Kyle Whittingham says going with a conservative offense with a big lead was still the right call, no matter how close the final score was.
Whittingham said Monday he would keep the ball on the ground again, even after Air Force’s late comeback came up just short in Utah’s 38-35 victory Thursday in Salt Lake City. With a 17-point lead, Whittingham said running the clock became a priority.
“We did what we thought was best for that situation. When you’re playing an option team, typically they’re not a quick-strike team. It’s going to take some time for them to move down the field. Unfortunately for us, they were able to do it very efficiently,” said Whittingham, Utah’s first- year coach. “They were able to put two drives together back-to-back which made the game far more interesting than it should have been.”
The Falcons drove 86 yards for a touchdown, then went 80 more yards for another score to cut the big margin to a field goal before finally running out of time. Utah had controlled the ball for 9:59 of the final 15 minutes, which turned out to be just long enough.
“Any time you control the ball for 10 of the 15 minutes in the fourth quarter with a 17- point lead, you ought to come out all right,” Whittingham said. “I think we took the right approach.”
Brian Johnson threw seven times in the final quarter, including four passes on Utah’s first possession. After that, Whittingham primarily stuck with running the ball – and the clock.
“You can’t please everybody. If we had thrown the ball and had an interception and turned the game around that way, then there’d be more people upset with that,” Whittingham said.
Vanderbilt: Wide receiver George Smith was shot in the arm and two teammates were injured over the weekend at a party at a university apartment building, a school spokeswoman said.
Smith, a redshirt freshman, was shot in the arm early Sunday by someone who is not a university student, school spokeswoman Melanie Moran said. He was taken to Vanderbilt Hospital, was treated and released. The shooting came hours after Vanderbilt beat Division I-AA Richmond 37-13 and improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1984.
Smith has seven catches for 48 yards and a TD this season.
Freshman defensive end Derrius Dowell and redshirt freshman safety Reshard Langford suffered minor cuts and also were treated and released from Vanderbilt Hospital.
South Carolina: Quarterback Blake Mitchell probably won’t play Saturday against Auburn, Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said.
Instead, Spurrier is changing his offense for freshman Antonio Heffner, who is more comfortable running the ball than staying in the pocket.
“It will be a completely different game plan,” Spurrier said. “We’ll have some new ball plays for these guys.”
Mitchell suffered a high ankle sprain while being sacked late in the third quarter of South Carolina’s 45-20 win over Troy.
Memphis: Quarterback Will Hudgens broke his right leg Saturday at Tulsa, three weeks after the Tigers’ original starter, Patrick Byrne, broke his leg in the opener.
Southern Utah: Saturday’s game at McNeese State has been postponed indefinitely because of Hurricane Rita.
