SALT LAKE CITY — The Utes showed fight. They never quit. The offense is good. Travis Wilson is for real. Bubba Poole can play, too. There were some positives in the game against Oregon State, but there were also some negatives.

It is quite possible that Utah fans are just spoiled after watching Kyle Whittingham's defenses. They have been stout, sometimes outright dominant.

How about this year? So far, it's suspect.

There was one thing they had to get done against Oregon State, and that was to put pressure on the quarterback — that didn't happen. Sean Mannion had all day to throw, and it is too much to ask anyone, let alone an inexperienced defensive backfield, to cover guys like Brandin Cooks.

It does not get any easier this year, though. This week it is Cody Hoffman, then UCLA, Stanford, Arizona, USC, ASU, Oregon, Washington State, and even Colorado is throwing it around this year.

Mannion torched the Utes for 443 yards and five touchdowns, while Cooks caught nine balls for 210 yards, and three of those touchdowns. That will not cut it.

Related:

There are no moral victories for Utah in the Pac-12

Three years into the Pac-12 the Utah Utes can no longer count on moral victories. No one involved with the school cares that the team was close in a hard-fought battle — not the Pac-12, not the BCS, not the coaches, not the fans and certainly not the opponent.

All during fall camp Kyle Whittingham repeatedly mentioned the cornerbacks as his biggest area of concern on this 2013 defense. He was telling the truth. The defensive backs haven't been good. They were exposed.

Now what do they do?

It is time for the Utes to step up and get back to who they are. They have always been a defensive-minded team, but now there is an offense to go with it. Utah has to find a way to get a stop on fourth and one, or last week on fourth and nine, or heaven help us, on another possible fourth and 18.

It is time to get it done Utes. You asked to play big boy football. Get it done. Fix it.

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