The Utah football game has traditionally been known for its prowess on defense and the focus of the offense has been the run game. Behind Devontae Booker the past two seasons, the run game excelled and former quarterback Travis Wilson was more of an afterthought. The roles were supposed to change this season; or so most fans thought.
People expected the offense to take the spotlight. To some extent it has, but the defense is up to par with former Utah defenses. Most fans expected Troy Williams to light up the field in stark contrast to what Wilson was able to accomplish during his tenure at Utah.
Williams excelled at the beginning of the season, though he never played a complete game — he did throw three interceptions against BYU and he had a few instances where he threw picks in the red zone — and it looked like the Utah offense would run through the junior college transfer. Head coach Kyle Whittingham had little to no faith that the heir apparent to Booker, Joe Williams, would be able to handle the same type of workload as his predecessor. And he was right … for two games at least.
Joe Williams couldn’t keep a good grip on the ball early in the season and it resulted in a couple of lost fumbles. He was benched, removed from the depth chart and then he retired. Joe Williams cited that his mind was not in it anymore and he didn’t want to risk further injury. That retirement only lasted 27 days, but while he was not in pads, the run game was working.
Zack Moss was getting accustomed to the Utah offense, Armand Shyne was rising up the ranks and Troy McCormick was gaining good yardage when he took the ball. Then Joe Williams returned to the team in a time of need following injuries to the aforementioned running backs.
Since returning to the starting lineup Joe Williams has rushed for 179 yards against Oregon State, he set the single game rushing record at Utah with 332 yards against UCLA and he just put up 172 yards against Washington. In those three games he accounted for six touchdowns. Troy Williams, on the other hand, hasn’t been putting up those kinds of numbers.
In those three games, Troy Williams hasn’t been as productive. Against Oregon State, he 4-of-13 and he only threw for 42 yards. His numbers were better against UCLA: he was 12-of-24 and he threw for 179 yards. Troy Williams did not throw for any touchdowns against the Bruins, however, and although he had one rushing touchdown, he threw one interception.
Facing his former team in Washington, Troy Williams was 14-of-31 for 163 yards and he threw a pair of touchdowns. The coaches and players were trying to keep their heads up in regards to the passing game. They mentioned right after the Oregon State game that they still had plenty of faith in their quarterback to get the job done. But after this past Saturday’s performance against the Huskies, Whittingham acknowledged that there needs to be some improvements.
“We’re still not throwing the ball as effectively as we need to,” Whittingham said. “We need to get more out of throwing game.”
The Utes have more than a week to prepare for Arizona State. Troy Williams is eager to get back on track in this final stretch of the season, and so are his receivers.
Senior tight end Evan Moeai thinks there have been too many drops, and those drops take a lot of momentum out of a drive. With these extra days off Moeai wants to make sure he is doing everything he can to help his quarterback.
“A lot of times people might see Troy sitting back there and not throwing the ball, but they don’t see five receivers down field not getting open,” Moeai said. “We can definitely do a better job of getting open, making those plays and making those catches ”
@kbrenneisen