The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues
Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

Report Card: Utah’s Struggles Against UCLA Lead to Mediocre Grades

Utah+QB+Travis+Wilson+trying+to+rush+through+on+Saturday%2C+Nov+21%2C+2015.+Photo+by+Chris+Ayers
Chris Ayers
Utah QB Travis Wilson trying to rush through on Saturday, Nov 21, 2015. Photo by Chris Ayers

Travis Wilson — C

Utah Senior Travis Wilson (7) looks for an open man in the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium where the UCLA Bruins beat the Utah Utes 17-9 on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015
Utah Senior Travis Wilson (7) looks for an open man in the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium where the UCLA Bruins beat the Utah Utes 17-9 on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015

13-for-26 for 110 yards, 67 yards rushing

At this point, I feel bad for quarterback Travis Wilson. First, he loses the best and No. 1 option for this Utah offense in Devontae Booker for the rest of the season. Then, one of his favorite targets, freshman sensation Britain Covey, goes down with an injury early in the game. And for the remainder of the game, receivers struggled to get any separation from the Bruin defense, making it hard for Wilson to produce. In the end, the senior had a lackluster performance on one of the biggest stages of the career, and failed to lead the offense to the end zone even once. The odds are stacked against him, but Wilson isn’t doing much to help his case, either.

Joe Williams — C+

26 carries for 121 yards, 4 catches for 31 yards

Filling in for one of the best running backs in Utah history is one thing. Being asked to do it with the Pac-12 South title on the line is an even taller task, and that’s exactly what backup Joe Williams was asked to do when he replaced the injured Booker on Saturday afternoon. To his credit, Williams played admirably and even broke the 100-yard plateau. But the junior had a costly fumble and missed a couple of catches that normally would have normally been caught by Booker. Williams will be good, maybe even great for this Utah program moving forward, but it’s clear he has some things to work on if he wants to be great.

Defense — B

It seemed like it was going to be a long day for the defense when UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen and company came right out of the gate slinging, scoring on their first drive of the game. But luckily for Utah, the defense settled down and held the Bruins to just 17 points and 325 total offensive yards, both season lows for them. However, it’s apparent that this Utah secondary plays too aggressively at times which results in big plays and blown coverages. This has been a lasting issue all season long and it was again on Saturday night.

Special teams — B+

Utah Jr. Andy Phillips (39) punts the ball in the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium where the UCLA Bruins beat the Utah Utes 17-9 on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015
Utah Jr. Andy Phillips (39) punts the ball in the game at Rice-Eccles Stadium where the UCLA Bruins beat the Utah Utes 17-9 on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015

Another good, but not great, performance from this unit. The good grade mainly comes from the boot of kicker Andy Phillips, who scored all nine of Utah’s points himself via a perfect 3-for-3 night on field goals. Meanwhile, his partner-in-crime Tom Hackett pinned three of his five punts within the 20-yard line, including a rocket for 67 yards, to help out the Utah defense the best that he could. All that said, the kickoff coverage was still a little spotty and there were no big plays on any of the four punt returns throughout the game. Again, it was a solid night from the special teams group, but it lacked the big plays that can swing the momentum in Utah’s favor.

[email protected]

@GriffDoug

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

The Daily Utah Chronicle welcomes comments from our community. However, the Daily Utah Chronicle reserves the right to accept or deny user comments. A comment may be denied or removed if any of its content meets one or more of the following criteria: obscenity, profanity, racism, sexism, or hateful content; threats or encouragement of violent or illegal behavior; excessively long, off-topic or repetitive content; the use of threatening language or personal attacks against Chronicle members; posts violating copyright or trademark law; and advertisement or promotion of products, services, entities or individuals. Users who habitually post comments that must be removed may be blocked from commenting. In the case of duplicate or near-identical comments by the same user, only the first submission will be accepted. This includes comments posted across multiple articles. You can read more about our comment policy at https://dailyutahchronicle.com/comment-faqs/.
All The Daily Utah Chronicle Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *