Isaac Wilson settles in, defense gets back to basics in No. 12 Utah’s comeback win over Utah State in Logan

It wasn’t the situation Utah thought it would be in.
Less than one minute into the second quarter against Utah State at Maverik Stadium in Logan Saturday, the No. 12 Utes trailed their in-state rival 14-3.
Bryson Barnes, who transferred from Utah to Utah State in the offseason, had picked apart Utah’s vaunted defense with relative ease twice on two consecutive drives, and the Utes’ offense — sans starting quarterback Cam Rising, who watched from the sideline with a finger injury — had struggled to get going.
It was early in the game, but Utah was in real danger, especially because the score could have been 21-3 by that point in the contest.
On the Aggies’ second drive of the game, Barnes threw a deep pass to the end zone that hit Kyrese White right in the hands for what looked like the first score of the game before cornerback Smith Snowden wrestled the ball away for an end zone interception.
Yes, the Utes were on upset alert, and Ute fans’ thoughts had to be drifting back to the last time Utah was in Logan, a 27-20 overtime victory for the Aggies that was aided by a fast start from the home team.
After three unsuccessful series by the Aggies to open the game, Barnes found his rhythm on his next two drives, dissecting Utah’s defense.
The Utes were missing tackles, failing to generate the required pressure on Barnes and had some lapses in the secondary. Give credit to Barnes and the Aggies, who made a couple of big plays — the first a 39-yard pass to Otto Tia that Barnes dropped right in the bucket, which was immediately followed by blown coverage that left Broc Lane wide open for the Aggies’ first touchdown.
On the next drive, Barnes had a 35-yard pass to Jalen Royals, who made an incredible one-handed grab, then a 12-yard touchdown dart to Jack Hestera for a touchdown, and Utah State led 14-3.
The Aggies’ uptempo offense had the Utes on their heels, and Barnes was hitting all the right notes. With three seasons at Utah and plenty of time facing off against the Utes’ defense in practice, Barnes was very familiar with his opponent’s defensive scheme, and Utah knowledgeable about his tendencies.
To try to combat that, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said, the Utes went away from their base defense and tried to disorient Barnes with new defensive looks.
“Bryson Barnes knows our defense inside and out, so coach Scalley and the defensive staff came up with a few looks that he hadn’t seen with different personnel groups, and I’m not going to say it was bad, but when we settled back to our stuff that we do all the time, we seemed to have more success,” Whittingham said.
Whether it was the scheme not working, players underperforming or a combination, one thing was clear — if Utah didn’t tighten up defensively, and get its offense going, it could see a repeat of the result it had the last time the Utes were here.
“They were more ready to play than we were at the onset. We kind of sleep walked through that first quarter,” Whittingham said.
Isaac Wilson, who started in place of Rising, had first-team reps all week in practice, but he may have been a little too amped up to begin the game — understandable for his first-ever start.
A portion of his passes on Utah’s first couple of drives were too high for his receivers, and a second-and-5 pass on his second drive was nowhere close to a Ute receiver and nearly picked off.
After Utah State took the 14-3 lead early in the second quarter, the Utes had to score a touchdown — they couldn’t afford another drive without one.
Facing a hostile crowd whipped up into a frenzy, Wilson took the field, knowing he needed to deliver a score to quiet Utah State’s fans and get Utah back into the game.
A couple key runs by Mike Mitchell and Micah Bernard and a pass interference call on Utah State set Wilson up at the Utah State 11-yard line.
The true freshman went through his progressions, looked off his first read and delivered a touchdown pass to Money Parks.
You could feel the Utah sideline take a deep breath of relief.
“We got the run game going. It really opened up the pass, I feel like. They were bringing heavy pressures in the first half and just having Micah go downhill, make some moves, really opened up the passing game,” Wilson said.
As the Utes’ defense prepared to take the field, there wasn’t panic, but there was urgency to get a stop after the score. Utah couldn’t contain Barnes as he rushed for a 17-yard quarterback keeper, and the uptempo offense kept on working, with Barnes completing a 27-yard pass to get into the red zone.
On third-and-7, a bad snap led to a sack by defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa, which forced a 35-yard field goal that was tipped by tight end Caleb Lohner and missed.
It may not have been the ideal way Utah wanted to get a stop, due to the Aggies getting in field goal range, but the Utes had forced one.
The ideal way for the Utes to get a stop — a turnover — came later in the second quarter, when Michigan transfer cornerback Cam Calhoun, playing his first extended snaps since having offseason surgery, picked off Barnes and ran it back to the Utah 49-yard-line.
“He played that just right. It was a Cover 2. He shrunk back on the deep route, stole it underneath the deeper route,” Whittingham said.
Wilson had his best series as a Ute and finally looked truly comfortable, completing a couple passes to Dorian Singer for 20 and 9 yards, respectively, and after a 11-yard rush by Mitchell, threw a jump ball where only Lohner could get it for a touchdown, and the Utes led 17-14.
After battling through that initial adversity in the first quarter, Utah’s defense found its groove for the most part — forcing two straight Utah State punts in the second and third quarters — and Wilson and Utah’s running backs found their footing.
From 14:15 in the second quarter, when USU went up 14-3, to 0:56 in the third quarter, Utah went on a 25-0 run to lead 28-14.
But there was one more piece of adversity to overcome.
Utah’s rush defense wasn’t at its best on Saturday, something the Utes will need to clean up heading into Oklahoma State next week, and it bit them again late in the third quarter.
Barnes led a nine-play, 63-yard touchdown drive, connecting with Colby Bowman for 31 yards on fourth-and-1, then Rahsul Faison rushed for 17 yards on fourth-and-5 to set up a Barnes quarterback sneak, which pulled Utah State within a touchdown.
Then Wilson threw an interception — after deflecting off Brant Kuithe’s hands, it was picked off by Jordan Vincent — and the Aggies had the ball on the Utah 42-yard-line with the chance to take the lead.
Utah’s defense dug in, forcing a three-and-out, and Utah State kicker Elliott Nimrod missed a 43-yard field goal.
Bernard — who rushed for 123 yards, another 100-plus-yard performance — took the game into his hands on the ensuing Utah drive. As soon as he got around the edge on a first-and-10 run, he hit the turbo button and sprinted for 64 yards.
Wilson capitalized later in the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-2 that UCLA transfer tight end Carsen Ryan just barely hauled in.
After Utah forced a three-and-out from the Aggies on the next drive, the game was basically sealed.
Utah defeated Utah State 38-21 to improve to 3-0.
Wilson became the first true freshman Utah quarterback to throw three touchdowns in his starting debut, finishing with 239 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
He completed 20 of his 33 passes and really settled in nicely after a shaky first few drives. While the plan is, Whittingham said, to have Rising back for next week’s game against Oklahoma State, Saturday proved that Utah can still put up a decent offensive performance in his absence.
“Great to see Isaac Wilson settle in and look like a real Power Four quarterback. We’re hoping, obviously we get Cam back this week and that’s the plan, but it’s comforting to know that Isaac is capable of doing just what you saw today,” Whittingham said.
Utah will need more from its defense — it gave up 385 total yards to Utah State — and a faster start from its offense next week, but the Utes handled their first bit of adversity in a road environment and enter conference play undefeated.
Big 12 play, and a huge measuring stick, awaits with a trip to Stillwater next week to take on No. 13 Oklahoma State.