This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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

Eight things we've learned about Utah and BYU football near the midway point of the season:

1) BYU should give the ball to Jamaal Williams more.

The senior running back is the best player on Ty Detmer's offense — and it's not close. In five games, against mostly difficult opposition, with one notable exception, Williams has carried the ball 109 times, gained 703 yards and scored eight touchdowns. He's averaging 6.4 yards per carry and 141 yards per game. Those numbers went throttle up against Toledo, a ridiculous performance in which he broke the school's single-game rushing record with 286 yards, averaging 9.4 yards a pop, and tying another school record with five touchdowns. So, that helped.

Still, Williams deserves even more work, as long as he can physically handle it. Nothing steadies an inconsistent offense like a man in the backfield who can pick up Williams' kind of yardage — if he's given the opportunity to do the steadying. His 30 carries against Toledo should be the norm.

2) After years of promising it, Utah really does have a balanced offense.

The Utes have gained 870 rushing yards on 217 carries and 1,283 passing yards on 169 attempts. They've picked up 58 rushing first downs and 52 passing first downs. They average 174 yards running and 257 passing. They've scored nine touchdowns on the ground and six through the air.

3) Kalani Sitake is not shy about saying it the way it is.

After BYU's 55-53 win over Toledo, he said: "We didn't help ourselves out with some of the mistakes we made defensively. A lot of it was not great discipline. In order to play this type of defense, we need more guys that believe in and that play the right technique. Some guys freelanced a bit and it's like one guy makes a mistake, tries to do his own thing, they happened to capitalize on it. It was like the worst thing that could happen on plays where guys made mistakes. And they capitalized on it. … This one, we had too many breakdowns. Most of it was technique."

Sitake didn't straight say, "Our guys suck," but he knows, to play his preferred kind of defense, he needs more smart, athletic defenders capable of doing it the right way.

4) Kyle Whittingham was not born a gamblin' man, but … he has become one.

Ten times in the past few games, Wittingham has gone for it on fourth down and nine of them have been picked up. "We've come up with more fourth-and-shorts in the last two ballgames than sometimes you face in a season," Whittingham said. "We've got a lot of confidence in our offensive line and we have big strong running backs."

It was that exact short-yardage situation that was not properly handled on the last play at Berkeley that cost Utah the win.

5) Taysom Hill's return has been a mixed bag.

No longer the running threat he once was, although he's shown on occasion that he still can make terrific plays, Hill's throwing remains an iffy proposition. The senior has a strong arm, but he's not a great passer and everybody knows this, or should know it. He's completed 102 of 171 passes for 1,117 yards, with five touchdowns and six picks. Meanwhile, the gifted Tanner Mangum sits and waits.

6) Utah must improve in the red zone.

The Utes have been there 24 times, making five field goals, scoring 13 touchdowns, and getting shut out six times. "We were 3 of 6 on touchdowns in the red zone [against Cal]," Whittingham said. "Had we completed that last drive and been 4 of 6, there's the difference in the game."

He added: "We think we maybe need to be a little more creative down there, add a few things, which we will. Figure out ways to punch it in rather than stall."

7) BYU is getting its kicks from a couple of guys nobody was sure could, you know, actually kick.

Back in fall camp, the Cougars not only had no clue who their kicker would be, there was talk of hauling somebody out of the general student population to try him out. Since then, despite the fact that one kicker was benched and another was injured, placekicking hasn't been a problem.

The combination of freshman Jake Oldroyd, who later hurt his back, and sophomore Rhett Almond, who was pulled after missing a PAT against Arizona, is 8 for 9 on field goals, including two game-winning kicks in the Cougars' two victories. Oldroyd hit the first, beating Arizona, and Almond swung a flop wedge to end the game against Toledo.

8) Utah has options, but is still searching for a workhorse back.

First, the Utes lost the retiring Joe Williams, and now they have freshman Zack Moss (309 yards), sophomore Armand Shyne (272) and junior Troy McCormick (196). Shyne, who will get Saturday's start, said he intends on making "the most of the opportunity." He called the RB threesome "a nice little trio," and said, "We all bring different stuff."

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