All not lost for Utah football as it renews season focus


28 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Going undefeated in the Pac-12 is an extremely difficult task. In fact, it's a near impossible feat to accomplish in conference history, and the No. 13 Utah Utes found out how hard it was Saturday when the USC Trojans rolled to a 42-24 victory.

Although the sting of a loss will always resonate more than a win, all is not lost for Utah as the program looks to regroup and turn its focus to Oregon State, its next opponent. Utah is still in the driver's seat and controls its destiny, but it will take a renewed, focused effort to bounce back and obtain its goal of winning the Pac-12 South.

"All is not lost. It's a good football team that we played in their stadium," head coach Kyle Whittingham said after the game. "I don't know how they're 3-3 going in, but they're really good. I can't give them enough credit. I don't want to make it sound like it was all on us because they did some really good things."

"We didn't expect to get punched in the mouth like that," linebacker Gionni Paul said. "We got punched in our mouth; it was a reality check. We've got to go to work Monday. It sucks to lose. I forgot what it feels like to lose. I'm so used to winning."

The reality Paul mentions is that Utah got comfortable with winning and seeing opponents fall by the wayside. Winning breeds confidence and often the belief, whether founded or not, that teams will simply recognize their dominance and bow down. Not USC, not any program in the Pac-12.

While it's important for a team to have confidence and to ultimately believe that it's the better program and can win, complacency can creep in and keep a team from giving its all in the preparation leading up to the game and to the game itself. Utah was seemingly ready for the challenge in the lead-up to gameday, but safety Tevin Carter said after the game that Utah may have believed a little too much in the hype.

"We got too big-headed," he said. "Every team we play against is a great team, so we can't expect three or four turnovers a game."

Utah Utes quarterback Travis Wilson (7) during first half action as the University of Utah and USC playing Pac-12 football Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, in Los Angeles. (Photo: Tom Smart/Deseret News)
Utah Utes quarterback Travis Wilson (7) during first half action as the University of Utah and USC playing Pac-12 football Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, in Los Angeles. (Photo: Tom Smart/Deseret News)

Turnovers, as Carter points out, aren't going to just happen because Utah comes into the game as the third-ranked team or one of the best teams in the Pac-12 in the turnover margin. No, turnovers come from players engaged in the game and having the belief that every possession is critical to the outcome.

"I'll put it on me. I'm usually the guy to get everyone going. So no turnovers, put it on me," Paul said, stepping up as one of the leaders of the team. "I realized this kinda late, but I realized that this is my team; this is my defense. … I guess I fell short."

Paul, though, is one of the least responsible for Utah's loss, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. He finished Saturday's game with 17 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and sack.

The reality check Paul spoke about is something that could make or break the remainder of Utah's season, depending on how the team responds moving forward: use it as a teaching opportunity and chance to grow or allow the Trojans to beat them multiple times this season.

"We've got a lot going for us," Whittingham said. "The thing we can't do is let these guys beat us twice. We've got to get over it, get it out of our system, come back to work and get ready to get a win next week."

"We've still got a good season ahead of us, and we're still in the top in the South, so we've got to make sure we learn from this and make the corrections," quarterback Travis Wilson said.

It would be easy to look at Oregon State as an easy win and nice rebound to the USC game, but the Beavers are desperate for a win, and Utah could be vulnerable. However, freshman receiver Britain Covey is looking at the USC loss as an opportunity to remember that losing is a horrible feeling, a feeling Utah doesn't want to experience again.

"I think you can use this as motivation, just the feeling that we have right now," Covey said after the game. "You don't want to lose, and this feeling that we have right now, you just never want to feel it again. I think that's part of being a competitor — you hate to lose and much as you want to win."

"A lot of guys in the locker room, we didn't like that," Paul said. "I don't think we're going to lose any more; we're going to try our best."

Covey added that one loss will not define Utah's season, but that it will simply be a small blip on the radar in Utah's quest for a special season.

"Our main goal right now is to win the Pac-12 South, and we're still in the driver's seat now," he said. "Going into Monday that's going to be huge for us to have that as motivation. I think it's really important that we keep sight of what's most important. It's just going to be a bump in the road when we look back on things."

![](http://beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif?cid=332594&pid=4)

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

SportsUtah Utes
Josh Furlong

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast