[Austroturf]

I want to first preface my comments by saying I love this program, and what it stands for, and the men of character that we have coaching the team and on the field (which is ultimately most important).  Even though the past couple of weeks have been tough, I think it is important to remember this perspective amid our collective disappointment.

Tonight was a tougher loss than Notre Dame for me, because unlike Notre Dame, where I felt the Irish were clearly the better and more talented team, I felt that we were the more talented (but obviously not better) team tonight. However, we made more avoidable mistakes than I can recall us making in a long time that gifted points to Utah, or took points off the board on our end:

1) The running into the punter penalty, ultimately leading to Utah's 1st TD, instead of us getting the ball in a scoreless game (albeit likely backed up)
2) The most costly was the pick six, which turned a likely 7-7 game (at worst 7-3 game), into a 14-0 game
3) 2nd INT, which took a likely 3 points off the board
4) The very poor defensive scheme with :08 left (even though I know we nearly got burned for a TD on the previous play), to leave the intermediate pass wide open (thanks to dropping three guys at the goaline), with the space completely vacated, leading to the necessary yardage to tack on 3 points before half (another big back-breaker)
5) Missed sack, and blown coverage by No.5, compounded by another poor angle, leading to TD that made it 37-21 and once and for all iced the game

Very thankfully, we have a bye after this, because I think we are clearly in need of a reset (not necessarily so much in scheme, though there are some scheme changes that might be made on defense). Other solace we can take is that this is only the first Pac-12 loss, and the loss was to a team from the South, rather than the North.

However, any margin of error is completely gone, and we are staring at a very tough road game in a week and a half against a desperate (but I think pretty solid) ASU team. I hope we are ready for the challenge.

I like your optimism and positive analysis, but I feel this team is coming unglued.  If we cannot beat a middling Utah team at home, we are not Pac-12 contenders.  At this point, we will be lucky to have a positive conference record.

I understand your point, but people felt the same way after we lost back-to-back last year to USC and SDSU last year (with our QB unable to complete 3 yard screen passes in the latter game). It took some changes, but we were able to recover and still make the Pac-12 Championship Game. However, it is also possible that this year turns into another 2014. Even 2014 though, we were able to recover that year and stun UCLA, and win 4 in a row to close a season. 

Personally, I didn't think we were going to win the Pac-12 North this year, even prior to ND and Utah, because winning at Husky Stadium is a really tall order (even if they don't look all that spectacular). I am certainly not saying it is likely, but the team is still potentially set up to accomplish some of those goals (even if it is going to take a lot of work, and much better play between now and November to ensure that we get that chance at Husky Stadium).

Regarding the conference record, while we cannot take anyone on the schedule for granted, I am going to go out on a limb and say we beat Oregon State at home, and win at UCLA. That would give us at least 6 wins (so bowl eligibility), and 4 conference wins (>= .500 conference record). That may be well below the level we have become accustomed to since 2010, but I cannot realistically, as bad we looked tonight, see us not at least clearing those two bars, with the wins we already have banked.

---

How embarrassing.  This has to be one of the absolute low points in the Shaw era.  Getting blown out at home by an average Utah team!  At least when UW blew us out in 2016, they did so in their own stadium and went on to the CFP that year.  

I need a new hobby.

Eh, tonight was tough, but we also got blown out similarly against an average/slightly above average Wazzu team in 2016 at home (also in a 7:30 night game, lost 42-16). Different styles between Utah and Wazzu, but similar in terms of outcome/flow of game. We also lost homecoming in 2016 to Colorado 10-5, where we technically weren't blown out, but we also looked very inept. And despite those two performances, 2016 still ended with 10 wins, a bowl win, wins over SC, Cal and UCLA (so Kings of California), a trouncing of Oregon, and six straight wins to end the season.

Just for the record, the 2014 team closed the season with three straight wins, not four: Cal, UCLA and Maryland (in the Foster Farms Bowl).  That year, we had an excellent defense that kept us in most games (even the Oregon game until the fourth quarter), but could not generate points.  Hogan was struggling due to an inept OL and his own personal issues (father terminally ill), but came on strong at the end of the year (at a time the OL also started playing well.  Funny how that works).  It was an 8-5 season that stood 5-5 after a 2OT loss to Utah (again at home).

In 2016, we also had OL issues, plus a QB quandary and an injured McCaffrey.  The final six games we won that season were against the weakest teams on the schedule.  No such luck this year, as Washington and WSU loom on the schedule, and even Cal and ASU pose threats as we have to play in their backyards.  The only sure win I see is OSU at home, but after the egg we laid yesterday, I wouldn't bet on it.      

