West Virginia coaches and players have a lot to do during the week. They have to correct the past and then quickly prepare for the future. There are only a couple of days to do so. This is similar for journalists. Sunday and Monday are for looking at what happened in the past, and then you quickly have to move on to the game ahead.

You can look at stats, box scores and watch some highlights, but you don’t get the nitty-gritty details that a full-time beat writer would.

So, we reached out to the Utah football beat writer and for KLS.com Sports to get the finer details on the Utes before their matchup with WVU. Here is what beat reporter and Utah AP voter Josh Furlong had to say about Utah:

Strengths and weaknesses

Utah’s strength has been the offensive line. They’ve got two tackles that are getting first-round draft pick buzz and have been pretty solid, even last week. It wasn’t their best performance compared to what they’ve done over the last few years, but they’re a pretty solid unit. They keep Dampier upright and allow them to be able to move the ball pretty efficiently, assuming they can get that done right.

Winning in the trenches. We’re still kind of seeing what this Utah team can do in that regard. Last week, against a really solid Texas Tech team, they took a little bit of a step back and weren’t able to move the ball. It’s still kind of a TBD, but I think that’s still kind of the strength of the offense, just being able to have that consistency in the trenches on the other side.

For the weakness, I don’t know if it’s a weakness yet, I think it’s still unproven, is essentially the wide receivers. They haven’t been able to be a factor as much in the game as Utah wants. It’s been a little TBD. There’s a guy in Ryan Davis, who Devon Dampier came from New Mexico with, and he’s got a great connection with him. You’ve got Dallen Bentley, who’s a tight end that’s been pretty effective in the past. He had a shot last week, but it got called back because of an ineligible receiver. It’s still kind of a wait-and-see situation.

It’s a combination of receivers not getting open and Dampier getting to make those throws. It’s probably the biggest weakness that they have on the team right now, just trying to figure out where that is. It’s unknown as to whether that’s fully a weakness or they just haven’t maximized it to its potential.

Takeaways from last game

I think the Texas Tech game had two really solid defenses. They were locked in. They were going toe to toe with each other. I still think Texas Tech probably had the advantage. They played with much more consistency and fluidity. They really just had a great game plan and attacked Utah really well. For the most part, it was a pretty solid game on both sides.

Both teams were a little frustrated with what they were able to do, and it just came down to the end, where Utah just kind of lost steam. There were a lot of missed tackles from Utah. There are a lot of things that they need to clean up. Ultimately, Texas Tech was able to capitalize.

What really changed things, though, was that Utah was really preparing for Behren Morton, who was much more of a pocket passer. He doesn’t have a lot of mobility. He can do it. He had a few rushing yards against Utah and was able to escape pressures at times. But they had a whole game plan designed to essentially put pressure on him, keep him in the pocket, and force him to beat Utah.

When he went down with an injury, they brought in a backup quarterback who had a little bit more mobility and was able to do a lot more to kind of change the game plan, and that’s why near the end of the game, you saw Utah really struggle to kind of maintain that.

Players to watch

The Fano brothers are definitely ones to watch on each side of the lines. Spencer Fano is the right tackle who is getting the first-round buzz, and then Logan Fano as a defensive end.

Outside of that, Devon Dampier is their starting quarterback. He’s been a little banged up and was injured going into that Texas Tech game. If he’s healthy, he’s a pretty dynamic athlete for Utah, and he’s kind of the engine that makes things go there for the Utes. He’s a true dual-threat quarterback. We still haven’t fully seen him establish a ton of the passing game, but he’s more than capable. There are a lot of throws that he’s made that are pretty spot on and put it right on the money, but he’s a guy that you know just puts stress on defenses because you don’t know what he’s going to do. If he’s able to have full mobility, or at least be close to that full mobility, it’s going to be tough because he can stretch the field beyond that.

You have three defensive players who are playing on the offensive side of the ball as well — Smith Snowden, Jackson Bennee and Lander Barton.

Smith Snowden is kind of used as a gadget player in all kinds of situations. He’ll run the ball, catch the ball, but then on the other side, he’s a lockdown defender. He’s kind of the guy they put on star coverage to keep guys there.

Lander Barton has been a solid linebacker for the Utes, but they’re utilizing him in some tight end capacities, just as a bigger body has the ability to do it.

Then there’s this Jackson Bennee kid, who’s from Utah. Originally walk-on kid didn’t really get a ton of love outside of a walk-on offer. He’s really taken hold and become kind of the star of the team on both sides of the ball defensively. He’s already gotten a pick-6. He got an interception in the end zone against Texas Tech, pretty athletic. He was even able to get a 69-yard pass or receiving touchdown last week that was called back. That was that ineligible receiver one. He’s a guy who can kind of do it all.