This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

Promises about the renovation … no, the resuscitation … of Utah's offense have been a long time coming. Season after season, coaches and players have pledged that new go would be installed in the Ute O. And then, it wasn't. It wasn't. It wasn't. Even as Utah ascended in the Pac-12, the whole of it became an annual joke. It was like the story of the boy who cried wolf. Nobody believed a word that was spoken. The truth was the first casualty of Utah game-planning. They'd talk about opening the offense and then they'd slam it shut.

Let's back up to 2015 and get a running start from there.

Before last season, co-offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said: "We want to be a balanced offense. … Balance to me is that the defense has to respect your ability to use the whole field. So, we've got to spread the field vertically and horizontally. … We might throw it out to the guy in the flat. We might throw it deep. We're going to hit crossing routes over the middle. If we can do that, we can really loosen things up. … We can definitely be more aggressive. … We know we've got to be able to throw it."

But then, nada, nichts, nothing.

The Utes weren't aggressive and they couldn't throw it. Not consistently. They had a nice season, finishing with 10 wins, and what that got them was a big ol' wow-what-might-have-been.

Kyle Whittingham recognized the problem and drew a line in the turf around it during this past offseason. He not only talked about bolstering his team's "throw game," he said if Utah football was going to build itself into a contender for a Pac-12 title, that bolstering was not optional.

Defense, field position, kicking and the run game were not enough.

He said it. It's just that ... well, you know. There was no faith.

Every pass takes faith, especially when looking at the quarterbacks of the past, especially when the quarterback chucks a pass on third-and-8 from your own 15-yard line with the game on the line. Whittingham declared he would find a way to get that fixed, and, yet, it reached a nadir where those believers were scarce.

Flashbacks to a quarterback chain including names like Wynn, Cain, Hays, Schulz, Wilson fired off in everyone's mind. Would Williams be different? Whittingham and Roderick went ahead and sounded the sirens again, warnings that more offensive oomph would be the thing. No, no, this time, really.

"That's what we lacked last year, was explosive plays on offense," said Whittingham. "We're constantly trying to get to the point where we're getting more of those. … Overall, we'd like to be 50-50. If we can establish a 50-50 ratio with the run-pass, that's the ultimate."

Said Roderick: "We've got to be able to throw the ball down the field."

Even 18-year-old freshman quarterback Tyler Huntley got in on the act. When he was asked how explosive the Ute offense would be, on a scale from 0-10, he said: "We're going to be a 10. We're not going to be just Pac-12 explosive, we're going to be nation-wide explosive. When you turn on SportsCenter, you're going to see the Utah Utes on there."

Turns out, the coach, the coordinator and the kid were closer to being right than wrong.

The Utes have transformed their offense into a double-barreled threat. They can run it and throw it and razzle-dazzle and fiddle-faddle around with it. They can hand the ball to Joe Williams. They can wing it deep. They've developed young receivers like Raelon Singleton, who caught three touchdown passes last week against Arizona State, one a 64-yarder, one a 17-yarder, and one a 24-yarder. Siaosi Wilson snagged a 27-yard scoring pass. Williams scampered to the end zone from 82 yards and 40 yards out.

The Sun Devils were susceptible in the back end, but Ute quarterback Troy Williams has given the offense the kind of capability that has brought out a word, not unlike faith, that had been absolutely absent from Whittingham's mind and soul for the better part of five seasons. Trust.

All told, Williams has thrown for 13 touchdowns this season, completing 163 of 297 throws for 2,184 yards with five interceptions and five rushing TDs. Not spectacular, but mostly good enough.

Utah's standing in the Pac-12 passing rankings is much better than what it's previously been. Williams ranks fourth in average passing yards a game and fifth in total offense. Utah ranks seventh in total offense, just one spot lower than its total defense, and up four spots from last season. It's third in rushing offense, one spot below its defense, and up one spot from last season.

Utah's offense is averaging 40 yards a game more passing the ball, while averaging 30 yards more running the ball, and those advances are related. Pass the ball better, run the ball better, run the ball better, pass the ball better.

So, with two games remaining, and a shot still alive at winning the South, going to the Pac-12 title game, and soaring to the Rose Bowl, a little bit of offensive improvement has, indeed, lifted Utah football.

No longer is the truth a casualty. No longer is anyone laughing at Utah's attack. No longer are Roderick and Whittingham the boys who cried wolf. They are the boys who are doing precisely what they said they would do.

And those promises fulfilled have made a difference big and bold enough to put them exactly where they are.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM. Twitter: @GordonMonson.