Friday, August 30, 2013

THREE THOUGHTS FROM UTAH VS UTAH ST.

I wanted to take the time to go over a few things i learned from Utah vs Utah State last night.


1. QUATERBACKS
For Utah one of the biggest question marks surrounding this program and it's successes this year was how QB Travis Wilson would progress from the seven games he started last year and how productive he would be this year. Well he sure showed up to play against the Aggies of Utah State. Wilson finished 17-28 for 302 yards and 2 TDs. A very solid performance for the youngster. He tended to focus on a couple of receivers but overall threw passes to six different receivers. He does need to improve on third how however, Utah was 7 for 16 on third down. The play calling could be to blame for this also, but Travis Wilson is expected to improve on this point.

On the flip side, the Aggies of Utah State had no concerns over who was going to start for them at Quarterback. Chuckie Keeton solidified himself last year as the best QB in the state and led the Aggies to an 11-2 record including a bowl victory in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Keeton continued to impress as he led his team going 31-40 for 314 yards and 2 TDs. Completing almost 78% of 40 passes is pretty impressive to me. Keeton also led his team in rushing going for 85 yards on 15 rushes for one touchdown. He also completed passes to eight different receivers.

Quarterback play for both teams was solid and will help each team win games in the future.


2. RECEIVERS
The receiving corps for Utah and Utah State came out to play with a couple of somewhat unknown receivers being the biggest contributors for the Utes. WR Anthony Denham led the team with 6 receptions for 113 yards, tie that in with WR Sean Fitzgerald catching 5 passes for 79 yards and you have 192 of Wilsons 302 passing yards in just two receivers. Other than a 56 yard reception for Dres Anderson he only caught 1 pass for 3 yards. Kenneth Scott didn't record a reception and TE Jake Murphy caught just 2 passes for 41 yards including a 30 yard TD grab. Luckily for Utah Denham and Fitzgerald stepped in to show that they deserve to be on the field and will continue to get looks if they keep up this trend.

Nobody should be surprised that WR Travis Van Leeuwan led the Aggies with 5 receptions for 107 yards. He was constantly harassing the DBs, making catches in the open field and even making tough catches over defenders. He is a stud and will continue to be productive. Second behind Van Leeuwan was WR Bruce Natson with 9 receptions for 83 yards. The Sophomore receiver found ways to get open all night against the Utes.


3. DEFENSE
The defenses for both the Utes and the Aggies strugged almost all game, especially against the pass. There were a couple of standout players for both teams including DE Nate Orchard who was harassing QB Chuckie Keeton all game, and LBs Jake Doughty and Nick Vigil were beast in the middle stopping Utah's running backs and keeping QB Travis Wilson on his toes. Outside of Utah State's goal-line stand, the Aggie defense got beat up by Travis Wilson and beat themselves up with penalties. Utah State had 7 penalties for a whopping 94 YARDS!!! Most of these penalties were on third downs after stopping the Utes, but instead giving them first downs so they could continue their drives. The penalties need to get reigned in or the Aggies will continue to shoot themselves in the foot. Utah, even after giving up a lot to Chuckie Keeton, played well enough when they were needed the most to win the game. Props goes to the Utah defense for showing up in the fourth quarter. Kalani Sitaki should be watching that quarter over and over again to see what kind of adjustments were made and continue to build on that.

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