Oh, well. I hope the coaches and players learn from this. A team loss, I think. We can’t pin it on the coaches.
Some people are blaming this on the coaches but I don’t see that. I think young players just didn’t make the needed plays. Am I wrong?
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Whitt looks a lot older
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It just feels like the only purpose this year serves is to get the young guys snaps. 60 freshman and only 17 seniors. We should be expecting nights like this.
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Losing one’s mind over an exhibition loss is a fools errand.
The frosh players are getting real time reps. Most would’ve never caught a whiff of the field had this been a regular season.
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You’re right, this entire 2020 COVID-19 plagued year is basically a big Exhibition year.
While the first half was fun to watch, the 2nd half meltdown and the fact that the utes are 0-4 in the last 12 months is definitely painful.
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With everything going on in the country, football just isn’t that important. It’s more of a diversion than it ever was. Sure, I would have been happy had we won, but I’m not going to lose any sleep. The way things are going with Covid and the way people are behaving, I’m guessing that we may have seen our last game this year.
Sorry to be a downer.
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I disagree. Losing can become habitual. Ludwig obviously does not have the offense ready to go, this really sucks because the defense is solid and had many more players to replace.
I will definitely lose sleep. . . this game was a dissapointing meltdown.
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Second half meltdown on both sides of the ball. I think you can question the 4th and 1 play call and going man on the play that scored the last UW TD. Close games come down to a few plays. Utah made the plays in the first half and did not in the second. UW didn’t make the plays in the first half and did in the second. A lot of improvement from game 1. A lot to learn moving forward.
- UW comes out and drives the field for a score in less than 3 minutes. 21-7
- Bentley INT. on 3rd and 6. Covey was covered. I don’t know if Bentley could have run for a first down, but it was a bad decision to throw it where he did.
- D holds to a FG. 21-10
- 4th an 1 stuffed at LOS. I didn’t like this play call. Poorly executed as Ford got stuffed and Bentley didn’t have footing. I don’t think it was going anywhere due to line getting stuffed. I would have liked to have seen a play action pass to Kuithe or Fotheringham.
- UW 3 plays and TD. Sewell was beat badly by the TE. 21-17
- 7 play 61 yard drive ends with fumble by true freshman.
- UW - 3 and out.
- Utah 6 and out. The 3rd down play was a pass to Jordan that was short. It looked like Kuithe was open for the first down. Poor decision by Bentley.
- UW INT.
- 3 and out. Bentley had no time, was hurried on 2nd down and sacked on third down.
- UW 12 play 88 yard drive for winning TD. Going man on the TD throw put our freshman safety in a tough position on their TE. 21-24
- Utah INT.
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Did losing become habitual in the 5-7 years or did we start to get better. Quit being a trolling loser.
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Yes, it actually did. We lost five conference games in a row in 2013. We’ve always been better than that, we are not Arizona or CU. The first 5-7 season made losing seem less unacceptable.
No. We weren’t those years. Chalk it up to whatever you will but we aren’t good enough those years. But losing doesn’t necessarily become a habit unless you allow it to be. And from what I saw, it is not anywhere near becoming a habit. We’ll be fine.
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Just ignore him. You can go outside in a rain storm, say it’s raining and he will try to argue with you.
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He must be really fun at parties.
I think we must have been a pretty jovial locker room at halftime. I’m sure UW’s was a bit more intense & focused.
When you were “this close” and let it slip away, that’s provides motivation you can’t replicate elsewhere. Better than getting dominated. That one was on us, no other place to pin it.
Maturity is hard earned.
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I may be shot for suggesting this, but it has often occurred to me. I honestly don’t know if I am right. First, is this a pattern? Do Whit’s teams tend to let up with a lead? Is it possible that there is something in his coaching style that allows that to happen? I’m not talking about becoming conservative on offense with with a lead–that’s a whole 'nother subject–but about the psychological aspect? Or does this just happen a lot with college players, who are mostly between 18 and 22 years old?
@sancho, don’t shoot me. Honestly wondering here.
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Maybe, I haven’t noticed this as a pattern, though. Has it been?
Having been in the locker room before games and at halftime, my impression is that the message doesn’t change. Pre-game the message is just keep playing whether we are up by two touchdowns or down by two touchdowns, keep playing hard and do your job. My sense is at halftime if we are down he keeps the same message. If we are up and up big he will push them harder to stomp on the throat of the opposition. You have played enough sports to remember how fickle momentum is. I know I have. You can do no wrong when she is on your side and do no right when she isn’t.
Since last night I’ve wondered the same thing. Clearly, in the first half, Utah was brilliant save for a few plays. The second half where clearly Washington was motivated to come back at home and has the talent to do so, the Utes looked as they did in the USC game. Inept. TO prone. Had one turnover not occurred on the 15 yard line, Utah may have held on. But you cannot blame the loss on one play or one player. I was impressed in the ESPN700 post-game show that Kyle Whittingham took the loss on his shoulders, did not single out anyone for blame.
When I watched that literally unopposed come back last night, I could not help but reflect on two recent games. The Utah-BYU on November 24, 2018 when the Cougars scored 20 unanswered points in the first half. Something happened among the Utes in the second half. That is what Washington did. The second game was the 2018 Holiday Bowl against Northwestern. Utah goes into the locker room at half time 20-3. The Utes come out just as it did in this Washington game, flat. Utah does not score another point and watched NW put up four unanswered TDs to win 31-20.
My wife who watched the game with me last night commented on the same phenomena, and she is only a sometimes viewer. “Where is the killer instinct,” she asked, adding, “The Utes always do this.” Well, always may be hyperbolic, but I got her point.
But yes, I saw the same. Whittingham said in the post-game show that they emphasized to the players that the game was not won, only the first half had been played. He said he exhorted them to put in the same work as they accomplished in the first half to finish Washington off. Clearly it was not enough.
No idea how to answer the larger question of motivation. Perhaps I am cherry picking here too, while in my mind this narrative is what I am thinking. Be interested to hear from the players themselves on what is needed to play 60 minutes of football like their life depended on it.
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