Utah's Kendal Thompson makes the difference in victory over UCLA
Week after week, UCLA head coach Jim Mora tells the media that his team doesn't prepare for certain players - they prepare for schemes.
He finally found a player that threw his preparation all out of whack.
Travis Wilson began the game as the quarterback for the Utes but he might have lost his job early. He was removed in the first quarter in favor of another junior signal caller, Kendal Thompson. Head coach Kyle Whittingham's decision to use Thompson might have won the Utes the game.
"We had gone with three three-and-outs with the first series and we couldn't move the ball," Whittingham said. "We had had that discussion all week with Travis and Kendal in the game. We gave Kendal a shot to see what happens."
On his second series, he broke loose for 12 yards. And then two, and then he completed a pass to Kaelin Clay. Then came six more yards. Thompson was the catalyst that helped the Utes torched the eighth-ranked Bruins for 242 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He gave them a look that they weren't quite prepared for and edge containment became a nightmare.
"Just a little bit more mobility out to the left. I think the other guy is a good runner, but this guy is a more agile, fast runner," Mora said. "He is probably a little more nifty. He doesn't throw the ball quite as well, but he runs the ball well."
"We weren't worried as much about him as a quarterback, he got the job done on his feet and it made us look bad on defense," said defensive lineman Owamagbe Odighizuwa.
UCLA squanders opportunity against Utah
Coming into this week of practice, the Bruins knew that there was a possibility of seeing Thompson. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said they did some prep for him, as they do all backup quarterbacks, but mostly focused on Wilson, a local product out of San Clemente who threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns against the Bruins last year.
"We had seen him come in the game against Michigan when the starter got hurt and there were a lot of the same principles," Ulbrich said. "A lot of the same zone-read, split-read, quarterback keep stuff.
The UCLA D knew they were going to run with Thompson yet still couldn't contain him.
"Great defenses have got to stop the run when you know they're going to run," Ulbrich said.
Odighizuwa said it might not just be the numbers on the ground - Utah, and Thompson especially, might have wanted it just a little more.
"When you've got that extra drive in you to win the game, you're going to do it any way, shape or form," Odighizuwa said. "They ran very, very hard. They worked for every inch they got. That was the main issue for us was just trying to contain that and trying to contain that as much as we can. They just kept on going and going and the quarterback kept on running, he wasn't afraid of hits."
As for how Utah views him, Whittingham isn't ready to commit and make him the starter against Oregon State in two weeks.
"I don't know that, I don't want to answer that right now," Whittingham said. "Kendal came in a did a nice job and was able to move the team. It's about taking care of the football and it was our judgment to stick with it and it continue through the rest of the game."
