Utes knocked back to regular

EUGENE, ORE. � There has been much speculation since the Pac-10 commissioner said it might be time to revisit the idea of adding members. Often mentioned among the considerations: Utah.

Hold that thought.

Is the WAC still available?

Oh, wait: Boise State would probably be more than this year's Utes could handle.

Fire the lobbyists. Cancel the petition drive. Drop the e-mail initiative. Right now the Utes are back from whence they came: hoping to win the Mountain West Conference. Don't laugh. They've lived off that before. It's not a bad diet, really.

The nation's longest win streak ended at 16 games Saturday, in a 31-24 loss to Oregon of the Pac-10. This doesn't mean the Utes' season is finished or that they can't come flying back. Heaven knows, they've done it before. They even have Louisville of the Big East coming into town this week. But one thing is clear: The magic carpet ride has landed. No more BCS busting season. No more No. 1 draft picks, either. Realistically, the best they can hope for is a ride on the X Scream at the Stratosphere.

You got it: Las Vegas Bowl or bust.

"It's been almost two calendar years — 22 months, or whatever it is," said coach Kyle Whittingham, referring to Utah's last loss, Nov. 24, 2007. "We all wish it could have gone on for eternity, but that wasn't the case."

If you're trying to figure out the Utes, they think they have the answers. They believe they're scrappy and tough.

"Yeah, we're a fightin' bunch," said linebacker Stevenson Sylvester. "This situation is a test to see what we're made of. They (Oregon) made a lot of mistakes, we made more."

One thing is certain in this young season: This isn't the Golden Utes. Those undefeated teams in 2004 and 2008 caught every break, made every play. This one is more earthbound. Same sweat, none of the glitter.

Oregon isn't exactly Rose Bowl worthy, right now. It lost to the WAC's Boise State and barely beat Purdue. But was good enough the Utes knew they had to play better than they did in their first two games. Two interceptions and 10 penalties later, it was clear they hadn't.

See you back in the neighborhood.

"Yeah, I mean, it's weird," said safety Robert Johnson. "We've just got to come back next week and, like Coach Whit said, play Utah ball."

Last year or this?

Last year, Utah ball meant driving down-field at the game's end and scoring the winning points. It meant stealing hearts and laughing in the face of adversity. This team has a defense that has glaring breakdowns, a special teams unit that needs to be reworked, and an offense that sometimes, like Saturday, gets under 300 yards.

This bunch already has a bloody nose.