It was a big game. We lost. But there is still a lot to play for.

Like a lot of you, I have had high hopes. This team looked like it could be the one. We knew there were question marks—we knew the first three games had not answered all of the questions—but there was reason to hope for good things.

There is still reason to hope.

Tonight was tough. Frustrating. We were one or two yards from two touchdowns, and we came away with three points on those two drives. We left eleven points on the field that we might have gotten if Moss had been on the field. I say might. Moss might not have scored on those drives. Whatever. The Utes couldn’t get it done. USC was good enough to hold us out. We lost; they won.

But this is not the end. Any rational person knew it was possible we could lose to USC. USC is stacked with talent. And when it comes out, it is hard to stop.

Ironically, our smashmouth D might have done us a disservice by knocking out Slovis on the second play of the game. We planned for him, and it might have been better to have a freshman out there. Sometimes it’s the unexpected event that tosses an odd variable into play. Of course, it may be that USC would have played us the same way with either QB. Ifs and buts are too uncertain to support much analysis.

So what now? The same plan we had yesterday: win the rest of our games.

There is a lot of good football left to play, and there is still a chance of winning the South and more.

I feel certain this team won’t give up. I’m not inclined to give up either.

The games will be played. I might as well keep on having fun (and agonizing at the same time) while cheering on my Utes.

Go UTES!