I drank the kool-aid and I regret it

[ProudUte]

Unfortunately, I got caught up in all of the pre-season hype. Reminds me of the “hype-train” on the Dr. Pepper ad.

Some of our downfall is a direct result of Cam getting injured. But, there is no excuse for the crappy, uninspired play we have seen. We were told that our Dline was sooo deep. Well??? We were told that we would be fine at safety even though we lost our two safeties to the NFL. Well???

I really do not like the way this team is playing outside of Kuithe, Bernard, and Singer. The Oline has been okay but not nearly what we were told they would be. I really like Barton, but Barton without Reid and Damuni is not the same. We suck at LB right now.

I should know better than to buy into the hype. Not one game this season has been anything close to a top-15 team. We played a good first half against Baylor, but we were scoreless in the second half.

I think much of this is on the coaches and playing not to lose. But, we obviously do not have the studs we need to be a national contender. Our red-zone offense has been totally pathetic. We actually moved the ball to the 25-yard line quite efficiently last night. I think we only punted once.

I do not blame Rising for last night. I think they should have started him to see what he could do with game-time adrenaline. But, they needed to pull him at some point (probably at the half). I don’t want to see him again unless he is completely recovered. He is NOT capable of leading a P4 football team right now. Let’s go with Isaac. Let him learn, develop and grow into the QB we hope he can be.

Last season was painful, but this one may become most painful season for me in 60 years of Utah football in part because I drank the kool-aid.

Thanks for letting vent.

[Tony (admin)]

Last year was the straw that broke the camels back for me in terms of drinking the Kool-Aid. I came into this year, not expecting anything. So if nothing happened then no surprises and if we do great then yay. 😀 

[Utah#1]

It wasn’t hard to see last year and it sure as hell was easy to see this year after Cam went down against Baylor that we were back to square one again. I wasn’t buying none of the pre-season hype because of Whittingham. I’ve known him to say one thing, and do another. Every year he says this maybe the best team he’s ever coached, and then ends with a 10-4 or 9-5 record. If all the years he said he thinks he has had the best team ever every year, than they should be pretty much have gone undefeated or at least 11-1, but it was all BS!

[Utehoopsfan]

He’s a good coach, but an overrated one. He has a reputation of doing “more with less” and that has been true in some cases such as beating Oregon twice in 21 and USC twice in 22, but he also does his share of “doing less with more” and dropping games where Utah is the more talented team. 13 of his 19 seasons he’s had at least 4 losses. Could the next coach be worse? Absolutely. Could the Utes get a coach that could do better? Probably if they find the right guy. Don’t think Scalley is it.

[The Miami Ute]

Because of my background, all the other fans that I’m close to are not from Utah and are fans of different teams. Whenever we talk about college football and Utah becomes a topic of discussion, the main things that are mentioned are: 1. Solid, not great, program. 2. They ALWAYS lose multiple games every year. 3. Every time they have an opportunity to punch through the glass ceiling and make a statement on the national stage, they crap the bed. There’s only so long you can talk about the 2008 season and the Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama.

Personally, I think there’s little doubt that Scalley will be the next head coach. I also think that Scalley is his own man, with his own personality, so it would be a mistake to believe that he’s going to be Whitt 2.0. My take from observing Scalley from afar, is that he’s more aggressive and more of a risk taker than Whitt, and that will translate in having different types of offenses and defenses when he’s the HC. Whether he’ll be successful or not, that’s a different question.

[Utegator]

I think I had a nightmare of watching Cam trying to hobble out of the pocket on that last drive only to be easily sacked. He was doing some weird sideways shuffle. It was sad/demoralizing.

[The Miami Ute]

Nothing worse than seeing a physically hobbled athlete going against other athletes that are healthy.

[Larry B]

Serious question, what’s the point of playing Cam at this point, even if he’s 100% healthy? After the loss last night, our chances of winning the conference are slim to none. I would much rather just ride with Wilson and get him as many reps as possible.

[The Miami Ute]

Larry, you’re not wrong. Many people said the same thing when we saw the shape Rising was in last night. There’s literally no upside to playing Rising at the moment. All you’re doing is taking away from Isaac’s development.

[Anfernee]

Why would Whitt/Ludwig suddenly start doing obvious things?

[Utehoopsfan]

If Cam is 100%, you ride with him even if you are out of playoff contention. With what we saw last night, if that is what Rising is going forward, yeah you should play the Freshman.

[ProudUte]

Rising looked bad. Why didn’t the coaches pull him?

[2008 National Champ]

They’ve decided that Rising is the best chance for the team to achieve it’s goals which is fine. At the same time, it was incredibly shortsighted to not have a package ready for Wilson and give him a planned drive in the 2nd quarter so that you can continue his development with a set script of plays that he is comfortable with. Questionable decisions are okay in the moment. They become a cascading problem when you keep chasing lost outcomes. i.e., going for it on 4th down because you passed up a FG the last time and now you are chasing points.

Even with a healthy Rising, there’s no reason not to continue keeping Wilson involved. And with a Rising coming off of injury, who sustained another one in the first couple of plays in the game and was 2-9 for 11 yards in the first quarter.,, it sure seems like Whitt thought he could flip a switch and 2021 Rising would show up. Which is something I thought was limited to the Utah fanbase and didn’t realize it had infected the coaching staff.

[Trailgoat]

Not living in SLC, I gauge Kool-aid consumption based on communication from the coaches/prayers through various media outlets, social media, this site etc before the season. The main Kool-aid message was anything less than getting to the B12 Championship game was a failed season. Roughly half way through the season the goal is pretty much unattainable.

Miss the days when media and fans were allowed access to some of the Spring and Fall camp practices reporting back to us out of towners with knowledgable insight.

Bottom line, Utah is not a good football team on many levels this season.

[Author]

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