Two of the Utes’ four remaining games are road contests. According to head coach Kyle Whittingham and anybody who saw their last two away performances, that’s bad news.
“We have not handled the road very well,” Whittingham said. “We gotta find a way to, in the future, play better on the road, because we have not done that.”
Utah has been outscored 54-27, outgained by 198 yards and lost the turnover battle 6-2 in matchups outside of the Beehive State. The team cannot be blamed as a whole, because the defense is playing outstanding considering the positions it has been put in.
There is still one area on defense that Whittingham sees room for improvement, though, and it’s something the unit has been working on all year. The Utes rank ninth in the Pac-12 in defensive pass efficiency and dead last in interceptions with only two.
“Our pass defense has been, really, pretty darn good this year with the exception of not being able to come away with interceptions,” Whittingham said. “The coverage aspect itself has been pretty good.”
Utah has been successful in refusing to give up big plays by having coverage down the field. Now, the Utes are looking to turn their solid coverage into picks.
“It’s gonna take staying after practice, doing ball drills, seeing the ball in the air and going up and getting the ball,” said junior defensive back Davion Orphey. “When the ball’s in the air, it’s no longer the receiver’s ball. It’s your ball. We’ve been in great position throughout the year to make the plays, we just haven’t been making the plays.”
Keeping the job
Travis Wilson’s hand is officially back to 100 percent, according to both him and Whittingham. Wilson will continue to hold the offensive reins and Adam Schulz remains the No. 2 quarterback after the bye week’s practices.
Wilson has had two consecutive poor performances, but his offensive line shares some of the blame and they still have faith that Wilson is the man for the job.
“I know what we’re capable of doing. We’ve played against some great defenses and were able to move the ball,” said offensive lineman Junior Salt. “As long as we give Travis time, we haven’t really given him a lot of time in our last game, he’s capable of doing great things.”
Reasons to play
Even with the hope of winning the Pac-12 South division virtually gone and the thought of reaching a bowl game evaporating in such a tough conference, Whittingham said his team is far from giving up on the season.
“We’ve got a lot of character on this football team, particularly in the senior class and they’re a competitive group,” he said. “If nothing else, we’ll play for the love of the game and the competition of it all. We’re still playing for a bowl bid and all the seniors are playing for a chance to play on after college and they gotta continue to showcase their skills.”
The Utes have two enormous challenges standing in their way, as they are set to take on No. 23 Arizona State this Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, followed by a date with No. 3 Oregon on the road next week. Utah needs to win two of its remaining four games to become bowl eligible.