College Football: Utah Utes 2016 Mid-Season Review

Sep 10, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes celebrated their fortieth straight sellout at Rice-Eccles Stadium Brigham Young Cougars. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 10, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes celebrated their fortieth straight sellout at Rice-Eccles Stadium Brigham Young Cougars. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
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Game 1: Southern Utah University @ Utah

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

The Utes opened the season, with fans expectations & hopes swirling, against a tough SUU team.

Quick Recap:

For SUU, the FCS program came into the game with hopes of providing a huge upset for the young college football season.

For Utah, this game provided our first look at the new offense led by QB Troy Williams, and for the most part, gave promising results.

The offense scored 24 points and was led by two touchdown passes from Williams.  Senior receiver Tim Patrick, who was on the other end of those two scores, led the team with 5 catches for 105 yards.

On the other side of the ball, the defense shut SUU out, while holding them to just 158 yards of total offense.

Result: Utah prevails by a score of 24-0 (1-0)

What it meant:

Utah opened the season exactly the way they should have, beating up on an opponent praying for an upset.

The offense provided a glimpse at something Ute fans haven’t seen in a long time: a passing offense! Thinking back, I can’t remember having faith in a QB throwing the ball since Brian Johnson in 2008. After one game, I trusted Williams arm more than anyone else in the last 8 years.