Aside from finding a way to convert a winning 2-point conversion in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Utah senior quarterback Troy Williams probably couldn’t have hoped for a lot more in what could be his last start. Williams caught, passed and rushed for touchdowns about a half hour up the road from his hometown of Carson, Calif.
Whether or not Williams gets another start depends on the health of sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley, who did not travel with the team this past weekend but seems to be getting closer to a return. Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said following the loss to USC that Huntley’s availability remained in question up until Friday. Huntley suffered a shoulder injury against Arizona on Sep. 22.
“Every week that goes by he gets healthier and closer to being cleared,” Whittingham said. “Like I said last week, from this point on its’ just day-to-day until they say yes or no. Every day is a yes or no, he can practice today or he can’t. So far it’s been no, no, no, no, no, no, all the way. There’s no yeses yet.”
Huntley has supposedly been able to throw the football, a somewhat encouraging sign since the injury came to his throwing shoulder.
“Every week, I just continue to prepare myself,” Williams said. “I know he’s getting healthy. I’m happy for him. I’m sure that whenever he feels 100 [percent] that he can go, he’ll be ready to go. I just have to continue to be myself.”
Zack Moss looks back on the USC loss and discusses the differences of playing with Huntley and Williams at QB. pic.twitter.com/nkz5zSingx
— Chris Kamrani (@chriskamrani) October 16, 2017
Playing hurt
Wide receiver Darren Carrington II came into this past weekend leading the Pac-12 in receiving yards per game, but he had his lowest output of the season against USC with just two catches for nine yards. He had a pass glance of his hands in the first quarter that could have converted a third down for the Utes.
While giving no specifics, Whittingham revealed that Carrington played hurt against USC.
“Darren, he was hurting this week,” Whittingham said. “He’s got some ailments going on and wasn’t himself, but [he was] tough enough to be out there and contribute to the extend that he could.”
Wishnowsky honored by Pac-12
The Pac-12 announced Monday that Utes punter Mitch Wishnowsky had been named the conference’s special teams player of the week from this past weekend’s games. Wishnowsky, a junior from Perth, Australia, averaged 46.8 yards per punt on six punts against USC, and he had three punts downed inside the USC 20-yard line including two downed inside the 10-yard line.
Drews done for season
Whittingham confirmed that senior co-captain Christian Drews suffered a season-ending injury against Stanford two weekends ago.
Drews, a walk-on linebacker during his first three seasons, earned a scholarship this past spring. The California native played in 13 games each of his first three years and played in five this year, almost exclusively on special teams. Drews posted on Instagram this past weekend that his career had ended, but that he lived his “dream.”
Kyle Whittingham on the red zone/third down situations hampering the offense. pic.twitter.com/FSvSNFsEMY
— Lynn Worthy (@LWorthySports) October 16, 2017
Smith, Gross set for Crimson Club honors
Former Utah and NFL stars Steve Smith Sr. and Jordan Gross will be part of a seven-member class inducted into the Crimson Club Hall of Fame this weekend and introduced during halftime of the Utah-Arizona State game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Smith, a five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, played 16 seasons in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens. He finished his career with 14,731 receiving yards, seventh-most in NFL history. Gross, an offensive tackle, earned consensus All-American honors as a senior in 2002. The Panthers selected him with the eighth overall pick. He made the Pro Bowl in 2009 and spent 11 seasons as a starter before retiring after the 2013 season