OCR Text |
Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 8 FOOTBALL Continued from page 6 Johnson. "He explained what the deal was and talked about the process of moving forward from there ... We all love Travis and respect what he's done as a captain and how tough he's been." Wilson now joins the ranks of several other players who came to Utah to play quarterback but, because of injury, transfer or position change, did not finish at the QB position. In fact, the last quarterback to start and complete the same season was Johnson, who led the Utes to a perfect 13-o record in 2008 and a Sugar Bowl victory. At the beginning of this season head coach Kyle Whittingham expressed hope that with Wilson, the team's struggles with quarterback consistency would finally be finished. Although that appeared to be the case early on, the Utes have been stricken by the quarterback curse again. Although Johnson doesn't believe in any curse, he cannot offer any explanation as to why the Utes have struggled so mightily in this area. "I have no idea," Johnson said. AGGIES Continued from page 6 opment of their underclassmen. The young group had trouble defending Utah State's fast-pace offense and dealing with its aggressive defense. Wilson said she can relate to them. "This year we have a ton of freshmen, so it feels like we have started all over again," she said. "Like with a play, trying not to get frustrated because we feel like they should know this, but they are as new as can be. You just got to be patient and encourage them and let them know "I wish I knew. If I had the answer I promise you we'd have the same guy start and finish a season ... Act of God, I guess? I have no idea." Curse or no curse, the Utes' struggles in the Pac-I2 can be directly tied to their trouble keeping a quarterback. "Having great quarterback play is everything," Johnson said. "Great teams in this conference have that. It's the one constant. If you have great quarterback play, you have a chance, no matter who you're playing in the country." With two games left in the season and the future looking uncertain, sophomore Adam Schulz takes the reins. He spoke with former Utah QB Jordan Wynn about how to tackle the challenge ahead. "I talked to Jordan earlier on in the week, and he said to go out there and do what you can do, play within yourself and don't try to make the big play because that's when you get in trouble," Schulz said. "There are big shoes to fill obviously, because Utah has a winning tradition. They're not used to not going to a bowl game." a.heywood@chronicle.utah.edu IL Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - bSii. rit if pr CHAD ZAVALA/The Daily Utah Chronicle File Photo Quarterback Travis Wilson runs for a touchdown against Weber State on Sept. 7 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Wilson is out for the rest of the season because of an intracranial artery injury. that mistakes happen and just to get through it." Utah will travel to Las Vegas to face off against the UNLV Rebels next Tuesday. Levrets and Wilson said that the focus in practice over the next few days will be precisely what the team struggled with Tuesday night, defense. Learning how to crash the boards will also be a priority. "Rebounding for sure," Wilson said. "We need to get our underclassmen on board with how physical college basketball is. It's important to practice hard in anything so that the games will come easily." news can be inspiring, too. b.barlow@chronicle.utah.edu j Follow us on Twitter! i twitter. com/TheChrany Contact t.webb@chronicle.utah.edu for information about being a news writer for The Daily Utah Chronicle. SUPPORT THE RUICKIIN 1 UTES FOOD DRIVE! THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT FOOD DRIVE NOV. 21-23 BRING NON—PERISHABLE, CANNED FOOD ITEMS TO ALL 3 DAYS OF THE THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT TO SUPPORT THE UTAH FOOD BANK DURING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. ‘l• |