This weekend, the Utes hope to bounce back from their first loss of the season with a win against Oregon State on Saturday night. This is easier said than done, however, as Utah came out of the USC game with a lot on its table to fix.
First of all, head coach Kyle Whittingham knows the team will just need to get over the loss itself. He does not want the Utes to have any lingering effects from last weekend. It’s no easy task going undefeated, and if someone were to ask the head coach at the beginning of the season if he would be content with Utah’s current 6-1 record, Whittingham definitely would have taken it.
“Our guys are all-in, and a loss stings, but you’ve got to see the big picture and you’ve got to understand where you sit,” Whittingham said.
Aside from making the obvious improvement to the passing game, Whittingham also recognizes that running back Devontae Booker needs to have the ball more. He is disappointed the team went away from the run game so early on and said if the Utes are going to stand a chance of winning, Booker will need about 30 touches.
Also on offense, Whittingham wants to see senior wideout Kenneth Scott more involved. Although he had a couple of nice grabs last game, Scott needs to be given more opportunities to make a play on the ball, and he is confident he can do so.
Scott wants to get Utah back into the national spotlight, but to accomplish this, everyone needs to come ready to play against the Beavers. In preparation, he is not just focusing on the bad but looking at what they can improve and build on.
“We got to look at the positive in every situation and try to overcome the mistakes we have,” Scott said.
One thing the team will have to overcome is that its former defensive coordinator Kilani Sitake will be on the other sideline. This is Sitake’s first season away from Utah, so even though the Utes are doing their best to block out that extra noise, they know it might be tricky if they try and sneak a few things past this Oregon State defense.
There is also no clear advantage for Utah, according to Scott, because Sitake has been implementing a new style of defense, one he never coached for the Utes.
“It’s going to be kind of awkward because he knows all our strengths and weaknesses,” Scott said. “It’s going to be weird because we don’t know what we’re going to get from them, so that’s going to be a challenge.”
In the end, Whittingham does not have any excuses as to why his team lost last weekend and definitely won’t have any this weekend if things do not go in Utah’s favor. Losing is a part of the deal, but not letting one loss deter the season is even more important.
“You got to be able to put things out of your system and move on to the next opponent,” Whittingham said. “They have to be [resilient]. Half the teams in the country got to bounce back — it’s part of the deal.”
Since this Saturday’s game is on Halloween, it will be a blackout game and players and coaches will use this to their advantage.
“We love playing in front of this crowd,” Whittingham said. “It’s been good in years past, but it’s gone to a whole new level. The atmosphere and the energy in that stadium is something our guys feed off of. There’s a fire every week.”
@kbrenneisen