This University of Utah football season feels like it’s teetering.
Cam Rising’s injured left knee is not 100%, as evidenced during Saturday night’s 45-20 win over Arizona. Tavion Thomas does not resemble the 1,100-yard, 21-touchdown force of nature from a year ago. The tight ends room is decimated: Brant Kuithe is out for the season, Dalton Kincaid is out for who knows how long. The defense has broken a couple of times, and bent a handful of other times through nine games.
We can argue whether or not this notion is valid, but in spite of all those factors, at least one thing is inarguable.
No matter who the quarterback has been, no matter if Thomas ever returns to his truest form, no matter if both pass-catching tight ends are unavailable, the Utes are right there. With three regular-season games left, Utah can still get to where it wants to go: back to the Pac-12 championship game, and then back to the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2.
It will still take something Herculean at Oregon on Nov. 19 to reach the title game if some of these injuries don’t get better. But for right now, Utah, reigning champion of the Pac-12, has done enough to this point to give itself a chance to hang on to that title for another year.
Cam Rising looked out of sorts, but that’s OK
One thing about Rising’s play is that it is generally very sharp. Rarely does he airmail throws or skip passes to his receivers. He is timely and accurate the vast majority of the time.
Rising looked off on Saturday, and I’ll point to the first quarter specifically. He was 7 for 13 for 76 yards, missing on a handful of throws that he would normally make. In other instances, there were opportunities where he might tuck the ball and run, but didn’t, which would lead one to believe that the knee is not at full strength.
Whittingham, who does not go deep on injuries with the media, was willing to go as far as to confirm the knee is not 100%. That said, clearly it was good enough to play on Saturday, so what do we make of the night?
For starters, Rising had not played in three weeks since his Oct. 15 tour de force vs. USC, so some rust could be expected. Beyond that, a couple of things. Conditions were messy at Rice-Eccles beginning around the middle of the second quarter, certainly messy enough that a viable passing attack was tough.
After trying to get Rising comfortable early, including five pass attempts and no runs on the opening drive, Utah abandoned that, went to the run with the offensive line winning all night, and as that began paying dividends, there was no need to make Rising do anything extra.
The fact Rising did not look like himself Saturday is OK after such a long layoff. If he still doesn’t look like himself vs. Stanford, with Oregon coming after that, well, this will become more of a problem.
Tavion Thomas returns, and not a moment too soon
Objectively, given that things seemed to reach a breaking point after USC, there was no promise that Thomas was going to see another snap at Utah.
So much for that. Thomas returned on Saturday night, but there was a hitch.
He did not initially begin the game at running back, but rather on kickoff and punt coverage. He played hard, he played physical, he even registered the first tackle of his career. Then, things went sideways at running back.
Early in the third quarter, while in the middle of his best game as a Ute, Ja’Quinden Jackson (13 carries, 97 yards, TD) fumbled on first-and-goal from the 1, took a shot to his upper body, and was helped off the field while favoring his right shoulder. He eventually went to the locker room. Later, Jaylon Glover, who appeared to injure his left leg in the first half, eventually left the game in the third quarter.
At that point, you were left with Micah Bernard, who has been banged up for weeks. Whether he wanted to or not, what choice did Whittingham have but to give Thomas some carries?
Jackson and Glover combined for 30 carries at Washington State. On Saturday, they combined for 21 carries and 166 yards. Jackson, specifically, had become indispensable, and Whittingham said as much early last week. If one or both are unavailable, or even if they are available, we may have come back to a point where Thomas is again the bell cow.
He carried the ball eight times for 38 yards, all in the second half, before Whittingham indicated postgame that things are heading in a positive direction with Thomas. He stopped short of saying anything definitive about what his role might be moving forward.
Whoever the primary backfield option is, the good news is that the offensive line, with Johnny Maea at center in place of an injured Paul Maile, just turned in its best showing of the season as Utah ran 55 times for a season-high 306 yards.
Nate Johnson’s big debut
The four-star true freshman’s name has come up a few times this fall in media settings. Morgan Scalley has said positive things as his defense has to deal with the scout team QB every week. Whittingham has praised his work a couple of times, as has Andy Ludwig, but there wasn’t much evidence before Saturday that Johnson was going to see meaningful snaps.
Those circumstances changed last week. With the running backs situation in flux, and with Kincaid unavailable, Utah needed a spark, so on Monday, Johnson came to learn that there would be a Wildcat package with his name on it. All of those positive things the head coach and coordinators have said were on display.
Late first quarter, second-and-8 at the 8: Shotgun snap, Johnson rolls right, stays patient with the perimeter blocking, then puts it in gear to get to the right pylon. Touchdown.
Late second quarter, first-and-goal at the 9: Shotgun snap, fakes a handoff, rolls left, more good blocking along the perimeter, again beats a defender to the pylon, Touchdown.
Three carries, 23 yards, two touchdowns. Johnson took some pressure, if not some wear and tear off Rising’s plate. He showed off the speed you’ve heard so much about, in no way did he look unprepared for the moment, which isn’t something every true freshman is going to do.
A player can see action in up to four games and still preserve his redshirt. Barring something unforeseen, it stands to reason Whittingham and Ludwig do not want to burn Johnson’s redshirt, so then it becomes a matter of how do you dole out the three games Johnson can play in with at least four, possibly five to play if you include the Pac-12 championship game.
If you are intent on using Johnson down the stretch, Stanford does not strike me as a game he needs to play in, but those decisions are above my pay grade.
Other things on my mind
• Zemaiah Vaughn was terrific at cornerback. He had two early pass breakups, three for the night, recovered a muffed punt in the second half, and was generally disruptive all night in what might have been his best game as a collegian. Cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah has indicated a few times in the past that he thinks Vaughn has the stuff to be very good.
• Utah’s defense gave up way too many chunk plays, but even still, it’s now 10 straight quarters dating back to the second half vs. USC where the Utes’ D has gotten the better of things.
• If you’re willing to go along with Rising’s rough night is no big deal, then the same principle has to apply to his receivers. Devaughn Vele and Jaylen Dixon combined for nine catches, and that’s about it. Dixon’s four are a positive development in finding someone other than Vele to produce.
• The right side of the offensive line has been an issue this fall, but was solid on Saturday with Michael Mokofisi at right guard and Sataoa Laumea at right tackle.
• Arizona fumbled seven times and lost four of them. Not all of that can be weather-related.
