Utah football notes: Zack Moss wants more carries; Huntley possibly 'in the mix'


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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah running back Zack Moss had one of his most productive games of the season Saturday as the Utes narrowly lost to USC on the road.

“I thought we ran the ball effectively,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said during his weekly press conference Monday. “Zack Moss played his best game as a Ute. He ran with great violence and determination.

“That’s just the Zack Moss that I’ve been waiting for for some time now,” Whittingham added. “He’s a very capable back — he’s very good, he’s physical. He can run people over — you saw him running linebackers over from USC.”

The Utes found success early in its run game behind Moss, contributing to a 14-point lead over USC heading into the half. Much of that success was due to Moss’ ability to wear down the defense and keep it from focusing solely on the passing game. However, Moss had only half the touches (seven) he had in the second half as Utah’s offense stalled.

“Maybe in retrospect — hindsight — we probably should have got him another five or six more touches in that second half as well,” Whittingham said.

But play-calling after the fact is always an easier task, particularly knowing the outcome of the game.

Whittingham said the decision to not give Moss the ball more in the second half was mostly in response to Utah’s quick three-and-out situations and that the play-calling was a bit handicapped by not extending drives. But Moss said he wants more opportunities to pick up yards in short-yardage situations — an area that Utah struggled with against USC and in the week before against Stanford.

“I wish I would have gotten more carries, but, I mean, that’s how the game went,” Moss said.

Moss said he’s not one to complain about the play-calling as he’s not the one that can see all that’s going on in the game. His role, he said, is to “execute the play to the best of your ability.”

Still, Moss believes the run game is being underutilized, particularly in the red zone where Utah has struggled to score touchdowns. This season, Utah is ranked 112th nationally in its percentage of touchdowns scored in the red zone. In Utah’s 34 red zone scoring attempts, the offense has scored a touchdown only 47.06 percent of the time.

“I would like us to run the ball a little bit more in the red zone than we do because we do have a tendency to throw a lot more in short areas,” Moss said. “We’ve just got to be better.”

Utah’s failed 2-point conversion attempt Saturday against the Trojans, which ultimately led to the team’s loss, is a perfect example of where Moss feels he could have been utilized to secure the win. Instead, the play-call was designed to be a play-action pass to tight end Harrison Handley.

The play ultimately fell apart as Handley was locked up by multiple defenders. Williams, instead, decided to run the ball in for a score but was stuffed short of the goal line, leaving a wide open Darren Carrington in the back of the end zone for a potential game-winning score.

“I was just telling myself that if it's not there, you know, you've just got to take off,” Williams said Monday. “Last year versus Cal I could have run it in, but I threw it, but now this year I could have threw it when I tried to run it in. It's football.

“I'm sure it's not the first time, you know, that a quarterback has missed somebody open in the end zone, but you've got to keep playing — got a lot of football left.”

Whittingham said the decision to go for 2 points came early in the drive and there was no hesitation to make that call. He added that he has no regrets for the decision to go for the attempt.

Tyler Huntley progressing and other injuries

Utah has been a bit hampered by the injury bug this season, losing several key players to injuries. Most notably is starting quarterback Tyler Huntley. Whittingham said Saturday night that Huntley was “in the mix” leading up to the game, but was ultimately ruled ineligible.

Whittingham added on Monday that he’s still waiting to hear back from the medical staff about when Huntley will be cleared to play again, but that he doesn’t know. He said Huntley will be at practice Monday, but whether he’ll be able to go this weekend against Arizona State is still an unknown.

Moss said he’s seen Huntley at practice throwing the ball “a bit,” but said he doesn’t know any more than the public about when Huntley will be back to play.

Defensive end Kylie Fitts played limited minutes in the USC game and is looking to fill more of a role in the coming weeks; however, he’s not fully healthy and his playing time will be limited. Defensive end Bradlee Anae and safety Chase Hansen both left the game early Saturday to undisclosed injuries, but Whittingham said there were no season-ending injuries resulting from that game.

However, Christian Drews, who came down with an injury during Utah’s matchup against Stanford, sustained a season-ending injury. Also of note, Whittingham said star receiver Darren Carrington has “some ailments” and “is hurting out there.” Carrington continues to play and isn’t expected to miss any time.

NOTES: Punter Mitch Wishnowsky was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week for his efforts against USC. ... In a controversial delay of game penalty against Utah in the USC game where the ref was seen holding the ball before Utah could snap it, Whittingham said the explanation he received was that Utah had 12 players on the field and the ball couldn’t be snapped until there were 11 players on the field. Whittingham said he’s reviewed the game and hasn’t seen a 12th player on the field. … Utah will play Oregon on the road on Oct. 28 at 3:45 p.m. MT, Utah announced Monday. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

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Josh is the Sports Director for KSL.com and beat writer covering University of Utah athletics — primarily football, men’s and women's basketball and gymnastics. He is also an Associated Press Top 25 voter for college football.

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