Utah Utes Offense Stunningly Good in Week One

Shower Thought - September 2, 2025

Audio Transcript

The longest list of losers in sports is the Cleveland Browns' list of failed quarterbacks. Johnny Manziel, Derek Anderson, Colt McCoy, Brandon Weeden, Brian Hoyer, Robert Griffin, Seneca Wallace, PJ Walker, Jason Campbell, and Ken Dorsey are all on the list; heck, even the great Ty Detmer is on it. There's something about the "stink" that's in the walls of the facility, which seems to permeate anyone who enters for generations. Quarterbacks aren't meant to play in Cleveland.

That's the same story for offensive coordinators in Salt Lake City. The list is almost as long as Cleveland's: Norm Chow, Brian Johnson, Dave Christensen, Aaron Roderick, Troy Taylor, Andy Ludwig... it didn't matter who the OC was, the offense was always the same. It was conservative, predictable, and relied on the defense to win the game. Oh, we got the great Norm Chow? Nope. Brian Johnson is a winner? Nah. Troy Taylor was putting up 50 points a game at Sac State? Not here. Utah is a defensive program. They don't do offense. They're the Iowa of the Rocky Mountains. But on Saturday, Utah beat the tar out of UCLA and for the first time since Urban Meyer, they had a dynamic-looking offense. Shotgun, power-I, misdirection, their best defensive back playing receiver and running back, their NFL linebacker playing tight end. A quarterback who looked like a less bratty Kyler Murray and maybe, just maybe, he can stay healthy for a few games. Utah may have finally scored themselves a 21st-century offense with their new coordinator in Jason Beck.