Well, there’s no way for me to weasel out of this one — I was dead wrong.
Before Utah and UCLA squared off in a thriller of a matchup Saturday night, I said the Utes had virtually no chance of beating the Bruins based off of what we had seen from them the previous week.
And throughout the game, it felt a little bit like déjà vu. For a brief moment, when the score became 28-27 in UCLA’s favor late in the fourth quarter, I was thinking it was about to be another heartbreaking loss for Utah.
However, the difference between this game and last game was the person righting the ship and leading the offense — Kendal Thompson.
It is so ironic how things have played out this season. First, there was a quarterback competition throughout camp. Then, T-Willy and Thompson split reps the first few weeks of the season. Last week against Washington State, it was Wilson who saw a majority of the snaps and seemed to be the undisputed starter.
Well, we all know how last week played, causing head coach Kyle Whittingham to once again open up the QB race.
After three straight three-and-outs to start the tilt on Saturday, the head coach decided to pull the seasoned junior in favor of the Oklahoma transfer.
From then on, it was the Kendal Thompson show. Sure, you had guys like Devontae Booker who rushed for over 150 yards yet again, or Nate Orchard, who tied a school record with four sacks throughout the game. But it was Thompson who made this upset possible.
Something Utah struggled with last week was moving the ball offensively. Wilson was trying to run an offense that was better suited for the dual-threat Thompson, and it showed. It seemed as if every other possession for the Utes last week ended with four straight downs and the defense having to play extra minutes.
This week, though, Thompson showed he is a better fit for the read option. Not only can the signal caller read the defense better than his counterpart, but Thompson is by far a better runner than Wilson. That was evident when Thompson nearly broke the century mark on the ground with 83 yards rushing.
On top of that, and probably the most important thing, Thompson produced time-consuming drives. We saw last week the downside of having an uptempo offense, and that is the defense playing nearly the entire game. This time around, however, Thompson led the Utes on multiple drives, including gaining 18 first downs, that gave the defense plenty of rest.
Now, the knock on the Oklahoma transfer is that he can’t throw, and personally, I still think Wilson would kick him to the curb in some sort of throwing competition. However, what Utah did with Thompson last night was perfect.
The QB finished 10-for-13 for only 95 yards, but that’s exactly what the Utes wanted — short, quick passes. Thompson did test his arm a couple times downfield and even found success once when he found California-native Dres Anderson for a 42-yard touchdown bomb. But if Utah is to keep up this positive play going forward, it will need to stick to the run game and the short passes.
Look, T-Willy is a great quarterback and has a ton of potential. But the fact of the matter is, this Ute offensive line is struggling this season, and with Booker’s limited blocking ability, having Thompson and his elusiveness leading the charge is an easy decision.
Thompson went from zero to hero, quite literally, and this may be just the beginning for the gunslinger.
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