TUCSON, Ariz.—Riding the high of their huge upset victory over Stanford on Oct. 12, the Utes prepared last week for one challenge they had yet to face all year — a true road game. At the halfway point of the season, Utah had played only one contest outside of Rice-Eccles Stadium, and that was in Provo against BYU.
Ready for the challenge on Saturday night were the Arizona Wildcats, and, for a multitude of reasons, Utah was downright sloppy in its first half away from the Beehive State in 2013.
In particular, quarterback Travis Wilson looked uncharacteristically out of sync. The sophomore missed wide-open receivers on a few occasions and threw two interceptions in the second quarter, one of which was returned 14 yards for a Wildcat touchdown. Then, on a drive late in the frame, he came out of the game with an apparent hand injury and did not play another snap the rest of the night.
And so, with the Utes trailing 20-7 with 1:29 left in the second quarter, sophomore Adam Schulz entered the game to play his first minutes of the year. It wasn’t exactly an ideal situation for an inexperienced quarterback, but he wasn’t thinking about the pressure.
“All that was going through my head, really, was make plays and help the team win,” Schulz said.
In his first two plays, Schulz completed two passes. Those two completions totaled 17 yards, which passed Wilson’s 15-yard passing total for the game. Schulz then added a 4-yard rush that set up a 42-yard field goal attempt from Andy Phillips. The kick was no good and the Utes entered the break still down by 13.
Utah came out in the second half and seemed to have found the fire it so desperately missed in the first, and Schulz provided the offensive spark. Early in the third quarter, Schulz completed a 13-yard pass to Dres Anderson that set up a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Kelvin York.
On the next Utes’ possession, Schulz found an open Sean Fitzgerald deep on a flea flicker and connected with him for a 55-yard touchdown. That score put Utah up by a point going into the final quarter, but Utah’s offense stalled in the fourth and ultimately lost 35-24. In the final 15 minutes, Schulz completed seven of 18 pass attempts for 54 yards. He also rushed the ball twice for a combined 11 yards.
Although the Utes came up short in their comeback attempt, Schulz in the end turned out to be a bright spot in the costly loss. He finished the game having completed 12-of-23 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown. His inexperience showed at times, but he also showed composure and a strong arm.
“Adam came in and gave a valiant effort,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “He made a couple of plays, a couple of nice throws, he didn’t turn the ball over and took care of the football.”
Players also expressed confidence in Schulz’s ability to play and to lead. With Wilson’s status uncertain, that confidence will be key as the Utes prepare for another road trip this weekend when they play USC in Los Angeles.
“As an offense, we have all the trust in the world in Adam,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s a great player and we all know what he can do, what he’s capable of… If [Schulz] needs to go next week, then he’ll be ready to go, and we’ll be ready, too.