In dismantling Ducks, Utes give us the most impressive showing of the year

By Bruce Feldman
Published

All that hyping we did over Jim Harbaugh's debut earlier this month in Salt Lake City and turns out it was the guy on the other sideline on opening night who is the early leader for national Coach of the Year honors. Hats off to you, Kyle Whittingham.

Big coaching staff turnover? No problem.

Banged-up QB? No problem.

Travel to Autzen to face an explosive Oregon team? No problem.

Whittingham's Utes whipped the Ducks on both sides of the ball in stunning fashion, 62-20.

The Utes dominated Oregon at Autzen in a way no one has in years. You have to go back to 2006 to find a game where anyone beat the Ducks at home by even more than a TD, much less throttled them the way the Utes did.

Utah started out Saturday night punting at the end of the Utes' first series. After that, they scored on their next nine series and produced TDs on the last seven of them. 

Michigan State, a strong team that got some legit support for No. 1 this week in the polls, barely escaped against the Ducks a few weeks ago, and that game was in East Lansing. Utah's season-opening win against Michigan also is looking a lot more impressive when you consider how the Wolverines have looked since, especially on Saturday when they smashed No. 22 BYU.

Truth is, no one has two wins any more impressive than what Utah has.

People can try to pick apart QB Travis Wilson's mechanics, but the guy just keeps finding ways to make plays with his legs to keep defenses off-balance and also to make big-money throws. Devontae Booker shoulders the rest of the slack, and the Utes' defensive front is downright nasty. Again.

Now, it doesn't look like Oregon is anywhere near as good as it has been in recent years. Clearly, the Ducks miss Oregon great Marcus Mariota triggering their offense, and their defense also is shaky.

But for now, Utah's win looks as impressive as any showing anyone has had so far.

The fact that Utah deserves to be in the top five is quite a statement for Whittingham, who at one point last winter seemed no lock to return as head coach because of all sorts of internal politics. Instead, his team is in the thick of the Pac-12 race. The Utes have a week off to decompress from their big win at Oregon before getting refocused to play 4-0 Cal.

Bruce Feldman is a senior college football reporter and columnist for FOXSports.com and FS1. He is also a New York Times best-selling author. His new book, “The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks,” came out in October 2014. Follow him on Twitter @BruceFeldmanCFB and Facebook.