After last season, John White left the Utes with a 1,000-yard void to fill in their backfield following his departure to the Canadian Football League.
Despite the huge loss, the first two games of 2013 have been so far, so good for Utah’s rushing attack.
The Utes have assembled a nice duo of co-starters in James “Bubba” Poole and Kelvin York, and they may have a new soldier joining their platoon if Saturday was any indication.
On Saturday against Weber State, Lucky Radley became the first Utah back to eclipse the 100-yard mark this season. He did it on just 13 carries in the second half, which were his first rushing attempts of the season. His career day also included two touchdowns. Head coach Kyle Whittingham was impressed with Poole’s performance, but said the junior out of Inglewood, Calif., still has a lot to prove.
“Lucky certainly played exceptionally well and earned the right to carry the football more,” Whittingham said. “Yeah, he is going to be more prevalent, but I don’t believe he unseated either of the other two backs [York and Poole].”
Radley was given an opportunity to shine along with the rest of the second-string offense after the Utes took a 49-0 halftime lead over the Wildcats. He and true freshman Marcus Williams accounted for all three of Utah’s scores in the second half as Williams racked up 40 yards on 10 rushes in the Utes’ final drive. He capped the 12-play march with a 1-yard touchdown.
“It was good to get the twos a bunch of work,” Whittingham said. “They played the entire second half. Those reps will be invaluable at some point in time for those guys.”
While the second unit players showcased their abilities in the closing half, the starters had solid performances as well. Including quarterback Travis Wilson’s 93 yards on the ground, Utah amassed 338 rushing yards. In two games, the Utes have filled almost half of the John White void and rank fifth in the Pac-12 in rushing.
“We had some explosive runs, so I think that we did a nice job and our degree of difficulty gets higher this week,” Whittingham said in looking forward to this Saturday’s opponent, Oregon State. “If we’re able to rush for over 300 again this week, you know, our chances of winning are very good.”
The explosions Whittingham referred to included a season-high 24-yard run up the middle by York for his first score of the season, 38 and 51-yard goal line gallops by Wilson, and the outbursts from Radley.
“I think that’s something this team has lacked for the last couple of years, is making those big plays,” Wilson said. “We just gotta make sure to keep taking advantage of those.”