Offense: C
The Offense got off to a hot start, scoring on their first drive of the game, but would need nearly 40 minutes to return to the end zone. The Utes deceptively gained a lot of yards and were quite productive with the ball, however their inability to turn yards into points caused a lot of frustration and worry throughout most of this game. The Utes gained a more than respectable 499 yards, controlled Time of Possession by about 5 minutes, and were 8-15 on third down. Inopportune turnovers in the first quarter, missed field goals, a continued inability to score on the goal line, and stalled drives led to such a low score for Utah.
Terrance Cain looked good in his first road test. He completed 56% of his passes (18-32) for 248 yards and a TD as well as rushing 10 times for 76 yards. He still has a tendency to throw the ball high and missed several targets downfield. His short passing game continued to be effective but he needs to improve his touch on longer passes. Cain was very impressive running the ball and showed elusiveness in the pocket as well as some speed and agility running up field. He had a big 30 yard scamper on a critical 3rd down during the Utes opening touchdown drive.
The Utes once again moved the ball well on the ground. As a team the Utes averaged 6.3 yards per carry on 40 attempts for a total of 251 yards. Matt Asiata had 94 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, Eddie Wide had 44 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries, and redshirt freshman Sausan Shakerin made his debut with a huge 46 yard run late in the game that helped seal the win. Matt Asiata suffered what coaches called a "ding" to his shoulder and more will be know later as to the extent of his injury. Overall the run game looked solid and depending on the health of Asiata we may see some more Wide and Shakerin throughout the season.
One last note about the offense's goal line struggles. On the first scoring drive it took the Utes 4 plays to punch the ball in and on a later drive a 4th and 1 failed as Matt Asiata overthrew Cain in the endzone. The Utes have some serious goal line problems if they are failing to effectively move the ball against San Jose State and Utah State. I'm not sure exactly who is to blame. It could be the backs inability to hit the correct hole or Cain's inability to make the right read, the line's inability to create a hole, or Offensive Coordinator Dave Schramm's inability to make the correct play call. Whatever the problem is it needs to be fixed soon are this will come back to cost the Utes a game.
Defense: C+The main concern after last week for the defense was stopping big plays. Although there weren't any plays like last week, the secondary did allow some big pass plays (4 over 30 yards). Brandon Burton and RJ Stanford need to really improve or this could be a major issue for the Utes this season. San Jose State receiver Kevin Jurovich repeatedly outplayed the corners and totaled 7 catches for 113 yards. Before this game the Spartans employed a 2 quarterback rotation, but they stuck with QB Jordan La Secla as he dissected the Utes for 242 yards on 21-33 passing. This should not happen and has to be fixed.
After a near spotless opening game, the Utes committed a lot of penalties on defense allowing the Spartans to keep drives alive and score points. Of the Spartans' 18 first downs in the game, 7 were a result of a Utah penalty. There were a handful of pass interference penalties (albeit some questionable) that could be avoided if the defensive backs would turn their head and play the ball instead of the receiver. This is unacceptable and needs some serious work as well.
A bright spot for the defense was stopping the run. San Jose State is an extremely poor running team but the Utes didn't allow them to do much of anything on the ground. They held the Spartans to 22 rushing yards on 22 carries for the game and didn't allow a run of more than 8 yards. The line still needs to do a better job of getting pressure on the quarterback, however, as they only recorded one sack against an offensive line they should have dominated. The defense continued to excel on 3rd downs holding San Jose State to only 3-12 and caused a lot of potential Spartan scoring drives to end prematurely. Although there were some obvious deficiencies, the defense only allowed 14 points and made plays when they had to.
Special Teams: DAnd so ends the field goal dependability of Ben Vroman. I know two of his attempts were from over 50 yards, but they were just awful kicks. Awful. Both kicks were hooked to the left and would have been lucky to reach the height of the crossbar. When he had a chance to redeem himself with a routine 36 yarder, he once again hooked the ball severely left. Kyle Whittingham expressed his displeasure with Vroman when he reached the sideline after the third miss, and concluded it with having Junior Joe Philips kick the following 2 extra points and 25 yard field goal (All of which were good). Asked after the game if the Utes faced a kicking controversy, Whittingham replied with a resounding "Yes."
Sean Sellwood continued to punt well. He had a 56 yarder downed inside the 20 as well as a 38 yarder that reached the endzone for a touchback. Through two games he is averaging an exceptional 46.8 yards per punt.
The kickoff and punt return games looked solid. There were no fumbles by the returners which is a positive as that has been a previous issue. Despite his field goal woes, Ben Vroman continued to kickoff well and the coverage didn't allow a big return.
Overall: C-
The win extends the current winning streak to 16 games, tying the 2nd best streak in school history (1928-1930). Two more wins will tie the school record of 18 straight wins set back in 2005. There are a lot of lessons to be learned and a lot of improvements to be made, but the bottom line is a win is a win. The game was sloppy and sometimes downright boring. During the offense's struggles the defense kept the game under control. Heading into next week's showdown at Oregon, the Utes need to clean up a lot of areas or it could be a long trip home from Eugene.
Player of the Game: Terrance Cain (Passing: 18-31, 248 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT; 10 rushes, 76 yards)
Play of the Game: Jereme Brooks 51 yard touchdown catch from Cain to break a 7-7 tie in the 4th quarter.
Attendance: 23,684
Game Time: 3:24
Recap
Stats
Photos: AP
