Utah's football team left Oregon's Autzen Stadium with an issue they've not dealt with in a long time, how to get over a loss.
Let's get to it. The first half was miserable for the Utes. At one point the Utes moved the ball six yards - in 22 plays.
Honestly, I wasn't that impressed with Oregon's offense either. Neither team represented one that should be ranked judging by that first half.
If it hadn't been for Oregon making as many mistakes as it did, this game could have been a blowout for the Ducks. Last year, the Utes forced a lot of opponents to make mistakes.
Saturday's game didn't feel like that, it felt like what we all thought it was going to be, two teams trying to find themselves.
I guess you have to say Oregon did a little better job of digging deeper, but still, it was a frustrating game to watch for both sides I believe with all the turnovers and miscues.
I'm not going to break down all the stats here, they will be online soon, but a few that stood out to me were the 217 rushing yards the Utes allowed, the two Utah interceptions and two fumbles. Both fumbles were recovered by the Utes, but since coach Kyle Whittingham put an emphasis on taking care of the ball, it's worth noting the Utes didn't do that.
Utah's offense managed just 297 yards and that was against a defense that entered the game ranked 94th nationally.
The slants and sweeps that have worked so well for Utah's offense in the past weren't successful against Oregon's speed. Running back Matt Asiata, who didn't practice all week due to a shoulder injury, couldn't power his way through the Pac-10 defenders either.
Utah better improve before it gets into that conference play and before Louisville comes to visit next week.
Whittingham summed things up well with this thought: "We have to keep drilling it, keep working it, Terrance has got to keep getting better, the play calling has to keep getting better, everything has to keep getting better. It's not any one thing, we have a lot of stuff we need to continue to improve on."
As for being able to get over a loss, Stevenson Sylvester said the best thing the Utes can do is remember the conference play is ahead of them.
"It has no effect on the ultimate goal, it puts a damper on our season but we can still reach our ultimate goal, the conference championship," he said. "We have to get our heads up because we have another opponent who doesn't care we lost or how we feel next week and we have to get ready to play."
Those are some initial thoughts, more later!
5 Comments:
KW should think about how the OC kept Matt in the game even though he clearly sucked...avoided run plays maybe to keep him in...which was a poor choice...and then to not put in guys on the sideline like Ray Stowers...dressed up and ready to kick some a** or he wouldn't have come back another year. IT's pathetic. Heard Stowers was kicking ass in practice all week and has been making the td's there. Why not put him in and run the ball the first half? This loss could have been avoided.
Yea I think any sort of running game or a healthy Matt Asiata (he was running sooooo tentative) and this game is a win for the Utes. Cain is looking pretty good considering what he was expected to do in this game. He shouldn't be expected to win the game by himself. Where were the run plays to the receivers like reverses, etc. At least use those guys if we don't have a decent running back to go to to keep the defense honest. Oregon clearly has no quarterback that could pass and we still can't stop the run. The defense has clearly got some problems. Over pursuit seems to be a big issue right now for the D. They got burned way to much by trying to do too much instead of playing their position. Corners looked better, but hard not to when their QB clearly would not even start for New Mexico or SDSU.
Barring a serious injury and/or a complete meltdown by the team, I can still see finishing at least 10-2. TCU on the road is going to be really really hard. But you're right when you say Stowers should have been in there and Asiata given another week to heal. I'm worried about the play of the secondary and the big plays that are given up over the middle. Some of this had to be expected following the departures of the coaches and seniors from last year and hopefully this team will get better as the year progresses. Go Utes!
Bez. True. We are still a great team. However not just a week to heel up for Asiata. I kinda thought he wasn't doing well at San Jose and was faking an injury a lil bit as an excuse. Saw him fall many times on hurt shoulder...the tat'd one..during Oregon game. Never flinched. He was Stowers back up back when. ONly reason he got moved up was Stowers injury. THe guy wouldn't be back playing for his 6th year unless he was hopeful for the nfl. I think he's shown a full recovery. He's always had a positive attitude at practice and been a good influence on the team. Coach Meyer said he was the future of Ute ball pre injury. I think he still could be if given the opportunity.
Seriously Spencer and Bez -- not sure what game you are watching but Stowers runs like a girl and always has. He get's hurt at the drop of a pin. It's unfortunate he is all we have to go to at this point. I am not sure why Utah always seems to have a tough time getting a quality running back. It should be easier given our success.
I look at the stable of running backs at BSU and it's mind boggling we can't get a decent one in here.
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