Re-Living Utah Football: The 2016 Season

Welcome to Re-Living Utah Football, a series where we will revisit every chapter of the University of Utah’s previous decade of football from 2016 through last year’s 11-win campaign. We’re starting with one of the most interesting seasons in recent program history, 2016. 

Final record: 9-4. And if that number feels underwhelming, good — because it should.

Southern Utah — W, 24-0

Season opener against an FCS opponent. Utah’s offense experienced some major growing pains, but they maintained possession for over 38 minutes, and the defense held strong, allowing the Utes to win by 24. 1-0, next.

BYU — W, 20-19

Okay, now we’re talking. This game should not have been as close as it was; in fact, Utah should’ve been blown out. Utah turned the ball over a whopping six times. Troy Williams threw three interceptions. By every logical football measure, the Utes had no business being in this football game, let alone winning it.

And yet, with 18 seconds left on the clock, Taysom Hill punched in a seven-yard touchdown run to pull BYU within one. First-year head coach Kalani Sitake wanted to make a statement against the program he coached for just a few seasons ago, and went for two. Hill took the quarterback draw up the middle and got met by Hunter Dimick, Sunia Tauteoli, and Marcus Williams right at the goal line. Despite a strong second effort, Hill was stuffed short. Rice-Eccles Stadium went absolutely insane. This game was another historic ending of a storied rivalry. Utah probably didn’t deserve to win this game, but it became the sixth straight win over arch-rival BYU. 2-0.

at San José State — W, 34-17

Utah cleaned up most of the turnover problems and won comfortably on the road. It was a rocky start, but a 28-0 run between the second and fourth quarters put the Utes in the driver’s seat. This game also saw two young running backs burst onto the scene, Zack Moss and Armand Shyne. 3-0.

USC — W, 31-27

Down 24-10 in the third quarter to a USC team starting redshirt freshman and now Super Bowl Champion, Sam Darnold, for the first time in his career. Utah made a comeback.

Troy Williams put the offense on his back with 270 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. The winning score came with 16 seconds left. A 15-play, 93-yard drive that ended with Tim Patrick hauling in an 18-yard catch at the pylon. Rice-Eccles once again went marbles. Whittingham trusted his guys when it mattered most, and they delivered. This was just the beginning of some historic victories over the USC Trojans. 4-0.

at Cal — L, 23-28

An absolutely heartbreaking loss in Berkeley. Utah once again started slow, and Cal jumped ahead 14-0 in the first quarter. After clawing back for three quarters, Utah had another victory in their sights. It all came down to the last possession. Utah had the ball down by five, first-and-10 on California’s 2-yard line with 14 seconds remaining. A touchdown wins the game; anything short of it is a loss. 

Despite having three cracks at it, Utah couldn’t punch it in. Cal made a goal-line stand, and the game was over. Utah was no longer undefeated. 4-1. 

Arizona — W, 36-23

Utah controlled the line of scrimmage from the jump. They moved the ball well, gaining 455 yards, and won at home. Classic Whittingham football. Good bounce-back win. 5-1.

at Oregon State — W, 19-14

Gritty and ugly. This guy named Joe Williams came out of retirement for the Utes and quietly went for 179 yards. You’ll see more of this. You start thinking something is brewing with this backfield. A win is a win, I guess! 6-1.

at UCLA — W, 52-45

There is no way to adequately describe what Joe Williams did at the Rose Bowl on October 22nd, 2016. The guy had retired from football earlier that season. He came back only because Utah’s backfield was decimated by injuries, and in his second game back, he ran for 332 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries against UCLA. Eleven-point-four yards per carry. Touchdown runs of 3, 43, 64, and 55 yards. He broke Utah’s single-game rushing record, set the all-time mark for most rushing yards by any opponent in UCLA history, and was the best single-game rusher in the entire FBS that season. Oh, and Cory Butler-Byrd returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.

Utah won 52-45 in a shootout that was extremely fun to watch back. Williams was named Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week. He came out of retirement and put up one of the greatest individual performances in Pac-12 history, crazy stuff. 7-1.

Washington — L, 24-31

Washington came to Salt Lake City ranked and rolling. College Gameday was there, and the Huskies would end the year in the College Football Playoff. Utah kept it close; Williams ran for 172 yards, but the Huskies were the better team that day. Dante Pettis put the game away late with a 58-yard punt return. This one you could live with, but it was a disappointment nonetheless. 7-2. 

at Arizona State — W, 49-26

Back on track. Utah put 49 on the board in Tempe and looked like a team ready to make a run at the South title. This one wasn’t ever close, and Joe Williams was a problem again. Everything was clicking heading into the final home game. 8-2. 

Oregon — L, 28-30

Senior Day with Pac-12 South implications. Rice-Eccles, as always, was sold out. Utah was leading 28-24 with under three minutes left against a 4-7 Oregon team. To this day, I’m not sure what caused Utah to come out so flat. It cost them possibly the entire season to be in a nail-biter against a poor Ducks team. The division title was right there.

Then a freshman quarterback named Justin Herbert drove 75 yards in two minutes and hit future Ute, Darren Carrington on a 17-yard touchdown with two seconds remaining. Carrington got one foot down in the back of the end zone on a play that was initially ruled incomplete — and then overturned on replay. It is far and away the quietest I’ve ever heard a Utah football game. 4-7 Oregon ended Utah’s season.

It was the kind of loss that doesn’t process right away. Utah had controlled its own destiny and watched it disappear on a play decided by inches and a camera angle. 8-3. 

at Colorado — L, 22-27

The vibes were off after a heartbreaker the week before. Season-ending road loss in Boulder with nothing left to play for in the division. Two unfortunate losses to end an exhilarating regular season. 8-4. 

Foster Farms Bowl vs. Indiana — W, 26-24

Utah closed it out. A tight 26-24 bowl win in Santa Clara against Indiana, with Joe Williams named MVP in his final collegiate game. The senior class went out winners, but they definitely had bigger goals in mind. 9-4. 

Final Thoughts

Nine wins is great, but it easily could’ve been eleven or twelve. Utah was inches from winning a Pac-12 South title. Instead, it’s a season remembered for last-second wins and losses against BYU, USC, California, and Oregon. And a retired running back becoming a legend in one afternoon.

That’s Utah football! It’s rarely clean, and is somehow always interesting. This series has a lot of ground to cover. On to 2017!