Last night's game was not tough.  Tough would have been clawing tooth and nail with an inspired Utah team and losing on a last second FG or in OT: something like our loss to the Utes in SLC back in 2013.  That was tough.  Last night was downright embarrassing and an indictment of where this program stands.  Last year, we lost early to a very good USC team in the Coliseum and, against the backdrop of Chryst's worst collegiate performance, to a pretty solid SDSU team in San Diego.  It was clear that the 2017 team had issues, and nowhere more prominently than at QB.  We were heading for our 3rd straight loss against UCLA when Chryst got injured, and Costello came in to save the day.  It came too slowly, but Shaw finally entrusted the team to Costello, and we got big wins over UW and Notre Dame and a northern division title.  What big change can we make this year?  We have a capable Costello under center; we have an excellent receiving corps; we had an all-world tailback before he was reinjured; we are supposed to have a monster O-line that just hasn't managed to gel; our defense showed promise in the early part of the season, but now seems to be coming unglued.  I hope Shaw finds the reset button, because this season threatens to founder in the second half.  Not feeling very optimistic right now.  I will be happy to be proven wrong; but yesterday's game has me thinking 6-6 or 7-5.  And considering that the Oregon game was also nearly an L, we are very fortunate to be 4-2 right now.

---

I do wonder how much the complexion of the game changes if we scored a touchdown instead of giving up a pick-6.  We might go into the second half down only 17-14 instead of 24-7, and we could have conceiveably headed into the fourth quarter up 8 instead of down 6.

Would we still have collapsed in the fourth quarter?  Would it have been more painful because we had the lead, or would we have played differently, not trying to do too much because we were behind.

Well, woulda coulda shoulda.  I give a lot of credit to Utah for taking advantage of opportunities and playing a clean game.  But I wonder how it would have gone had we not shot our selves in the foot.

BC

Good point.  Often, early mistakes can be back breakers and set the momentum for the game.  Still, we managed to get back to 27-21 with an entire quarter to play.  Should have been possible to claw our way to a victory.  But two more turnovers (fumbles!) sealed the deal.  No words for the shoddy execution down the stretch.  And that missed sack that led to a TD.  Unbelievable.  Just hurts to think about it.

[Austroturf]

I want to first preface my comments by saying I love this program, and what it stands for, and the men of character that we have coaching the team and on the field (which is ultimately most important).  Even though the past couple of weeks have been tough, I think it is important to remember this perspective amid our collective disappointment.

Tonight was a tougher loss than Notre Dame for me, because unlike Notre Dame, where I felt the Irish were clearly the better and more talented team, I felt that we were the more talented (but obviously not better) team tonight. However, we made more avoidable mistakes than I can recall us making in a long time that gifted points to Utah, or took points off the board on our end:

1) The running into the punter penalty, ultimately leading to Utah's 1st TD, instead of us getting the ball in a scoreless game (albeit likely backed up)
2) The most costly was the pick six, which turned a likely 7-7 game (at worst 7-3 game), into a 14-0 game
3) 2nd INT, which took a likely 3 points off the board
4) The very poor defensive scheme with :08 left (even though I know we nearly got burned for a TD on the previous play), to leave the intermediate pass wide open (thanks to dropping three guys at the goaline), with the space completely vacated, leading to the necessary yardage to tack on 3 points before half (another big back-breaker)
5) Missed sack, and blown coverage by No.5, compounded by another poor angle, leading to TD that made it 37-21 and once and for all iced the game

Very thankfully, we have a bye after this, because I think we are clearly in need of a reset (not necessarily so much in scheme, though there are some scheme changes that might be made on defense). Other solace we can take is that this is only the first Pac-12 loss, and the loss was to a team from the South, rather than the North.

However, any margin of error is completely gone, and we are staring at a very tough road game in a week and a half against a desperate (but I think pretty solid) ASU team. I hope we are ready for the challenge.

I like your optimism and positive analysis, but I feel this team is coming unglued.  If we cannot beat a middling Utah team at home, we are not Pac-12 contenders.  At this point, we will be lucky to have a positive conference record.

I understand your point, but people felt the same way after we lost back-to-back last year to USC and SDSU last year (with our QB unable to complete 3 yard screen passes in the latter game). It took some changes, but we were able to recover and still make the Pac-12 Championship Game. However, it is also possible that this year turns into another 2014. Even 2014 though, we were able to recover that year and stun UCLA, and win 4 in a row to close a season. 

