This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham took his usual chair in the Rice-Eccles Stadium interview room Thursday night and launched into a review of a 24-0 win over Southern Utah to begin his 12th season. Almost immediately, he cited the need for "more explosiveness on offense."
Right program, wrong script.
Whittingham must have been reading his notes from last November, his most recent appearance in that spot. His reflexive critique came after Ute quarterback Troy Williams delivered seven completions of 17 yards or longer — including gains of 33, 52 and 57 yards.
Lack of explosiveness? Not the problem. The Utes' bigger issue was the stuff they've ordinarily done well, such as running the football behind a consistent offensive line.
Utah passed for 298 yards, more than doubling its 138 yards on the ground. If fans could choose between an impressive debut for Williams or a big night from the running backs, they undoubtedly would pick the passing success. Williams can sling the football and Tim Patrick and other receivers created hope for an offensive revival.
But the linemen's work was mildly disturbing. On a night when Utah State rushed for 428 yards against another Big Sky Conference defense, there could be only one conclusion: Southern Utah is still much better than Weber State.
Pass protection involves more than the linemen, but Williams was sacked twice, among SUU's eight tackles for loss. Four Ute linemen were penalized once each for a false start, which is supposed to be what MUSS causes the visiting team to do.
Ever since Jim Harding arrived in 2014 as the happy accident of Dave Christensen's one-year tenure as offensive coordinator, the Ute linemen have been well coached. They will improve, although it is apparent Utah misses center Hiva Lutui, who had to give up football this summer due to injuries. J.J. Dielman, an All-Pac-12 tackle, moved to center and had some trouble with shotgun snaps Thursday.
That's correctable, but the Utes' inability to dominate a Big Sky opponent on the line of scrimmage was surprising. The offensive line will be motivated to improve, as the competition gets tougher with BYU and USC coming to town this month.
Utah State's linemen were impressive in assistant coach Steve Farmer's first game. They enabled Devante Mays to run for 208 yards on 18 carries, while controlling Weber State's defensive line the way an FBS team should in a 45-6 win. The Aggies scored their most points in a season opener in 37 years.
It gets more difficult for the Aggies, with a trip to USC next Saturday and Mountain West games with Air Force and Boise State to come, but that was an encouraging start. Not so for Weber State, which was expected to make another upward move in coach Jay Hill's third season and still may do so, but the Wildcats were not competitive in Logan.
SUU couldn't do much offensively vs. Utah, only once getting inside the Utes' 30-yard line — and barely so. T-bird quarterback McCoy Hill, a BYU transfer, did some good things, but an injury late in the first quarter disrupted his debut.
Defensively, SUU looked very good up front, although the loss of two defensive backs taken in the NFL draft's first five rounds was noticeable. The T-birds should finish in the top half of the Big Sky in the first season for coach Demario Warren, whose postgame outlook was healthy.
Asked if competing well with Utah should give his team confidence, he said, "It better not."
That's because after holding Utah State without an offensive touchdown in a 12-9 loss last September, a defense coordinated by Warren gave up 55 points the next week at South Dakota State.
As that historic example shows, overreacting to any opening-game performance is dangerous. And that's a good thing for Utah's offensive linemen.
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