Stopping the sieve
The same porous running defense that plagued the Utes in both the Air Force and Oregon State losses showed up against UNLV, allowing the Rebels’ Frank Summers to rack up 193 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“Our run defense has been an issue and it’s not schematics,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “We’re there to make the plays, but we’re missing a lot of tackles. We missed 17 tackles on Saturday just on defense alone, which is triple what we should have. A lot of that is due to their back. He’s a big, powerful guy and he ran hard.”
Prior to the game against Utah, Summers was averaging merely 36 yards per game. For his efforts against the Utes, Summers was named the co-MWC Offensive Player of the Week.
“He’s a great runner,” U linebacker Stevenson Sylvester said after the game. “Obviously, we didn’t game plan that well on him so we just have to watch more film. We’ve got to do some tackling drills or something to get better.”
More injury woes
The list of injured Utes just keeps getting longer and longer. Against UNLV, Utah safety Robert Johnson collided with Summers and suffered a separated shoulder. The junior is expected to miss at least three weeks with the injury.
Additionally, senior linebacker Joe Jiannoni and freshman defensive tackle Koa Misi are also expected to miss time. Jiannoni sprained his ankle against Air Force earlier this season and it has progressively gotten worse. He is expected to miss at least the game against Utah State. Misi, on the other hand, finished the game despite suffering an open-wound dislocation of a finger.
Utah linebacker Sylvester fought through a rough injury of his own against the Rebels as he broke his left hand. He is expected to play against the Aggies.
Finally, Brice McCain suffered a deep thigh contusion, but is likely to play.
Listed as questionable to come back from injury against the Aggies are defensive tackle Gabe Long, tight end Colt Sampson and offensive guard Corey Seiuli.
The Longest Yard
Facing a 13-0 deficit at halftime, the Utes elected to bring quarterback Brian Johnson onto the field. The junior drove Utah down to the UNLV goal line, but on fourth-and-one, a miscommunication in the backfield resulted in a turnover on downs.
“We ran a play action that was designed to be a (quarterback) run,” Johnson said. “But me and Darrell (Mack) collided in the backfield and it threw everything off. Stuff happens fast at the goal line and you have to make decisions fast.”
The inability to get the ball in from the one-yard line has been a reoccurring problem for the Utes this year. Against Air Force, Utah was similarly denied a touchdown after having two shots within the one-yard mark.
“We just continue to shoot ourselves in the foot,” Whittingham said. “You’ve got to be able to pick up a yard on fourth-and-one. There were five fourth-and-ones that I elected to go for and we converted just one of them.”
Motivation a problem
In all three losses they have suffered this season, the Utes have found themselves down by small margins in the third quarter. But Utah has been unable to mount a comeback in any of those games and the result is a 1-3 record.
“We make it harder than it should be, you know,” Whittingham said. “One thing I’ve noticed about this football team is that we’re very active and passionate when things are going our way. But when things don’t go our way, all of a sudden we get the deer in the headlights look.”
No quit, no surrender
The Utes are off to their worst start since the 2000 season when they began 0-4. Although Whittingham isn’t giving up on this season, he notices that this kind of situation tends to lend itself to giving up.
“We need to show some pride and character now,” Whittingham said. “We’ve got eight games left and we’re 1-3. Nobody wanted to get off to this start and nobody envisioned that, but it’s where we’re at. If you’ve got competitiveness and pride and drive, you compete regardless. You don’t have to have a carrot out in front of you to play if you have any competitiveness in you.”
Lennie MahlerBrian Johnson looks into the stands during the loss to UNLV. Johnson entered the game at half time but was unable to get the Utes on the scoreboard.