The dust has settled in the wake of the Holy War and Utah has a bye week to prepare for next Thursday’s contest against UCLA. The Utes will focus on improving several areas of their game, but they’ve got a solid jumping-off point.
After the victorious performance against BYU, Utah quarterback Travis Wilson garnered recognition from multiple sources. Wilson was crowned the Athlon Sports National Player of the Week on Sunday, then was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Utes’ head coach Kyle Whittingham is ecstatic with Wilson’s play so far this season as well.
“His numbers have been terrific all season long … He’s doing everything we need a quarterback to do,” Whittingham said. “He’s taking care of the football, he’s very efficient in the throw game. When he does pull it down and run … he’s a very capable runner. There really is no weakness.”
This is the first time a Utah player has claimed the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week award since the Utes joined the conference in 2011. Wilson went 24-of-35 passing for 273 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Cougars.
“It’s amazing, you know,” said Wilson’s most productive receiver, Dres Anderson. “It’s great for his confidence, even though he already has a lot of confidence. That’s amazing for him and I’m just so happy for him.”
Anderson’s numbers on the rise
2013 is shaping up to be Anderson’s breakout year at receiver. Through four games, he leads Utah in every receiving category and Whittingham seems relieved to see Anderson’s abilities come to fruition.
“I’ve been waiting for Dres to step up and put up those kind of numbers for a couple of years now,” Whittingham said. “I’ve been bragging on him for the last couple years and this year is the year he has come into his own. He could’ve very easily had a couple hundred yards in that game Saturday night … Dres is our go-to guy on the outside.”
With no shortage of confidence, Anderson always knew he had it in him.
“I’ve been playing this game since I can remember. I’ve just always been confident,” Anderson said. “I’ve always, as a little kid, been the go-to guy. So, you know, makin’ plays all my life just, you know, builds confidence and instills that big-play theory in me.”
Focus on third-down efficiency
While the Utes’ offense has been putting up big numbers and receiving national recognition for it, there is one place that they came up well short of satisfactory in Saturday night’s game.
“We’re doing a lot of good things on offense, but third downs were not good at all on Saturday night,” Whittingham said. “We were one and 14 and that’s not good.”
Not only did the Utes fail to convert on third down versus BYU, but stopping third and fourth down drives on defense has plagued them since their Sept. 14 contest against Oregon State. Utah had more than one opportunity to put the nail in OSU’s coffin, but failed to make stops.
“Really, third downs on both sides of the ball are really average at best all season,” Whittingham said. “That’s something that’s got to improve both on getting out of drives and sustaining drives and keeping drives alive offensively.”