The Wazzu game was bad.
ugly.
hideous.
inexcusable.
Think of a few more adjectives that your mother wouldn’t like, and those probably apply too.
But (and I can’t believe I am saying this) it doesn’t have to be the end of the world for the Utes. We are all well aware of how atrocious the collapse against Washington State was, but the answers as to WHY it happened are hard to come by. That might be a good thing though. In the past it was painfully obvious that Utah just didn’t have the talent. Or that the injuries were mounting and too much to overcome. As hard as it was to admit, Utah fans knew in their heart of hearts that the team just wasn’t deep or fast enough to win consistently at the end of the day. The win over Stanford was unbelievable, the following downturn was not. THIS Utah team though, would surprise me if they didn’t improve after learning the lessons they did on Saturday vs Washington State. Here’s why.
Travis Wilson looked bad vs Wazzu BUT we’ve seen him improve his decision making, protect the football, and be productive in 3 wins this season.
Dave Christenson was tested as an Offensive coordinator for the first time, and he didn’t exactly come through. Too much emphasis on the struggling passing game, not enough feeding Devontae Booker the rock. Still, how often will you see Dres Anderson and Wes Tonga drop key passes in the same game? I hated what I saw on Saturday , but I seriously doubt that will be the norm moving forward. If I am wrong, you can laugh at me and troll me to death. But this team is better offensively than what we saw.
Andy Phillips missed a FG. He is as good as there is in CFB. Most 3 point opportunities, he will convert on.
Nate Orchard was banged up. The whole defense got tired and stopped making plays, but having your best pass-rusher going at less than 100% and the absence of Tevin Carter against the nation’s best passing attack is pretty disastrous when you think about it.
All of these might sound like excuses, but they are intended to sound like problems with solutions. Solutions that already exist on the roster. Solutions that are actually believable for this program.
Saturday was a disaster for Utah. and next week certainly doesn’t get any easier. No such things as moral victories in college football, but if you are a fan, you should be looking for improvement, expecting a more competitive outing, and HOPE for a win vs UCLA rather than expecting one. This team is still very capable of winning 3-4 more and getting to a bowl game. As long as they learned the lessons on Saturday, top to bottom.
