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In judging Utah's chances of building on last year's 9-4 finish and competing for a Pac-12 title, you should pay particular attention to one number in Thursday night's box score.

Completion percentage. Specifically: Can the Utes arrive at 65?

Consider that this defense might be Kyle Whittingham's deepest yet, that Devontae Booker rushed for 1,512 yards against seven- and eight-man fronts last season, that Tom Hackett and Andy Phillips are as good — or at least as celebrated — as any kicking tandem in the nation.

Now consider what Utah might do with an efficient passing game.

Whittingham wants his quarterbacks to complete at least 65 percent of their passes — or 13 for every 20 — and that's not some arbitrary benchmark.

Per available stats, Utah has completed 65 percent of its passes twice in school history: 2004 (67.3) and 2008 (67.4).

See "BCS bowl victories" for more on those years.

The next-best percentage, 64.3, was good for 10-2 in 1994.

As the Utes increased from a Whittingham-tenure low of 53.2 percent in 2013 to 60.6 in 2014, they also increased from five wins to nine.

And when Travis Wilson, Kendal Thompson and Co. connected on 65 percent of their attempts in 2014, Utah was 6-1. When they didn't, Utah was 3-3.

Unlike last season, Wilson will dive straight into the deep end against Michigan, which tied for 19th in passing yards allowed despite playing nine games without celebrated freshman defensive back Jabrill Peppers.

Progress, or lack thereof, should soon be apparent.

Whittingham said in his opening statement at Monday's news conference that "it's no secret. We need to throw the ball better to help Devontae Booker out."

History suggests it's reasonable to expect more polish from Wilson, now a senior, who cut his interceptions from 16 to five while raising his completion percentage from 56.1 to 60.7 as a junior.

"A lot of our success from last year was me being able to take care of the football, so it's still going to be a big emphasis this year," Wilson said. "I've just got to make sure I'm making smart decisions and taking what the defense gives me."

Wilson's 2014 can be split into distinct thirds.

In Act One, he completed 66 percent of his passes for 618 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions as Utah started 3-0.

In Act Two, while seesawing with Thompson, he completed just 51 percent of his passes and totaled 466 yards in five games.

Not until the third act did he throw his first interception, but he again hit receivers at a 66 percent clip and was more prolific, finishing with 1,086 yards and nine touchdowns in Utah's final five games.

Even then, it was a more subdued Wilson than Utah fans saw through the first six games of 2013, when the Utes were 4-2 and he was averaging 273 yards per game with 2.2 passing scores and 0.8 rushing scores.

And last year was a further cry still from the Pac-12 norm: At 197.7, Utah finished last in passing yards per game.

But Wilson was homing in on the desired balance between efficiency and production. "Hopefully he can pick up where he left off," Whittingham said.

Most senior and fourth-year Pac-12 quarterbacks improved their completion percentages in 2014, with the exceptions of Oregon State's Sean Mannion (who lost leading wideout Brandin Cooks and almost his entire offensive line) and Arizona State's Taylor Kelly (who struggled through a foot injury).

Washington State senior Connor Halliday went from 62.9 percent as a junior to 67.3 percent as a senior, with similar gains from fourth-year juniors at Oregon (Marcus Mariota went from 63.5 percent to 68.3 percent), USC (Cody Kessler, 65.4 percent to 69.7 percent), UCLA (Brett Hundley, 66.8 percent to 69.1 percent) and Stanford (Kevin Hogan, 61.0 percent to 65.9 percent).

Coaches will try to better tailor their calls to Wilson's strengths, too: throwing with his feet set, not on the run; running outside, not between the tackles.

It not all about Wilson, though.

In 2004, Alex Smith had all-conference honorees Chris Kemoeatu, Jesse Boone and Makai Aalona walling out the pass rush, and Paris Warren (1,076 yards, 12 touchdowns) and Steve Savoy (961 yards, 11 touchdowns) getting open downfield and in the flats.

Playing bodyguard for Brian Johnson in 2008 were Zane Beadles, Robert Conley and Zane Taylor, while Freddie Brown (900 yards, seven touchdowns), Brent Casteel (564 yards, four touchdowns) and Bradon Godfrey (556 yards, four touchdowns) and David Reed (427 yards, six touchdowns) tested secondaries at all levels.

Utah believes it has two all-conference candidates in senior center Siaosi Aiono and right tackle J.J. Dielman, and possibly two more in junior left guard Isaac Asiata and sophomore right guard Salesi Uhatafe. Their collective improvement may offset the loss of now-Tennessee Titans right tackle Jeremiah Poutasi.

But where are the 2004- and 2008-caliber playmakers?

Since Reed amassed 1,118 yards receiving on 81 catches in 2009, Utah's average leading receiving total is 634 yards. Throw out Dres Anderson's 1,002-yard 2013 season and it's 542.

Sixth-year senior Kenneth Scott, at 6-foot-3 and 208 pounds with reliable hands, aims to shake the "possession receiver" label that he got last season as he's targeted with more passes downfield. That would help. Senior Tim Patrick has an undisclosed injury, and his return would provide another big target.

Otherwise, Utah might require early contributions from the likes of true freshmen Britain Covey, Tyrone Smith and Caleb Repp, or a heavier dose of passes out of the backfield to Booker (who last year caught 43 for 306 yards).

There is one other relative similarity to those 65-plus years, though.

By 2004, Smith had mastered Urban Meyer's spread offense.

In 2008, Brian Johnson was in his fourth season under Andy Ludwig.

Aaron Roderick and Jim Harding constitute the eighth change at offensive coordinator in eight years for Utah, but they promise to stay true to the concepts and terminology introduced last year by Dave Christensen.

Continuity is worth something, Wilson said.

Is it worth an extra 5 percent? We'll see Thursday.

Twitter: @matthew_piper —

Utah vs. Michigan

P Kickoff • Thursday, 6:30 p.m. MDT at Rice-Eccles Stadium

TV • FOX Sports 1

Radio • 700 AM

2014 records • Utah (9-4), Michigan (5-7)

Series history • Utah leads 2-1

Last meeting • Utah won 26-10, Sept. 20, 2014

About the Utes • Bring back 15 starters on offense and defense from a team that went 9-4 and won the Las Vegas Bowl. ... Hoping to fill the void left by NFL draftees DE Nate Orchard, PR/KR/WR Kaelin Clay, LT Jeremiah Poutasi and CB Eric Rowe are Kylie Fitts, Britain Covey, Sam Tevi and Cory Butler-Byrd, respectively. ... Status of senior wideout Tim Patrick, who sustained an undisclosed injury, is unknown.

About the Wolverines • First game under head coach Jim Harbaugh, who turned around San Diego and Stanford programs before leading the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl. ... Iowa transfer Jake Rudock is listed as a co-starter with lefty Shane Morris, but Rudock is widely expected to start. ... Wolverines were seventh in FBS in total defense last year, allowing just 311 yards/game, and feature a full stable of talented running backs, led by junior starter De'Veon Smith.