The burden of playing quarterback was deeply etched into Troy Williams’ face late Saturday night, as he bobbed in the rough chop in the wake of the Utes’ 23-20 loss to Stanford — on their home field, in front of their home fans.
In that place, in that moment, Williams looked as though he would rather have been somewhere, anywhere else. He suspected the fans of his team, and conditionally of him, were not just filled with disappointment, they were filled with a much more negative emotion. The same people who had cheered for him over the past few hours, suddenly now, in defeat, were pounding rancor at his nose, feeling to him as though it were collapsing in and parachuting out the back of his head.