Utah Utes football notebook: Utah's Zane Taylor admits blowouts still hurt

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah center Zane Taylor doesn't mince words. He pretty much speaks his mind.

The senior captain didn't hold anything back when asked about the Utes' back-to-back lopsided losses to TCU (47-7) and Notre Dame (28-3). The setbacks spoiled an 8-0 start to the season and dashed all hope for a third Bowl Championship Series berth in seven years.

"It's devastating," Taylor said before expounding on the topic.

"It hurts as bad as almost anything else that can hurt in your life. It might sound weird for people that aren't so passionate about football, but football is our life," he explained. "We have such high expectations for ourselves, and going two weeks in a row without a win is really hard on you."

The Utes are moving past it, Taylor continued, and trying to get it out of their minds and put all their energy into Saturday's game at San Diego State.

SWAN SONG: Utah coach Kyle Whittingham isn't dwelling on the historical significance of the Utes' last road football game in the Mountain West Conference..

"That fact has not even entered my mind," he said.

After the trip to San Diego, Utah closes out its final MWC campaign at home against BYU.

The Utes, in case you haven't heard, are moving to the Pac-12 next season.

POSITIVE OUTLOOK: Defensive tackle Sealver Siliga, one of Utah's four team captains, said the leaders have a common approach in trying to end the Utes' two-game losing streak.

"We just can't let all the media stuff get to us. We can't let all these negative things work its way into our football team," Siliga said. "We've got to have the same mindset that we had in the beginning of the season and the same mindset we have now. We've just got to keep it positive."

LOOKING BACK: Whittingham pretty much liked everything at Notre Dame, except the way his team played.

"I've been a lot of places in my 20 (plus) years in Division I coaching, and that was by far the most impressive place I've ever been," he said.

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