This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
A curious thing happened this weekend: Utah lost the game, and gained esteem.
The Utes (7-2, 4-2) are ranked No. 16 in this week's AP poll, up one spot from last week, after a 31-24 home loss to undefeated No. 4 Washington. It's rarefied air for the program, which both couldn't hold on against the Huskies, yet validated its status as a competitive Pac-12 program.
And yet, the margin between Utah's tier and reaching a truly elite status has never been so clearly illustrated. While the Utes are sure to enjoy a much-needed bye week ahead of their next game in Tempe, Ariz., plenty of issues have shown up in recent weeks and against Washington that require their attention to fulfill their goal of winning the Pac-12 South and potentially squaring off against the Huskies again in the league title game.
"We tip [our] hats off to them," quarterback Troy Williams said. "I felt like we did great overall as a team, just that one play. Hopefully we'll see them down the road."
The game will be remembered for the defining play, a 58-yard punt return by Dante Pettis — made controversial by a number of Washington blocks that could've been flagged.
But Utah's final offensive drive, which spanned only 29 yards, could've helped erase the difference. The Utes had one dynamic catch from a returned Tim Patrick that helped get out of a third-and-11, but on the next set of downs got off to a rough start: After a short pass to Demari Simpkins, the Utes called a play for Simpkins (a one-time high school quarterback) to throw downfield on second down. His pass was well-covered downfield against Washington's top cornerback.
On the next play, Troy Williams was sacked. On the next, Utah called a play that was well-covered in Washington's prevent defense, and Williams threw to the end zone hunting for a touchdown despite needing only 15 yards for a fresh set of downs with two timeouts and 43 seconds left.
"Maybe if we … " coach Kyle Whittingham started a thought on the final game, before pulling back. "Ah, I'll just leave it at that."
In a microcosm, it was a demonstration of Utah's boom-or-bust passing game. While Williams has given Utah a downfield threat, overall the passing game has seemed to rise and fall with Patrick's involvement. In the first four weeks when Patrick was starting at full health, Williams threw six touchdown passes while averaging 248 yards per game. In the past five weeks with Patrick in and out, Williams has thrown three touchdowns while averaging 179 yards per game.
He found Saiosi Wilson and Evan Moeai against Washington for their first career touchdown catches, but a 5-for-15 start for 25 yards was reminiscent of Utah's slow passing starts against USC, Arizona and Cal, among others. Williams put himself squarely in the spotlight ahead of the game by saying he didn't feel wanted at Washington, but he threw for 163 yards, the bulk of which came in the second half.
Utah's passing game is only the ninth-most productive in the Pac-12, ahead of Arizona and Oregon State, which have dealt with quarterback injuries, and Stanford. But the Utes' rushing game, led by the unlikely return of Joe Williams with 772 yards in five games this season, is getting a resurgence. Utah is again in the position of needing the passing game to catch up for balance.
"Just get back in the film room," Troy Williams said. "Gotta try to fix some things."
Utah's defense will surely also take a second look at how it defends the run. The team gave up 199 yards (Washington lost a few on final kneel-downs), and struggled catching running backs Myles Gaskin (151 yards) and Lavon Coleman at the perimeter. While Utah did get several stops, Washington's scoring drives were powered by sending playmakers to the edges, beating linebackers with speed and forcing defensive backs to make tackles. It was similar to the effect the Beavers got when they ran fly sweeps against Utah two weeks ago while notching 197 yards on the ground.
Run defense was the weak point in an overall impressive performance for Utah, which got a takeaway against a team that has given up only six turnovers all season. Sophomore Jake Browning had two touchdown passes, but didn't look like a Heisman candidate while throwing for 186 yards on 12 for 20. The 24 points scored by the Washington offense was nearly half of what the team typically scores.
"I don't know what happened on some of those runs and why they kept gashing us," sophomore safety Chase Hansen said. "We'll look at the film and work on trying to fix that because there's a still a lot to play."
There are still a lot of games to play, including a possible rematch against Washington if Utah can win the last three games of the regular season. And if the Utes have to play the Huskies again in the Pac-12 Championship, Utah knows exactly what needs fixing.
Twitter: @kylegoon —
No. 16 Utah at Arizona State
P Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m.
TV • FS1