SALT LAKE CITY — Travis Wilson is a bit of an anomaly. He stands 6-foot-7, huge for a quarterback.

Despite his enormous size, he throws the ball side armed, eliminating some of the advantage gained from his great height. Despite his man-sized frame, the baby-faced signal caller sports a wispy mustache and beard, looking more like a high school senior than a four-year starter for a Pac-12 contender. He's an effective runner, despite having a gait that compares more closely to a newborn farm animal rather than a modern dual threat quarterback.

And yet Wilson, who has had to compete for his starting job seemingly every offseason during his time at Utah, may be the best quarterback in the country through the first month of the season. According to ESPN's total quarterback ranking, which analyzes quarterback play against the strength of the defenses they have faced, Wilson has been the nation's best QB through four weeks.

Utah, ranked 10th overall in the AP Top 25, suddenly has a competent offense, hanging 62 points on national championship runner-up Oregon in Autzen Stadium, one of the tougher environments in all of college football.

While Devontae Booker has long been the star of the Utes' offense, building a Heisman Trophy campaign before the season started, the play of Travis Wilson is the main reason Utah stands at 4-0. Booker averaged just over 116 rushing yards per game as a junior, despite not earning the starting job until the fourth week of the season. This season, as the feature back, Booker's rushing average is down 6 yards per game, while he's lost a yard per carry off his average from last year.

Meanwhile, Wilson's play is at an all time high. He's upped his completion percentage from 60 percent last season to a career high 68 percent this year, and led Utah on several scoring drives with his legs. On 114 carries last year, Wilson totaled 309 yards, averaging less than 3 yards per carry. This season, Wilson appears due to eclipse last year's total by the season's midway point, contributing a terrific 8.7 yards per carry.

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Travis Wilson a rare quarterback in Utah history

Depending on what side of the fence you sit, you're either a fan of Utah's quarterback situation or you're not. Either way, Travis Wilson is slated to be Utah's starting quarterback coming into the season, and it's quite a rare feat.

As a sophomore, Wilson had a one-to-one touchdown to interception ratio. Last season he improved it dramatically to better than three-to-one, and this season he's up to four-to-one through three starts, with the lone interception on a failed hail Mary attempt to end the first half in Week 1. Limiting his turnovers has been key to Utah's success over the last season and a half.

Wilson earned his 18th victory as the starting QB at Utah, tying current San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy for third all time, and now sits three wins behind former No. 1 overall draft pick Alex Smith for second all time, an achievable goal if Wilson can remain healthy.

Most importantly however, is the quality of wins Wilson has managed as a starter. While other Utah greats have wins over Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences, Wilson has achieved his success in the Pac-12, facing tougher competition week in and week out. To date, Wilson has multiple wins over college football powers in Stanford and Michigan, has defeated USC and Oregon, and will finish his career with a perfect record against BYU, winning 20-13 in the teams' lone meeting with Wilson as the starter.

While Wilson has seen a series of ups and downs in his time at Utah, from a six-interception game against UCLA as a sophomore and a near premature end to his career after a concussion revealed an injury to an intracranial artery, his career is rounding out to be one of the finest from any signal caller in Utah football history. While many fans and some coaches have campaigned to replace Wilson as Utah's field general, the time has come to appreciate Wilson for what he has to offer, because nine games from now, the quarterback competition will start again at Utah, but this time without Travis Wilson.

Ben Anderson is the co-host of Gunther in the Afternoon with Kyle Gunther on 1320 KFAN from 3-7, Monday through Friday. Read Ben's Utah Jazz blog at 1320kfan.com, and follow him on Twitter @BenKFAN.

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