Although the Utes do their best job to prepare for every game, mother nature can have a negative effect on games no matter how prepared a team is, and it showed when Utah took on Oregon State over the weekend.
The Utes came out on top 19-14, but it wasn’t all that the team had hoped for. The team has been struggling in the red zone this season, and head coach Kyle Whittingham is aware that later down the road against teams like UCLA, Washington and Arizona State, the Utes will need to score touchdowns instead of field goals.
“Continued the woes in the red zone,” Whittingham said. “We got a tough stretch of football coming up, UCLA this weekend. They’re 3-4, but they’re a much more talented team than that record would indicate. A lot of speed, a lot of athleticism so our guys can’t be fooled by their record.”
Injury update
Sunia Tauteoli and Marcus Williams are not done for the season. Whittingham thinks they will make their returns to the field soon enough, but those aren’t the only injuries that have been taking a toll on the Utes.
Joe Williams came out of retirement to help the Utes fill in the hole at running back since Zack Moss and Troy McCormick are injured, and then Armand Shyne suffered a season-ending injury. Tim Patrick has been suiting up for recent games, and he received some playing time against Oregon State, but it hasn’t been anything substantial, and he is not at 100 percent.
The Utes have also lost a few centers this season, and the snaps haven’t been where they need to be, but quarterback Troy Williams is confident that things are coming together. Troy does not think there were any problems with the snaps this past Saturday, with the exception of one snap that Troy mishandled himself when he fumbled the ball.
Throw game progress
The passing game wasn’t what it has been for the majority of the season against Oregon State. Troy was just 4-of-13, and he threw for a total of 42 yards — this was the first game this season where Troy threw for under 200 yards.
Since he is returning home this weekend against UCLA, Troy wants to make sure he puts on a good show in front of his friends and family. However, he is more concerned with whether or not the team gets a win, so if he has to take a backseat to the run game like he did against the Beavers, he will have no problem doing just that.
“We’re not concerned at all [with the throw game], it was just one of those games where we have to find a way to win, and that’s what we did,” Troy said. “We’re not afraid to throw the ball. We’re ready to get back into this week and be ready to throw the ball this weekend.”
So the bottom line for Troy and the Utes is that they have every bit of the confidence they had in the passing game as they did a week ago, it’s just that circumstances change at times.
@kbrenneisen