Gordon Monson: In the ‘Battle of the Brothers,’ somebody’s little bro helps the big bro Utes come out on top

Oh brother, who art thou?

That question fit all snug in both directions for most of a surprisingly competitive game on Saturday afternoon at Maverik Stadium, when and where two in-state schools, big bro and little bro, one with Utah as its name, the other as Utah and a State (of uncertainty) attached, measured themselves against one another … you know, as brothers sometimes do.

In this particular case, to put it all in perspective, one sibling had gone on to relative riches, the other sat on a street corner with a sign hanging around his neck and a cup in hand. Brother, can you spare a dime?

No. The Utes, as it turned out, couldn’t spare any, keeping for themselves as many of those as possible, most of them absolutely necessary, led as they were against the Aggies by somebody else’s little brother — a freshman quarterback named Isaac — in the absence of the injured Cam Rising.

Yes. Zach Wilson’s younger hermano threw enough dimes and darts for a Utah victory over USU, by the count of 38-21. En route, the 18-year-old QB hit on 20 of 33 passes for 239 yards, three touchdowns and a single interception. One minute, or actually for many early minutes, Wilson looked unprepared and perhaps ill-suited to fill in for Rising, and the next minute, or actually for many late minutes, he looked beyond capable, spinning the ball with a remarkable mix of confidence and accuracy.

In the aftermath, Kyle Whittingham said rather flatly: “It was good to get him that experience.”

Good when Wilson drilled NFL-quality throws to Money Parks and Dijon Stanley, when he found Parks, Caleb Lohner and Carsen Ryan for touchdowns; bad when he wasn’t quite sure when or where to send the ball, causing the entire offense to seize up and stall out.

Here’s the thing, though: The latter made the former all the more impressive. Even if you for some reason made the attempt, you couldn’t miss Wilson’s growth over 37 minutes of possession time in his first college start. It was unmistakable, unequivocal, as his play and presence morphed from that initial mark of a question — What the hell are the Utes gonna do without Rising? — to a point of exclamation — Man, oh man, this baby-faced kid might just be a baby-faced killer!

It was over the span of that trajectory, that progression, especially the initial parts of it, that Utah State gave Utah not just more than it wanted, rather more than it could handle.

With Rising on the sideline, a small bandage on his throwing hand and an all-too-familiar baseball cap on his head, a cap that has come to signify to the Utes and their fan base, “This quarterback is out of order,” the Utes fell behind, 14-3. Everything for them seemed out of order, out of whack, missed throws, missed catches, missed holes, missed blocks, missed opportunities. In the first quarter, Utah State out-gained Utah in total yards, 124 to 53. Amazing, the overall effect a seasoned quarterback — the absence of same — can have on an entire team.

At that point, the sniff and sense of an upset filled the sun-soaked Logan air.

Let’s go ahead and speak the obvious here. Utah, with or without its starting quarterback, has better players than Utah State. The Utes have a collection of great athletes, a whole lot of them. The Aggies have great athletes, too, just not enough of them.

What USU did have over substantial stretches was passion, considerably more than the Utes displayed. Whittingham noted as much in the postgame, with a touch of respect aimed at the Aggies, and a touch of disappointment tossed at his own guys. He parroted an old Eagles song when he said through his first five words, one of them a contraction, and then continued with better news from there: “I can’t tell you why … we were not at our best in the first quarter. But we responded and ended up playing good football, particularly in the second half.”

As it was, as it became evident, emotion, as helpful and useful and as downright admirable as that is, wasn’t enough to defeat talent.

Not when Wilson settled into a rhythm, making deliveries to 10 different receivers. And as he did so, Utah’s rushing attack kicked in alongside, rolling for 221 yards, a total greatly aided by Micah Bernard’s 64-yard run down the right sideline, a scamper that led to Wilson’s TD toss to Ryan.

As mentioned, Whittingham, while sneering at some of his own team’s flaws — “We [finally] started to play with more passion,” he said — he also complimented Utah State’s effort. “They’re a bunch of tough kids.”

“The toughness was there the whole game,” said USU coach Nate Dreiling. “No one’s ever gonna question how hard these guys play.”

And while Whittingham’s praise for Utah’s little bro was not in the slightest way condescending or insincere, anyone with any sense of perception could read between the lines that the coach wasn’t just bothered by some of big bro’s mistakes on this day, he also was and is fully aware that a whole lot more will be required of the Utes — on offense and defense — in the weeks to come, especially the weeks directly ahead, when the Utes travel to Stillwater to play ranked Oklahoma State and then face a run of other Big 12 opponents, including down the road a bit when another brotherly challenge awaits — blood brothers? — when BYU visits Rice-Eccles.

Presumably, Rising will be back for most or all of those games. If for some lingering reason he’s not, or if the unspeakable happens and the senior gets hurt in some other way — shush your mouth, right? — the vicissitudes suffered and gradual upward arc gained by Wilson on Saturday could smooth at least some of the heretofore quivering apprehensions of a team and its fans who weren’t quite sure, should the need arise, what to make of consequences to come at the hands and arm and mind of their teenaged QB replacement, somebody’s little brother.