Utah’s offense was night-and-day different from last year’s version, scoring 43 points, gaining 492 yards and generally being in control of the contest from start to finish in its season opener vs. UCLA.
The Utes scored touchdowns on three straight drives on two different occasions, punted just once, and only had three penalties. It was as clean of an offensive game as you’re ever going to see when opening up against a Power Four opponent, even one without much of a defense.
Quarterback Devon Dampier looked every bit the part of someone who could reverse Utah’s offensive fortunes, making plays through the air and on the ground, and the Utes’ offensive line lived up to the hype.
Tight end Dallen Bentley had a good day with five catches for 31 yards and a score and freshman JJ Buchanan made an early impression with three receptions for 29 yards.
Of course, two-way players Smith Snowden and Lander Barton stole the show, with Snowden contributing 51 yards on six catches, plus 15 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Barton had a 14-yard touchdown reception.
Those players playing both ways is something that will continue throughout the season.
“We plan on using them each and every week. How much (depends) on what the matchup was and what personnel groups they’re in,” Whittingham said. “Coach Beck typically goes into a game with four or five or six personnel groups and just depending on how many of those groups they’re involved in.”
Safety Jackson Bennee also saw some action on offense with one catch for 17 yards.
“Bennee did exactly what we hoped,” Whittingham said. “He didn’t have a lot of production on paper, but he did a great job of taking the top off the coverage and stretching the defense and opened some things up for other guys.”
Running backs Wayshawn Parker and NaQuari Rogers also had productive nights running behind the Utes’ OL.
“A lot of good things offensively. Ran the football well, threw it efficiently, converted third downs really well. Red zone, outstanding. Didn’t turn the ball over, zero turnovers, and really never had any lulls in the offense,” Whittingham said. “We only punted one time and other than that, we scored every time.”
Throughout most of Saturday night in Pasadena, everything on the offense was clicking, with the exception being the wide receivers.
Utah didn’t need too much production from its wideouts with the way the offense was humming, but the heavy involvement of Snowden on that side of the ball brought up a question — how concerned should Ute fans be with the wide receivers room?
Snowden is clearly a talent on the offensive side of the ball, and Utah should — and will — continue to utilize him, but the receivers will need to play a significant role in this offense, especially as the Utes move into Big 12 play.
Just two wide receivers — Tobias Merriweather and Ryan Davis — caught passes in Utah’s win over UCLA, and the first reception by a receiver came with 10:36 in the third quarter on a Dampier pass to Davis for six yards.
Receiver Larry Simmons looked to have a 20-yard reception from Dampier, but it didn’t count due to illegal touching after Simmons went out of bounds before the catch.
Merriweather, Davis and Simmons were the only receivers targeted, totaling seven of Dampier’s 25 pass attempts. Merriweather had a 36-yard reception — Utah’s longest gain of the night — and drew a pass interference penalty.
Going forward, Whittingham wants to see Merriweather be more involved in the Utes’ offense.
“I think we need to get Tobias a little more involved. He’s a weapon for us and you saw him catch a deep ball and then draw a PI on another deep ball and that’s really his thing is he seems to have a good knack for getting free up the field,” Whittingham said.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Merriweather, who played at Notre Dame and Cal before Utah, has the potential to be the Utes’ WR1.
“I think we need to get Tobias a little more involved. He’s a weapon for us.”
— Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on Tobias Merriweather
“He’s also got a big catch radius, so we got to try to get him more involved,” Whittingham said.
Davis, who played with Dampier at New Mexico and had 747 yards and three scores on 54 receptions, should be a consistent factor in the slot. Simmons already had a few targets and should be a fixture in the starting lineup.
Daidren Zipperer and Creed Whittemore, who are also among the top five receivers on this year’s team, didn’t have much of an impact on Saturday. Zipperer didn’t play and Whittemore was on the field for just seven snaps.
Entering fall camp, wide receiver was a question mark on this year’s team, but coaches grew more and more confident in the position group throughout the course of fall camp.
So far, the receivers haven’t proven much, but Utah has played a grand total of one game and there’s plenty of time for the Utes to get them more involved.
They’re going to have to earn their reps, though.
“You want more time, you want more production? Play better in practice. That’s how it is,” Whittingham said. “I mean, you got to play your way into that. We’re not just going to try to feature somebody if they haven’t earned it, and not to say that they’re not doing some good things in practice, but we feel like we’ve got the right guys on the field.
… Moving forward it would be nice to be able to have more production emphasis placed on that. But again, it’s got to be merited. You can’t just hand out playing time and production. You got to earn it in practice.”
Saturday’s contest against FCS Cal Poly provides an excellent chance for the receivers to earn their stripes and for the Utes to spread the ball around and try to get them some more touches — if they earn it for sure.
Whittingham and the Utes certainly aren’t overlooking or taking Cal Poly for granted — “If you do that, you find yourself getting smacked in the face,” he said — but unless something goes terribly wrong, Utah should get ample opportunity to experiment a little on offense and show the Dampier-WR room chemistry in-game.
Utah should also get an extended look at what their second- and perhaps third-stringers can do in a game situation.
“You hope, if you get a chance to, especially early in the season, to get a look at some of the younger guys, you hope that happens. But that’s getting ahead of things in our opinion,” Whittingham said. “If we are able to take control of the game and get a lead, it would be great to see some of these younger guys and see what they can do.”
It’s not the most thrilling opponent for a home opener, but there’s a reason why the program schedules these games. Saturday’s contest will likely help iron out any early-season wrinkles, give the starters some rest and help in getting younger players valuable in-game reps.
Perhaps, too, Saturday will see more involvement of the wide receivers.
