Utah gave up more than a regular season game


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 — The stars lined up perfectly for Utah — Oregon beat USC and Ohio State lost its first game of the season last weekend. Utah needed a win against UCLA and the Pac-12 championship and an outside shot at the College Football Playoffs would be seemingly theirs for the taking.

Utah, though, could only muster up three field goals in a losing effort against UCLA as the program saw both its postseason options slip through its fingers. Close was not good enough, and Utah once again barely missed out on a division title for the third time in five years. While it's easy to say Utah is fortunate to have won eight games with one game left in the regular season, it's how Utah lost its three games that hurts the most for the program.

High expectations, ESPN's "College GameDay" and a No. 3 ranking after a 6-0 start to the season were all part of Utah's special season in a conference where wins don't just come by chance. Beating perennial powerhouse Oregon 62-20 in Autzen Stadium just doesn't happen on a whim or casual Saturday. In fact, Utah delivered the worst loss to Oregon at home in school history in a valiant effort against a top-tier program.

Utah had it all: a two-game division lead, a College Football Playoff resume and momentum. But as quickly as the rise to the spotlight took shape, the fall came even quicker and harder. Utah lost three of its last five games, and the talk of head coach Kyle Whittingham being named the national coach of the year quickly turned to fans calling for a change in regime, whether merited or not.

Injuries started to mount as key players were absent from the lineup — Tim Patrick, Evan Moeai, Siale Fakailoatonga, Hunter Dimick, Chase Hansen, Devontae Booker, Filipo Mokofisi, Britain Covey, Reggie Porter and Tevin Carter, to name a few. But every team is forced to adjust to players going down throughout the duration of the season.

"Nobody cares, nobody feels sorry for you," Whittingham said. "They're happy — your opponents are happy that you're banged up; that's just the nature of the game."

Offensive creativity quickly faded to conservative play-calling and predictable schemes — excessive run plays, screen passes for 3-yard completions and several third-and-long plays that ended with a fizzle or sack. Utah had been figured out and the team was not capable of staging a comeback when it mattered most.

A season where 10 wins could still become a possibility now feels like a disappointment for many following the program. Before the season's start, nine wins would be considered progress and an optimistic look considering the schedule. But now it's an opportunity to look back at what could have been — if only Booker would not have fumbled against Arizona; if only Brian Allen picked off Josh Rosen for a touchdown. The negative replays now become a reminder of missed opportunities and blown chances despite a successful year.

"It's difficult when you have something in your grasp and you let it slip away," Andy Phillips said after the UCLA loss. "We put in so many hours in preparation for the game and to have an outcome like this, it definitely hurts. But there's a lot of positives we can take out of it as well going forward and finish the season strong. We still had a successful season in my mind."

Yes, the season was and is a success. With a win over Colorado, Utah would still be tied for first place in a competitive Pac-12 South division. It's not enough to earn the right to represent the division in the Pac-12 championship game, but it's a sign of progress and opportunity for fans, players and coaches to celebrate, despite how the season has wrapped up.

"We've still got a chance to win 10 games this year. There's a lot of positives that went on this year and are still going on. We're 8-3 and have one more home game for our seniors against Colorado," Whittingham said. "It's been a very positive year, but it's a shame we were close but no cigar in these last couple of weeks."

It's easy to speculate and play back all the opportunities where Utah could have been on the winning side of the ball. And while Utah lost out on an even better season than how Utah will conclude, the season was still a success.

It's easy to blame athletes, coaches or game moments, but the simple fact is this is what Utah signed up for when it joined the Pac-12. The ups, the downs will all give Utah experience moving forward. Ask the Arizona schools how many times they've appeared in the Rose Bowl over their tenure in the conference — Arizona State has appeared twice over a 38-year period, while Arizona has never been.

Utah should be upset that it lost out on a great opportunity, but not dwell on it and cloud the season and future progress.

"It hurt, they're competitive guys," Whittingham said. "If you've got guys that when you lose it doesn't hurt, you've got the wrong guys. They're hurt, they're disappointed. When you've put everything you've got into something and you lose, it hurts."

Whittingham is right, it hurts.

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