Personally, I didn't think we were going to win the Pac-12 North this year, even prior to ND and Utah, because winning at Husky Stadium is a really tall order (even if they don't look all that spectacular). I am certainly not saying it is likely, but the team is still potentially set up to accomplish some of those goals (even if it is going to take a lot of work, and much better play between now and November to ensure that we get that chance at Husky Stadium).

Regarding the conference record, while we cannot take anyone on the schedule for granted, I am going to go out on a limb and say we beat Oregon State at home, and win at UCLA. That would give us at least 6 wins (so bowl eligibility), and 4 conference wins (>= .500 conference record). That may be well below the level we have become accustomed to since 2010, but I cannot realistically, as bad we looked tonight, see us not at least clearing those two bars, with the wins we already have banked.

---

How embarrassing.  This has to be one of the absolute low points in the Shaw era.  Getting blown out at home by an average Utah team!  At least when UW blew us out in 2016, they did so in their own stadium and went on to the CFP that year.  

I need a new hobby.

Eh, tonight was tough, but we also got blown out similarly against an average/slightly above average Wazzu team in 2016 at home (also in a 7:30 night game, lost 42-16). Different styles between Utah and Wazzu, but similar in terms of outcome/flow of game. We also lost homecoming in 2016 to Colorado 10-5, where we technically weren't blown out, but we also looked very inept. And despite those two performances, 2016 still ended with 10 wins, a bowl win, wins over SC, Cal and UCLA (so Kings of California), a trouncing of Oregon, and six straight wins to end the season.

Just for the record, the 2014 team closed the season with three straight wins, not four: Cal, UCLA and Maryland (in the Foster Farms Bowl).  That year, we had an excellent defense that kept us in most games (even the Oregon game until the fourth quarter), but could not generate points.  Hogan was struggling due to an inept OL and his own personal issues (father terminally ill), but came on strong at the end of the year (at a time the OL also started playing well.  Funny how that works).  It was an 8-5 season that stood 5-5 after a 2OT loss to Utah (again at home).

In 2016, we also had OL issues, plus a QB quandary and an injured McCaffrey.  The final six games we won that season were against the weakest teams on the schedule.  No such luck this year, as Washington and WSU loom on the schedule, and even Cal and ASU pose threats as we have to play in their backyards.  The only sure win I see is OSU at home, but after the egg we laid yesterday, I wouldn't bet on it.      

Last night's game was not tough.  Tough would have been clawing tooth and nail with an inspired Utah team and losing on a last second FG or in OT: something like our loss to the Utes in SLC back in 2013.  That was tough.  Last night was downright embarrassing and an indictment of where this program stands.  Last year, we lost early to a very good USC team in the Coliseum and, against the backdrop of Chryst's worst collegiate performance, to a pretty solid SDSU team in San Diego.  It was clear that the 2017 team had issues, and nowhere more prominently than at QB.  We were heading for our 3rd straight loss against UCLA when Chryst got injured, and Costello came in to save the day.  It came too slowly, but Shaw finally entrusted the team to Costello, and we got big wins over UW and Notre Dame and a northern division title.  What big change can we make this year?  We have a capable Costello under center; we have an excellent receiving corps; we had an all-world tailback before he was reinjured; we are supposed to have a monster O-line that just hasn't managed to gel; our defense showed promise in the early part of the season, but now seems to be coming unglued.  I hope Shaw finds the reset button, because this season threatens to founder in the second half.  Not feeling very optimistic right now.  I will be happy to be proven wrong; but yesterday's game has me thinking 6-6 or 7-5.  And considering that the Oregon game was also nearly an L, we are very fortunate to be 4-2 right now.

---

I do wonder how much the complexion of the game changes if we scored a touchdown instead of giving up a pick-6.  We might go into the second half down only 17-14 instead of 24-7, and we could have conceiveably headed into the fourth quarter up 8 instead of down 6.

Would we still have collapsed in the fourth quarter?  Would it have been more painful because we had the lead, or would we have played differently, not trying to do too much because we were behind.

Well, woulda coulda shoulda.  I give a lot of credit to Utah for taking advantage of opportunities and playing a clean game.  But I wonder how it would have gone had we not shot our selves in the foot.

BC

Good point.  Often, early mistakes can be back breakers and set the momentum for the game.  Still, we managed to get back to 27-21 with an entire quarter to play.  Should have been possible to claw our way to a victory.  But two more turnovers (fumbles!) sealed the deal.  No words for the shoddy execution down the stretch.  And that missed sack that led to a TD.  Unbelievable.  Just hurts to think about it.