Whit is a good coach…

[Danilo]

but not great. He seems to play to not lose. All the great coaches, (thinking of Urban) play to win.

This seems to translate to the players. It feels like Bentley goes onto the field thinking “don’t throw a pick.” RB’s thinking, “don’t fumble” etc.
The focus isn’t on winning, it’s on not losing.

It feels like last years team is about as high as Whit can take us with this mentality.

[dystopiamembrane]

2008

[Danilo]

2008 = mountain west

Every coach wants to win by 50. My issue is with the offense and our play calling. We had a some good stuff going last night, and as you said even left some points on the board in the red zone. So why not CONTINUE doing what had worked all game?! Once 4th quarter hit it was almost all inside runs, they pack the box and offense stalls drive after drive.

[Trailgoat]

2008 was a fun/special season. KWs one conference championship in 16 years as head coach at Utah. McBride; 2 conference champs in 13 years as Utah’s HC. Meyer 2 conference championships in 2 years as Utah’s HC.

[ironman1315]

Yeah because it’s easy to win a pac12 championship. Arizona et al have won so many in the last ten years. 

[chinngiskhaan]

Are we really doing this again? GTFO with that crap. It’s not his fault we left 12 points on the board in the red zone.

If you don’t think Whitt would love to win every game by 50 you are a fool

[CincyUte]

What do you think about Whit’s decision to go for it on fourth down at midfield while winning by just six and with less than 3 minutes left?

[Cesar Chavez]

It was a good decision, If they punt the ball away, OS gets a return punt and 3 whole minutes to drive the ball down for the TD and win the game, so it was a pick your poison decision.

[Danilo]

Good decision to go for it, bad decision to run the ball up the middle 4 times in a row. What did you think?

[CincyUte]

I liked it because it showed he was playing to win.

[Utah5410]

Whitt isn’t going anywhere. He’s here until he decides he’s done. For the record love Whitt.

[AlohaUte]

It’s a shame I can only downvote such idiocy once. Few coaches do more with less than Whitt. Yes, the conservative play calling yesterday was infuriating, but he’s an incredible coach and we are dang lucky to have him. Utah is not a destination job, we could just as easily be the equivalent to Mississippi State, Illinois, or Maryland. Instead we are landing a top 25 recruiting class, been in the CFP discussion the last couple years, and are on the 2nd tier of CFB programs just under the blue bloods. That is all because of Kyle Whittingham.

[Danilo]

Totally agree, he does so much with what we have. But it’s the same team every year. Great defense, average offense with poor play calling. It’s literally been the same MO the last 15yrs! I don’t see us ever elevating further. Just my opinion tho

[ironman1315]

I mean it’s not like we started our tenure in the pac as middling at best and now in the top third of the conference. Clearly no improvement at all. 

[Utesbyfive]

That’s the thing. We are, in fact, in the top third of the conference, and our recruiting reflects it. Guys, gals, this was always going to be a rebuilding season. Despite apocalyptic circumstances, we are very lucky this season is just a glorified exhibition. Next season, if things are somewhat back to normal, we are going to be a hell of a lot better.

[ironman1315]

F**k out of here. Good s**t. Just look at last year FFS we trounced just about everyone because we had the dogs to do it. This year we don’t. 

[UnicycleUte]

Whittingham is a top 10 coach coaching at a top 30 school, and the only reason we are a top 30 school is because of him and Urban Meyer. Before those 2 coaching hires we were barely a top 50 program.

The things that Whittingham has accomplished at Utah are amazing.  He took Mountain West players and established a culture of winning in the Pac12. Then he took low end Pac12 recruits and made Utah a consistent contender in the South. Now we’re actually starting to recruit in the top half of the league because of his consistency, and we have a young team with ridiculous talent. This team is already better than I expected, and they are going to be a Pac12 contender next year…after losing 12 players to the NFL draft in 2 years!

Now, about the play calling. We are ahead late in the game and we get 8 or 9 yards on a first down run. Of course OSU thinks we’re going to run, but we should run, and we should pick it up. And we should pick it up the next play, and the next. That’s on the players, not the coach. The O-line improved a lot this game, but they are still young. That’s what happens when you are starting this many freshmen. The thing is, when you have this many talented freshmen it should be cause for optimism, not dissatisfaction in coaching. We are young because we lost all our players to the NFL! And then we recruited well! These are good things!

I also want to make a point about Harding.  I’ve heard a lot people stating that we’ve been bad on the line for years. That’s just not true. He’s consistently produced elite run blocking and decent to good pass protection. Our offensive line was truly elite just 4 years ago, and people have completely forgotten because of one and a half bad years.  It’s college football, that can happen with a little bad luck. Utah has put its last 3 starting running backs in the league. They were all good players, but that doesn’t happen without good line play. Joe Williams straight up doesn’t make it to the league without semi-truck sized gaps to run through. He was held hella fast, but not great after contract. Moss last year was the exception, not the rule.