoughts on his junior wideout from Pasadena, Calif.
“David Reed got more touches today and we tried to get him more involved in our offense,” Whittingham said.
Reed’s involvement didn’t stop with his high-wire circus catch. With Utah’s trademark two-minute offense in full swing, the Utes marched down 75 yards in a matter of 48 seconds toward the end of the first half, culminating in a 33-yard strike from Johnson to Reed to put Utah up 28-10.
Overall, the Utes played to their full abilities offensively and did it in true spread-option style.
Asiata had two touchdowns on the day, as did Louks, while Brown snagged the first touchdown of the day on Utah’s first drive of the game.
“The first possession for the offense set the tone for the entire game,” Johnson said. “It was our best performance of the season.”
Despite all the positive talks of the offense, the stern Utah defense held the Rams to 298 yards of total offense after yet another slow and shaky start by one of the nation’s top defensive units.
“(The defense) couldn’t wait to get back onto the field,” defensive end Paul Kruger said after CSU answered Utah’s opening-drive score, with a touchdown of its own. “Coach (Gary) Andersen got us ready and made adjustments that really helped a lot.”
The U defense played an impressive game from there on out and Kruger helped turn the tides when it looked as if CSU was going to creep into striking distance.
As Utah was up 28-16 in the third quarter, the Rams were nearing Ute territory, Kruger spun toward CSU quarterback Billy Farris and was able to deflect his pass that ended up in the chest of backup linebacker Chaz Walker.
“It was an awesome play,” Kruger said. “I was just lucky enough to get my hand in there.”
Defensively, Utah was led by linebacker Stevenson Sylvester, defensive end Koa Misi and strong safety Joe Dale who finished with nine, eight and seven total tackles, respectively.
Now that the much-awaited offensive explosion has occurred for the Utah offense, combined with its undefeated record and four games left on the schedule, the excitement of a possible Bowl Championship Series invitation is starting to grow.
“You only can control what you can control,” Whittingham said. “That’s going out and playing your best football every Saturday.”
The Utes are now in the driver’s seat as the only undefeated Mountain West Conference team and lurking talk of the BCS is going to start to creep up on the Utes and their program.
“There is none of that banter in our building,” Whittingham said in regards to the BCS talks. “I’m not saying we don’t care about it, we just don’t discuss it. We just go about our business.”
The Utes will enjoy the bye before the business continues Nov. 1st in Albuquerque, N.M.
