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It's not a replay of 2012, after all.

Utah senior quarterback Travis Wilson sprained his left (non-throwing) shoulder and is expected to return on Sept. 26 against Oregon, if not next Saturday against Fresno State, The Salt Lake Tribune has learned.

Fans feared the worst Friday night when the fourth-year starter rose awkwardly after a 38-yard scramble midway through the second quarter and left the game one play later, re-emerging from the locker room with his arm in a sling.

Against Utah State in 2012, a shoulder injury ended the career of former Utah quarterback (and current Fresno State graduate assistant) Jordan Wynn, the same night that Wilson threw his first career touchdown pass.

Wilson was 9 of 12 for 76 yards when he went out. Although senior Kendal Thompson finished 8 for 10 in relief, one of his passes was nearly picked off by sophomore cornerback Jalen Davis, and Utah managed just one drive of 20 or more yards after Wilson's exit.

In some ways, the attack under Thompson resembled Utah's formula against UCLA last season: a lot of read-option with Thompson and Devontae Booker and enough boundary passes to keep the defense spread out horizontally.

Both times, he won.

But Dres Anderson snatched a 42-yard heave out of double coverage while rag-dolling into the end zone, and Thompson was otherwise 9 of 12 for 53 yards in Pasadena.

Wilson seems to give the Utes a greater ability to spread the defense vertically.

His eventual return is the good news.

The bad: Even with Wilson, the offense is well shy of where Kyle Whittingham wants it.

The Utes were outgained by the Aggies, 373 yards to 327, and passed for just 132 yards Friday. It was the second straight week that the Utes relied heavily on true freshman slot receiver Britain Covey, who finished with six catches for 61 yards, while outside receivers Kenneth Scott and Tyrone Smith again combined for just four catches.

Scott was able at least to draw two flags, and Wilson's injury may have altered the gameplan, but fans would obviously hope their outside receivers would finish the season with more than a few dozen catches between them.

Utah's longest completed pass this season: 20 yards.

"We've got to get them more involved, like I said last week," Whittingham said. "We did a little bit better job this week, but not good enough."

And while Utah was slow to gain steam rushing against Michigan, when it averaged just 2.2 yards at the half, the reverse was true Friday, when the ground game ground to a halt in the second half, totaling 65 yards on 22 carries.

Utah experimented with junior Marcus Sanders-Williams at fullback to offset some of the physicality lost with a season-ending injury to tight end Evan Moeai, and backup junior center Hiva Lutui replaced sophomore right guard Salesi Uhatafe for much of the game.

Still, the run-blocking isn't "anywhere near" what Whittingham's looking for, he said.

"We have to find five guys that can move some people around. We haven't done that two weeks in a row. We've been very average."

Whether it's Wilson or Thompson under center, Fresno State may not be much of a test. Unlike the Aggies — one of the nation's best defenses in 2014, it bears mentioning — the Bulldogs were a veritable sieve, conceding 456 yards per game.

So Utah has one more week to get tuned up. Then, it's off to Eugene to face No. 7 Oregon.

mpiper@sltrib.com Twitter: @matthew_piper