Every week around the country, college football teams pour everything into preparing for that Saturday’s game. From team meetings to film room to practice, it’s a grind that asks players to give their all every day, and it can make victories feel incredible and defeats crushing.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is even-keeled the majority of the time, never getting too high after a win or too low after a loss, and the program follows suit. After losing the rivalry game to BYU, however, it’s going to be a little more challenging than usual to put the emotions of the contest behind them and turn the page.
The rivalry game always carries a level of importance to both sides, especially this year, with the two teams meeting in conference play for the first time in over a decade and BYU entering the game undefeated.
This wasn’t a run-of-the-mill game for the Utes or Cougars, and Utah made sure every player knew what this rivalry was about, bringing in former players from Utah-BYU games past to fire up the team in the week leading up to Saturday. Combine that with a down-to-the-wire game that Utah thought it won twice before getting its heart ripped out after a holding penalty and a game-winning drive for BYU, and it’s understandable that it might be a little harder than usual to put the game in the rearview mirror.
“Yeah, that’s tough and that’s a challenge for us without a doubt. … Poured everything we had into that game obviously, as we do every week, but that game takes a little more of an emotional toll,” Whittingham said.
A win over the Cougars wouldn’t have just been a monumental upset and a new chapter of rivalry lore, but it could have partly salvaged a season that has gone so wrong for the Utes and given them a marquee win to hang their hat on. It would have snapped a four-game losing streak, which would have been just one game away from bowl eligibility.
There’s no denying that the loss is tough to stomach for the Utes, but, as the late, legendary Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said, “You can’t play backwards.”
“I mean, it hurts. It’s going to hurt for a while, right? But the reality is it’s football and we got a game this week and we have to flush it,” Utah center Jaren Kump said. “That’s the reality of it. You have to flush it and move on to Colorado and not allow that to occupy your mind and all your mentality and your thoughts to be on Colorado”
Utah running back Micah Bernard, who rushed for 78 yards on 17 carries in the Utes’ 22-21 loss to the Cougars, said he just slept on Sunday so he didn’t have to think about the game, then turned the page.
“New week. New week. It’s a lot of things I would love to say, but yesterday I just slept so I didn’t have to think about it. Today I woke up, new week, playing Colorado, focus on Colorado,” Bernard said.
With a 4-5 (1-5 Big 12) record and an ever-growing list of injuries, it’s going to be a tough road to the finish line for a program that began the season with such high preseason aspirations. Utah travels to Colorado on Saturday, then hosts an Iowa State team that has lost two games in a row but is still in the Big 12 title race at the moment before closing the year on a short week by traveling cross country to Orlando to face UCF
“Just rolling with it. Just rolling with it. I’ve been taking punches all season long and I’m just rolling with ‘em,” Bernard said. “Haven’t really thought about it, but now that I think about it, it’s three guaranteed (games), three guaranteed, and so just got to go out, play for my boys and have fun.”There’s just one direction the Utes can move, and that’s forward. After a day off for players to recharge on Sunday, Utah was right back to the daily grind.
What’s left for the Utes this season? Playing for a bowl game — needing to win two of their next three to become bowl-eligible — and the chance to play spoiler on teams vying for the Big 12 championship game, starting with Colorado.
Led by quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who is putting up impressive numbers in his second season with the Buffaloes, a bevy of talented pass-catchers, and projected Heisman finalist and two-way sensation Travis Hunter, plus a revamped defense, Deion Sanders’ team is challenging for the Big 12 crown.
Since a three-point loss to then-No. 18 Kansas State, the Buffaloes have reeled off three consecutive victories and enters the Utah game at No. 2 in the Big 12 standings (7-2, 5-1 Big 12).
If Colorado finishes the year unbeaten, defeating Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State, it’s in the Big 12 championship game. Each game is a must-win, and the football world has taken notice.
Saturday morning’s Utah-Colorado game will be broadcast in Fox’s “Big Noon” window (10 a.m. MST), and Fox’s national pregame show, “Big Noon Kickoff,” featuring former Utah coach Urban Meyer, will broadcast live from Boulder.
The eyes of the nation will be on Saturday’s game, where Utah once again has the chance to try for an upset — this time against the No. 18 Buffaloes.
“You got to refocus quick just like everybody in the country. You play on Saturday and you mull things over and evaluate and do all that stuff on Sunday and then on Monday you come in and you get going on the next guys,” Whittingham said.
“So it’s no different this week other than, like I mentioned, the rivalry game has a heavier emotional toll than the other games and it’s not quite as easy to shift gears after that game, but you have to, I mean it’s talked about it earlier in the year, not letting one defeat or an incident affect the next one. You can’t do that. You got to try to flush it and get onto the next opponent.”
