This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
This is the running game that Kyle Whittingham and Dennis Erickson wanted to see.
If last week's win against Utah State was spotty on the ground, Saturday's 70-7 victory against Weber State was dominant, especially in the second half.
There wasn't a 100-yard rusher for the Ute last week. There was this week, as Lucky Radley went for a career-high 111 yards on the ground with the benefit of just 13 carries. The push against Utah State's line was negligible a week ago. On Saturday, the lanes through the offensive line were more than open.
Of course, this is Weber State, a team outmatched on both interior lines. But Whittingham was more impressed by the technique of his offensive line than the physical dominance. He was more encouraged with the burst and vision of his runners than the ability to simply bowl over defenders.
"I thought we certainly got into a groove, in the second half especially," Whittingham said. "As the game wore on, we started to control the line of scrimmage. The guys came in and did a nice job, so it was nice to have a breakout game rushing."
For the game, the Utes hit Weber State for 338 yards on the ground. Six of the touchdowns scored by Utah came on the ground, with four different backs getting carries. Impressively, Travis Wilson's ability to throw the ball eventually loosened the Wildcats defense and created running lanes.
It was an offense that balanced itself as the game wore on. When Weber State put an extra defender in the box, Wilson beat the Wildcats over the top. When WSU played back, Radley and Bubba Poole gashed them with their legs.
"I thought we ran the ball well," Poole said. "We got a lot of guys in the game and guys got comfortable and contributed as the game went on."
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Utah on the ground
338 yards as a team
Lucky Radley • career-high 111 yards on 13 carries
James Poole • 44 yards on three carries
Marcus Williams • 42 yards on 10 carries
Kelvin York • first rushing touchdown of the season
Travis Wilson • 93 yards and two touchdowns on 3 carries