The Utah Utes’ struggles continued as they dropped their fourth straight game in a 17-14 loss to the Houston Cougars. A season filled with unresolved issues has turned into a puzzling campaign for the Utes, who once again fell short in a late game winning field goal. Before we discuss the return of the Holy War rivalry with Utah and BYU, let’s take a look at our burning questions from the Houston game.
Can Utah’s offense take a positive step?
Utah’s offense largely mirrored previous weeks despite opening the game with Isaac Wilson connecting with Brant Kuithe on a screen route. Kuithe would then top off the play with a 71-yard touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead on the second play of the game.
What seemed to create a spark for the offense, quickly faded as the game progressed. Isaac Wilson had a solid first half, completing 12 of 18 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown. However, he also fumbled twice, with one turnover recovered by Houston and returned the other way. Wilson finished the game 13 of 22 for 171 yards and one touchdown.
Brandon Rose took over early in the third quarter but struggled to find consistency. Ultimately, Rose would be picked off midfield with less than two left and then with control of the ball and the clock, the Cougars hit a game winning 43 yard field goal.
Utah finished the night with 306 yards of total offense and only 90 yards rushing in a game that was meant to be a turnaround game.
Can the Utes defense get back to their consistent dominant ways?
Utah’s tackling struggles persisted against Houston. The Cougars’ Chriss, Alford and Burnett repeatedly broke free from Utah’s defenders. While the Cougars threw for just 61 yards, they capitalized on Utah’s inability to contain the ground game, finishing with 228 rushing yards.
The opportunities for the defense to generate turnovers, and sack the quarterback, just weren’t there as the Utes finished the night with zero sacks against a struggling offensive team.
Do the mid-season changes improve the team's confidence?
The team has yet to regain momentum or consistently put points on the board. Facing tough Big 12 opponents for the remainder of the season,
Utah’s fight has often fallen short.
The Utes’ weaknesses are evident, but their progress remains in their hands. Improvement is possible, if they choose to pursue it. Climbing out of this low point is now what they have left to play for.
Just how broken are they? A game against their longtime rival could either be the tonic needed to fix it, or it could break the Utes even more.
Now let’s look ahead to the burning questions for the renewed rivalry game against the BYU Cougars.
Does Rose provide the needed swagger and spark?
While it hasn’t been announced, the full expectation is that Brandon Rose won the open quarterback battle during the bye week, leading to increased reps with the starters. Reports are that there’s increased enthusiasm around the team with this development as Rose has made steady improvements throughout the season. The recent practices have been some of the better ones the offense has had in recent weeks.
Anyone already judging what Rose brings to the table, would be smart to not read into his time against Houston. Multiple passes were dropped and the blame for his interception should fall equally on him and tight end Carsen Ryan. Of Utah’s quarterbacks, Rose has the biggest arm — this includes Cam Rising. Rose has a good pocket presence and can run it on designed runs or after he’s gone through his options and nothing is there.
Equally as important will be how his teammates feed off of him. Not many quarterbacks have the swagger of Rising, but Rose does have an infectious confidence about him. Once he gets in a groove, that swagger could ignite the confidence of the whole offense.
With it being his first expected start, mistakes will happen, but it’ll be about minimizing those mistakes as much as possible, as well as how Rose and his teammates respond to any adversity.
Suddenly down three WRs, who steps up?
The Utes unfortunately lost senior Money Parks to a season-ending injury against Houston. While it hasn’t been reported by the program, receivers Mycah Pittman and Taeshon Lions have also left the team. Parks is a huge loss, but Pittman and Lyons are replaceable, it’s just the depth that’s hurt.
Look for increased reps from Luca Calderella and Munir McClain. Speedster Darren Zipperer is another name to watch. Utah could also shift tight end Brant Kuithe into more of a receiver role and get Landen King on the field.
Most years for Utah, losing three receivers in two weeks would be a positional killer. Parks is an irreplaceable loss, but the other two could be termed as addition by subtraction. We’ll see for certain after Saturday.
Can Utah spoil BYU’s surprisingly special season?
The Utes have a unique opportunity to disrupt their in-state rival’s momentum. Despite their own struggles, Utah could play the role of spoiler, the matchup will test whether the Utes can rise to the occasion and overcome their recent challenges, adding an extra layer of intensity to this long standing rivalry. BYU’s offense is probably one of the best Utah has faced all season. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff has thrown for 1,872 yards and 18 touchdowns and ran for 303 yards on the ground.
Retzlaff has two elite receivers to throw to: Darrius Lassiter (504 yards, 4 touchdowns) and Chase Roberts (497 yards, 4 touchdowns). LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati are also two capable running backs.
As good as BYU’s offense, the Cougars defense is elite. They’re led by a staff of former Utes: Jay Hill, Sione Pouha, Gary Andersen, and Chad Kauhaahaa. They ranked No. 4 in the NCAA in pass efficiency defense, No. 6 in turnovers gained, No. 25 passing yards allowed, No. 24 in scoring defense.
To pull off the upset, the Utes are going to have to do it against a defensive coaching staff that knows how to win the big games at the highest levels, thanks to their Utah pedigree.
