‘This team is not going to allow that to happen’: Kyle Whittingham confident his team won’t have another extended Big 12 losing skid as Utes travel to West Virginia this week.
After last week’s 34-10 loss to Texas Tech, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham gave his players 24 hours to sulk and be angry after losing a key game in the Big 12 title race.
After that, it was back to work and preparing for West Virginia, which is coached by Rich Rodriguez — a familiar face for Whittingham after Rodriguez led Arizona from 2012-17.
“Got to bounce back,”? Whittingham said. “Like I said, got to have a great week of practice — 24-hour rule, lick your wounds for 24 hours, but then it’s time to get back after it and put your head down and go to work.”
Unlike last season, where the Utes had a seven-game losing skid, there’s optimism in the facility that the team will get back on track this week.
“Very confident that this team is not going to allow that to happen. Their attitude, their competitiveness,” Whittingham said. “Now last year’s team was competitive too and had a great attitude, but we’ve got a lot of things going for us.
“We just had an off-day offensively and again, Texas Tech had a great deal to do with that as I mentioned. But got really good leadership on this team and we just got to keep people healthy and that was really the situation last year. And so I’m assuming that we won’t have a run of bad luck like we did then, but we’ll be back.”
The biggest difference from last season? Utah isn’t relying on a backup quarterback, and though its offense delivered a dud in the first Big 12 game, it has proven that it can put up points.
The big question now for offensive coordinator Jason Beck — can the Utes get back to moving the ball better and scoring points in Big 12 play?
Saturday’s game in Morgantown will answer a lot of questions that were raised after the Texas Tech defeat. Was the Red Raiders’ defense, which shut down the Utes in all facets of the game, just that good? Was it an off-day for the Utes, or will they continue to struggle offensively?
Perhaps the biggest key for the Utes on Saturday will be getting the run game going early after Texas Tech stifled it at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Without a consistent run game, the Utes had to try and win the matchup through the air, and without a downfield or intermediate passing attack, Utah couldn’t move the ball well.
The blueprint on how to beat Utah is out there — stop the run and force the Utes to beat you through the air.
The question is how many Big 12 teams have the defensive talent to shut down Utah’s offensive line and running backs and get pressure with four rushers while playing lockdown coverage, all while containing Dampier on the ground.
The Utes are 12.5-point favorites in the matchup at Milan Puskar Stadium, which seats 60,000 fans. The Mountaineers are coming off of a 41-10 loss at Kansas last week in which West Virginia turned the ball over twice and allowed 405 yards of offense, including 259 yards on the ground.
Priority No. 1 for the Utes will be establishing the run game against a defense that isn’t as tough against the run as Texas Tech, but will still present a challenge. The Mountaineers are allowing 322.3 total yards per game and 130.8 rushing yards per game.
Like Utah, West Virginia is also dealing with a number of injuries.
West Virginia starting quarterback Nicco Marchiol, who has thrown for 720 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, is out for the game. Expect to see backup Jaylen Henderson, a Texas A&M transfer who threw for 715 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions in 2023 in College Station.
This season, Henderson has thrown for 28 yards and rushed for 118 and a score.
Henderson, who entered the game in the fourth quarter, led a 95-yard touchdown drive in last week’s loss. He ran for 64 yards on six carries on the drive, including a 13-yard touchdown run — the only time the Mountaineers crossed the goal line.
Starting running back Jahiem White, who rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns in two games, is also out after suffering a season-ending injury. Starting wide receiver Jaden Bray (seven catches for 95 yards in two games) is out as well.
Running back Cyncir Bowers (62 yards, touchdown) is doubtful, while leading running back Tye Edwards (141 yards, three touchdowns) is questionable, along with starting center Landen Livingston.
For an offense that is still trying to find its footing — West Virginia lost 17-10 to Ohio before bouncing back with a 31-24 overtime win against Pittsburgh to close nonconference play — those injuries could loom large.
For the second-consecutive week, Dampier, dealing with an ankle injury, was not listed on Utah’s availability report, meaning he will play in Saturday’s game.
Dampier was limited last week against Texas Tech and was throwing off his back foot as the injury affected his ability to plant while throwing. The health of the Utah signal-caller will obviously be paramount to the Utes’ success offensively.
Hunter Andrews, the do-it-all tight end, is out for the season after an injury, which means Utah has even fewer trusted pass catchers for Dampier.
The Utes will be without starting defensive tackle Aliki Vimahi. Starting in his place will be Jonah Lea’ea, who has taken on the role before this year with Dallas Vakalahi out earlier in the season.
Saturday’s clash is the first time the Utes and Mountaineers have met during the regular season. The two schools have met twice before, both in the postseason. Utah defeated West Virginia 30-17 in the Heart of Dallas Bowl in 2017 and 32-6 in the 1964 Liberty Bowl, which was the first major college football bowl game to be played indoors.
In order to compensate for the flight across the nation, which spans two time zones, the Utes left Salt Lake City on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. MDT matchup.
A cross-country trip and playing in front of a hostile crowd after a loss is no easy feat, and as the Utes learned last season, there are no gimmes in the Big 12.
A win Saturday won’t come easy, but it will be vital to get the Utes right heading into next week’s bye.
“We faced (Rodriguez) plenty of times, not only at Arizona but when he was at Michigan. And so we know what he brings to the table offensively and we’re going to have our hands full,” Whittingham said. “... They’ll be fired up and they’re coming off a loss like us. And when you’re coming off a loss, you’re hungry. And so we’re going to get their best shot.
After one game, Utah isn’t out of Big 12 championship contention, but the Utes are certainly behind the eight-ball with eight conference games remaining. The Utes can ill afford to lose another game if they want to accomplish their preseason goal of playing in Arlington in December.
That’s all in the future. Right now, Utah is just focused on getting back into the win column in a cross-country conference showdown in Morgantown.
Category: General Sports
