Life changes quickly, as do Ute prospects

SALT LAKE CITY — Gingerly he folded himself into an interview room chair, easing down as though climbing into a hot tub.

"Uhhhh," Kyle Whittingham groaned wearily.

"Aww," he exhaled as though in pain.

He had worried about days such as Friday's 17-14 loss to Colorado — one of the worst teams in the Pac-12. It happened so fast. An awful start, a spirited comeback, a fumble in the crunch. A reliable kicker short-circuiting. Key players gone in an instant.

"I learned a lot this season in the Pac-12," the Utah coach said.

Changing angles, shifting scenes.

Life is a series of blindsides. You're rolling along, gaining ground. Then something takes your legs, nails you in the gut. So it is when you're the Utes. They arose Friday morning believing they were two wins from the Rose Bowl, depending on how much help they got from Cal and USC. By late afternoon it wasn't even a consideration.

"It's definitely a disappointment," said linebacker Chaz Walker. "We wanted to stir things up. It's rough to lose, but we'll bounce back."

Bounce-back talk is standard in post-game news conferences, but in this case, it's not hard to believe. This is a team that lost its first four conference games, only to be in consideration for the division championship until two seconds remained on Friday. Not in just any conference, either. The Pac-12, which is roughly a 10-story climb from life in the Mountain West.

Back then, a team could play poorly and bungle through. Now the Utes are finding no such luxury. Colorado's victory was its first road win since 2007.

You beat four teams in a row, and then you lose to a team you were favored to beat by three touchdowns.

"The line between winning and losing is very thin," Walker said. "If you don't come out with the passion every time, any team can beat any team."

So when Coleman Petersen missed not one, but three field goals — including a 48-yarder with two seconds remaining — the Utes had to wonder. Last week he was the conference special teams player of the week, making three kicks, including the game-winner, against Washington State. This time he also missed from 42 and 26.

"A hero last week," Whittingham said. "If you're in the game long enough, you have games where the kicker wins the game for you, and games when — I'm not going to say he lost the game – but it didn't go so well today."