Travis Wilson is the new Brock Osweiler. He’s 6-7, listed at 240 but looks far skinnier. He’s completed 56% of his passes, a percentage that’s gone down drastically in the last three weeks due to a hand injury that’s limited his effectiveness.
Against division rivals Arizona, USC and Arizona State, Wilson completed just 14 of 44 passes, for a total of 187 yards. He’s been intercepted 6 times in that span, 16 times for the season. The Sun Devils sacked him 4 times.
No, sunshine is from Cali-FORN-ia: Travis Wilson hails from San Clemente, known as the site of the Nixon “Western White House” and “the Spanish village by the sea.” He’s known as a tall, erratic quarterback with a long stride and a bruised passing hand (Scott Sommerdorf | Tribune file photo) .
The sophomore quarterback is also the Utes second leading rusher, 81 carries for 386 yards and 5 tds, with a long run of 51 yards. He runs the 40 in 4.94, so Tony Washington and company should be able to run him down, although he chooses his running lanes very well.
Like Oregon, Utah operates out of a spread offense, and their coordinator is an old Duck nemesis, Dennis Erickson, the former coach of the Sun Devils, Vandals, Beavers, Hurricanes, Cougars, Cowboys and Vandals, as well as the Seahawks and 49ers. The wily, wizened old fox of multiple coaching stops was 179-96-1 as a head man, winning two national championships at Miami, taking the Beavers to #4 in 2000-2001, failing miserably in the pros.
Erickson seems to be enjoying his new incarnation as just an old ball coach, staying mostly in the background as the x’s and o’s man for a squad that ranks 60th in the country in scoring at 29.8 points per game, 4-5 on the year, 1-5 in the PAC-12.
In spite of their modest record the Utes are a dangerous bunch. They also come into the game wounded and angry, losing in the last three minutes to ASU last week, 20-19 after dominating the whole game. For the season they’ve sacked opponents 39 times, a sobering stat: through 9 games, Stanford has 33 quarterback takedowns.
The defense is Kyle Whittingham’s emphasis. They’re big, blitzing and nasty, 305 and 300 at the tackles, bull-rushing and slam-dancing for 65 tackles for loss thus far. Defensive end/outside linebacker Trevor Reilly (6-5, 255) leads the hit parade, with 78 tackles, 7 sacks, 13.5 tfls. Sophomore linebacker Jared Norris anchors the middle at 6-1, 230, second on the team in tackles. Cornerback Keith McGill is their best cover guy, 6-3, 205, matched up on Oregon’s shortish receivers. He has 10 pass break ups on the season, tops on the team.
Can Utah use the Stanford blueprint, pounding ground game and swarming defense? They can in some ways. The offensive line has the requisite size across the offensive front, 345, 320, 305, 325 and 305. That includes 6-7, 345-lb. sophomore tackle Jeremy Poutasi, a player the Ducks recruited heavily, no pun intended.
At running back, the Utes most productive toter of the rock is 6-0, 196-pound scatback Bubba Poole, a sophomore from Las Vegas. Poole has 123 carries for 538 yards, a 4.4 yard average. His long run of the season came in The Holy War versus Brigham Young, a dash of 65 yards for a td. He’s gone over the century mark twice, once at BYU, and the other in the 27-21 upset victory over Stanford, where he scampered for 122 yards.
If Oregon does indeed look flat or unprepared against Utah, Scott Reed’s charges of discipline issues and poor practice habits gain additional weight. An excerpt:
“The 2013 Ducks, simply put, lack discipline on offense; specifically the offensive line. Watching the UCLA game on tape, there were plenty of mistakes that went unnoticed because other players overcame those mistakes; that can happen when a team has the superior offensive players and a speed and depth advantage.
What happens, though, when a team that lacks discipline comes across a team that has the same talent level, but more discipline? Well, the team without discipline tends to lose that match-up.I have heard from more than one person who has been inside a practice session this season that this team does not practice with the same kind of discipline this year as in years past. It shows.”
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