I didn't sleep very well last night and after a minute of contemplating the game as a I awoke, I'm still very angry. I know I'm not supposed to take college football this seriously, but I can't help it. The debacle in Vegas was probably the worst loss I've seen from Utah in a very long time. They didn't just lose, they got worked like a prostitute on a seedy street just south of the Las Vegas Strip. And now the Utes sit at 1-3, most likely on their way to their first losing season in five years. Who would have ever thought this possible when the season kicked off last month? Definitely not me, as I allowed the coaching staff to pump sunshine up my ass all summer long.
Yeah I was cautious and knew we wouldn't have a great year, but I didn't expect this. I didn't expect to get embarrassed in three of the first four games, games where the offense only scored two touch downs total. I never expected to leave Vegas losing, let alone losing by 27 and getting completely shutout. The last time that happened was in 1993, against Arizona State. At least Arizona State wasn't a horrible program and team that year. UNLV is both and now they can say they shutout Utah. The same Utes who were supposed to have one of the best offensive machines in the nation this year. Well I'm guessing a 40 year old living in his parents' basement scores more times than Utah. Now that's just sad.
After UCLA last week, it was as if the Utes had won the lotto. Well now it's like they took their winnings to Vegas and blew it on the tables Saturday night. And now they're back home, bankrupt and readying a sign for the next day that will say WILL WORK FOR WINS. Sadly, I don't see many more wins from this team. Not unless we fire Whittingham midway through the season and get some competency on the sidelines. But let's be realistic, that won't happen. Ray Giacoletti was given a chance to finish out the rest of the basketball season before he was fired and Whittingham will be given his chance to finish out the year as well. But the writing is clearly on the wall, this team has shown a devastating pattern under Whittingham and I don't need an entire season to establish my thesis.
The past three years Utah has folded when they were faced with a must win situation and thrived when no one thought they could win. Well the problem here is that they're in a 3-game hole now and even if Utah surprises a few teams, it's doubtful that will be enough for a winning season. Can Chris Hill really justify bringing Whittingham back, knowing the hit the University is going to take on ticket sales alone? I'm not so sure, especially when you realize Whittingham has finished even worse than Ron McBride most years and that was after he inherited a better program. And that's the ultimate problem with Utah football right now. They're worse than they were in 1990, when Ron McBride came onboard and built a solid program. Who would have thought it possible, when Utah had established itself as a great program, they would be faced with the proposition of being worse than they were pre-Meyer. Didn't Chris Hill fire Ron McBride because he knew the program could do better than 7-5 and 8-4 each year? Right now that type of finish looks grand and now even less likely than before Saturday night.
Ugh.