I'll take a shot at this.  I am far from anybody in the football landscape but I did play WR post High School.

1. I think it depends on how you view the confidence.  I think the confidence is not in that Utah has a game breaking 1,000 yard reciever like USC, but rather a group of receivers who can accomplish what is required of them.  Which in Ludwig's offense means make the plays when needed, make a few big plays when called upon.  I think most Utah fans around me feel that the WR group was quite young last year.  There is also more confidence which has not been proven yet, but is percevied by Utah fans, that stems from the interviews we hear coming from camp.  They feel more comfortable in Ludwig's system than Troy Taylor's.  Taylor's offense required them to find space.  There was rarely a defined route.  It was up to the QB and WR to make the same read on the defense and hope that they were on the same page.  The transition from HS to D1 is challenging enough for a WR.  In HS you might have 3 feet of separation.  In college you have 1 foot.  In the NFL you have 3-4".  Having uncertainty in your route makes that transition much more difficult.  When Utah played its best football was during October when Troy Taylor started sharing offensive play calling with another coach.  Ludwig's offense will more closely match that coach.

2. It feels like Utah does start slowly.  It has been discussed many times on the boards, especially on Utezone.  Generally speaking, where there is smoke, there is fire.  So absolutely there is validity to this.  I'm sure if the coaches knew why, they would fix it.  Here are the past few seasons' opening game scores:

2018 vs Weber St.: 41 - 10 (Weber was a pretty good team last year, but FCS nonetheless.)

2017 vs North Dakota: 37 - 16 (UND was decent.  This game should've been a blowout)

2016 vs SUU: 24 - 0 (I left that game sick to my stomach.  No reason for that to be so close)

2015 @ Michigan: 24 - 17 (Say what you will about new coaches etc, but a win in the Big House is still a win)

2014 vs Idaho St: 56 - 14 (One note is that when you play FCS teams backups get a fair amount of time)

So in short, take that for what you will.  Some openers were good, some were pretty shaky, but I don't think the word "always" can be used either way.