LOS ANGELES — Some teams may find getting picked to finish next to last in their division as a source of motivation to prove doubters wrong in the upcoming season.

That isn't the case for Utah; they already have their source of painful motivation.

A streak of nine straight winning seasons and bowl game appearances came to an end last season for the Utes. That didn't sit well with this proud program during the offseason, and they are determined to prevent it from happening again.

"I expect us to get back to playing the type of football we're used to," Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham said at Pac-12 Media Day.

Whittingham and his staff have pinpointed the deficiencies exposed in 2012 and are working to fix them in 2013. It starts with the offense, which wasn't nearly productive enough, and injuries and inconsistency at the quarterback position was a major factor.

"We've got to keep our quarterback healthy," he said. "it's been since Brian Johnson in '08 that we've started and finished a season with the same quarterback. We've got no continuity and consistency there. That's got to change."

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After struggling in its initial two seasons in the Pac-12, members of the media picked Utah to finish second to last in the South Division, the conference announced Friday.

Whittingham brought in 66-year old Dennis Erickson as co-offensive coordinator with the hopes that he can help jump start the Utes' inept pass game.

"Offensively, we didn't throw the ball well enough," Whittingham said. "We've got to be much more productive, much more consistent, much more prolific in the throw game."

Tight end Jake Murphy promises a much more explosive offense in 2013 under Erickson.

"We're going to make more explosive plays this year as an offense," Murphy said. "We really lacked that last year. We didn't make a lot of big plays and especially in crucial situations."

Murphy said the addition of Erickson has helped the offense feel like they have an identity. However, they must apply it in games and not just in spring football, and Murphy is confident that will happen.

"We feel we can have that fast-paced identity and hopefully make some big plays," he said.

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Perhaps most disappointing to Whittingham were the struggles on defense. He identified red zone defense and the inability to force turnovers as the biggest problems.

"That's something we've been very good at for many years," he said. "We've got to get those corrected, and we've worked hard in the offseason to address those issues and we can't wait to get back on the field."

Defensive end Trevor Reilly is one defensive leader determined to fix those issues. He is completely healed from an ACL injury that he played with for most of the 2012 season. He still led the team with 69 tackles despite the injury. As a senior, he has an urgency and focus to get Utah back to playing defense the way they are used to.

"We need to win," he said. "There's not time to rebuild. We need to win right now. It just comes down to the fact that we need to play better, we have to prepare better and we have to train harder. And I think we've trained harder and prepared better this spring and summer."

If those issues are corrected, the Utes see no reason why they can't make some noise in the Pac-12 South and exceed expectations. They believe they have the athletes and the talent to do so. They are determined not to experience the feeling they had last December after a 5-7 season.

"It's no fun not going to a bowl game," Whittingham said. "It was foreign territory for us, and our guys are chomping at the bit to get back out there."

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