‘You go from elation to devastation in a seven-day period of time’: Can Utes regroup, rebound after rivalry loss to BYU?

Kyle Whittingham has said it time after time after a loss: Don’t let the same team beat you twice.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake even shared a similar message with his team after his Cougars defeated the Utes for the third consecutive time.

“We got to make sure that we answer back. Last year, we won the (Utah) game, and then we lost the next one, and they lost their next one,” Sitake said in a video shared by BYU. “So we got to figure that out, are you guys with me? That means we’ve got to work hard after this is done.”

With only 12 guaranteed games per year, the highs and lows hit harder in college football than any other regular season in any other sport. Coaches and players work year-round for these 12 opportunities, and the joy or frustration that comes following a win or loss can hit hard.

“It’s part of the deal. And you go from elation to devastation in a seven-day period of time, and back and forth, but that’s what you sign up for. I mean, that’s the nature of this business,” Whittingham said.

In a rivalry game, those emotions are magnified even more. Coaches and players put their all into every week during the season — preparation, game plans, practices, etc, — but rivalry week carries a bit more emotion than a normal game week.

“We’re not happy. We know what our team is capable of. We had aspirations to be undefeated after our first loss, so it hurts us right now,” Utah quarterback Devon Dampier said.

Utah — and BYU — will have to be careful to not let Saturday’s game carry into next week and turn the page quickly to their next opponents — a home game against Colorado for the Utes and a road game at Iowa State for the Cougars.

For the second straight time after playing BYU, the Utes will take on Colorado next.

Last season, the Utah-BYU game went down to the wire in an instant-classic 22-21 win for the Cougars on Will Ferrin’s game-winning field goal.

Quarterback Brandon Rose, who started in place of Isaac Wilson (Wilson starting in place of the injured Cam Rising for much of the season), suffered a Lisfranc ligament tear right before halftime. Utah led 21-10 at halftime, but with a hobbled quarterback, couldn’t score in the second half and the Cougars roared back for the win.

It felt like the final gasp for the Utes in a tumultuous 2024 season, and the next week, the Utes were blown for or the only time that year, as Colorado beat Utah 49-24.

Of course, Colorado — which had two excellent players in Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter — deserves the vast majority of the credit for that win, but you can’t help but wonder if there was a bit of a hangover from the emotions of the rivalry game.

Despite last night’s loss, the Utah team that will meet Colorado this week is much better than last season’s Ute squad, and conversely, the 3-4 Buffaloes aren’t at the level of last year’s 9-4 team, which went 7-2 in conference play.

This week, Utah’s coaches and players will do their best to turn the page from last night in Provo and make sure that the loss doesn’t impact the team’s morale, preparation or intensity.

So far this year, the Utes have proved they are able to shake off a loss in a big game and respond.

Utah lost a high-stakes matchup against Texas Texas in Rice-Eccles Stadium in front of a national TV audience and Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” show in attendance, but snapped back with blowout wins over West Virginia and Arizona State.

“We’ve been in this situation before. We’ve lost the football game before and we bounced back just fine, so I got full trust in my team still, this game doesn’t change that,” Dampier said. “I think we still got a strong team all around. Hopefully we’ll show that to the world.”

Utah opened as a 14.5-point home favorite over Colorado, which had a bye this week after upsetting then-No. 22 Iowa State two weeks ago.

The health of Dampier could be a major storyline this week. Utah’s quarterback limped off the field in the late third quarter and had a lot of tape on his ankle for the rest of the game. The dual-threat Dampier didn’t run once from that point on, and Utah brought in freshman quarterback Byrd Ficklin for quarterback runs three times.

Though not officially eliminated from Big 12 title contention, it would take the Utes winning out, plus a few teams ahead of them being dealt losses. All Utah can control, however, is its preparation for the next game and trying to get back in the win column.

Importantly, Utah cannot let the season spiral the way it did last year.

The Utes need to learn from their mistakes against the Cougars on Monday, correct them, and then move on to Colorado.

“Since I’ve gotten in this conference, that’s something I’ve always said, anyone has a chance to win on Saturdays and you got to come out every Saturday and be ready to play at your best,” Dampier said.