The Utes got off to a slow start against the Weber State Wildcats Thursday night in their season opener, with some uncharacteristic mistakes to begin the game. Tyler Huntley threw a terrible interception that led to a touchdown for the Wildcasts, Britain Covey fumbled a punt that led to a field goal, and the Utes found themselves trailing 10-0 to an inferior opponent.
From there, the Utes ran of 41 unanswered points, as Huntley found his groove, and the defense dominated their neighbors to the North. The Wildcats managed just 61 yards of total offense, and were 1-15 on third down, which was a problem for the usually stout Utes defense last year. The Utes held Weber State scoreless over the final three quarters of the game, despite failing to record a takeaway.
The Utes appear to have two offensive stars, with Zach Moss picking up where he left off last season, recording 150 yards on just 16 carries, and scoring touchdowns on the ground, and through the air. Covey looks like he never served an LDS mission, hauling in 6 catches for 53 yards, but also recorded 64 yards on the ground, including a video game-like run on a broken halfback pass.
Jason Shelley got onto the field late in the fourth, and despite a fumbled QB-RB exchange, looked impressive completing the Utes best deep ball of the game, and scrambling twice for 49 yards. If that is what the coaches saw in practice during fall camp, it’s no surprise why he beat out Jack Tuttle for the back up QB job.
Catch more breakdown of the game on Gunther and Ben, 2-6 on ESPN 700.
