Deseret News | When it rains, it pours — Ute loss goes from bad to worse

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Brad Rock: When it rains, it pours — Ute loss goes from bad to worse

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Brent | 12:37 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Fire Wittingham!!!!!!!!

BluEyeDevil | 2:13 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

And firing coach Wit will do what? Turn back the clock? Make it so somehow Asiata and Johnson WON'T get hurt?

GotoGuy | 3:36 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Nice post Brent. I'm in CA so I couldn't see the game, but I am equally enraged that Wittingham broke Asiata's leg and then separated Johnson's shoulder. How can the University tolerate that kind of behavior? Move over Bobby Knight!

Maybe try logging onto the internet BEFORE you hit the Jose Cuervo next time.

Comments continue below

MW | 3:53 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

real intelligent comment brent! fire whittingham after a road loss to a tough pac-10 team in which the 2 best players were injured? did coach whit personally go out and break asiatas leg? or seperate johnsons shoulder? hopefully you are a coug fan because you are not wanted amongst ute faithful!

alex winegar | 3:58 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Utah needs a new offensive coordinator, 196 yards? Utah state had more yards in their game. If Wittingham wants to keep his job he better get rid of Ludvig. Even with the injuries Utah had way too much talent and experience to make this pathetic effort. And its not as if the offense was rolling when Johnson was in anyway. Ya they scored a touchdown, but for almost two quarters of playing they should have done better. Now with a bad offense and an inexperienced defense I think this will be a long season for Utah fans, and even longer if BYU does well again.

ANTI BRENT | 6:07 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

No Brent, Wittingham is restoring the Ute tradition. Let him continue to restore the Utes as a laughing stock of college football :) :) :) :) :)

Bob | 6:13 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

You're stuck with Wittingham! You had to stretch the budget just to hire him and there is no way you have enough money to pay him and another coach! It's beautiful.

Anonymous | 7:04 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

your right, he broke Asiata's leg and tore up Johnson's shoulder, nice reasoning!

Mark | 7:05 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

So because your team lost the game and many of the problems are outside the control of the coach you want to fire him. How shortsighted can you be?

Reuben | 7:05 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

I agree with Brent. When your star players get injured, the only logical thing to do it fire the head coach.

BlueFan | 7:13 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

This was too bad for the Utes. Believe it or not as a Cougar fan I actually prefer to see Utah do well, just not when they play my team. And this really stinks for the MWC. Don't start calling for Whittinghams head yet. Few coaches or football teams could overcome the injuries to key players they were plagued with last night. Give him a week to game plan and adjust to limited personelle. Whittingham could still save this season to be at least a winning season and get to a bowl game where Utah generally does well. But, if he doesn't save the season it may be time for a new HC for Utah.

just me | 7:16 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Asiata and Johnson were the keys to Utah's having a great season. Typical fan, fire the coach. I disagree. Kyle will do okay.

Brad | 7:29 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

I love it!
I wish that Urban would have stayed another season to experience the "fire Urban" comments. He would have been in the same boat that Whit is right now. Wouldn't have made a difference. When are the Utah fans going to get it that you need to stick with a guy long term? If he is doing OK, building a program and keeping discipline the wins will come. 2 Years ago I predicted that Utah football would return to the days of 3 and out... 3 years and you fire the coach. BYU on the other hand has gotten soundly behind Mendenhall and he is doing a terrific Job. After the first 2 losses last year you did not hear "Fire Mendenhall." Why are we hearing this in Salt Lake City. Kyle is a great coach. If you fire him he will go somewhere else and beat you. I look at the great coaches who have left the U and gone on to great careers. The U has been foolish to fire many of these guys. Urban was a freak deal. He landed at the right time. He is a good coach but he hasn't stayed anywhere long enough to establish a real track record. If he stays in Florida we will see what happens. Whittingham is doing a great job and the Utes will recover from this. I predict drama up until the last game in Provo and then Matt Asiata will strut on the field... of course a game time decision.... Brian Johnson will, through miracle, play the game of his life... and the Utes will lose by 14. You will once again yell fire Whit... who you loved 2 years ago. What a short sighted bunch you are. Three hundred Words exactly! Right On!

Chill on Brent | 7:42 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Me thinks Brent was being a bit tongue in cheek. I hope. Nobody is that dense. Oh . . . wait, he's a Ute fan. Never mind. Carry on.

A BYU fan who was hoping Utah would pound OSU. Oh, well.

CB | 7:56 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Typical Utah fans! The Utes will be fine. They will beat Air Force next week and be 1-0 in the conference. Grady will be ok until Johnson returns. Problem is no running backs. OSU is a good team. These people who blame Wittingham are the same ones who blamed Bush for Katrina. Dumb!

Nah | 8:31 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

They aren't beating the AFA. Air Force will destroy this soft group of pansies. I've never seen a tema in poorer condition to start the year. Injuries, cramps, and poor wrapping up on tackles plagued the Utes. When those things happen repeatedly to the same team, it's a conditioning issue.

I was glad to see this soft group of wusses go down in flames. Utah thought they were ready for the big boys when they had a great coach. I guess two years isn't enough time to call yourself among college football's elite. There's nothing better than seeing all the Ute fans crawl back in to the woodwork and putting their little Utah car flags away. Keep them away too, it's going to be a long time before you need them again

Anonymous | 8:33 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Another Cougar fan who wanted to see the Utes win big. Do any Ute fans actually cheer for the Cougs to do well? The Utes are my 2nd favorite team and I am bummed to see the injuries. Grady would be starting at Oklahoma right now had different decisions been made - maybe he can take that potential and keep the Utes afloat. What if he leads the Utes to 3-4 straight wins? Do you immediately put him back on the bench when Johnson returns? Go Utes - win all the rest - until we see you in Provo that is!

Jack from Ark | 8:40 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Hey Brad did you pull the wings off butterflies. You have become such a curmudgeon. Over the years you have always been a leaner to the RED side but now you seem to hate everybody. This is a single loss not the end of the world. From your tone we should stop the season and fold the tents. These young men of UTAH deserve more and though I am from out of state we would never beat up so bad so soon. I do hope Utah rebounds and show all you winers what true grit is.

parkcity | 8:48 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

people are not saying fire whittingham because people got injured, people are saying fire whittingham because people got injured and the other half of the 'best quarterback duo in the country' couldnt come in and move the ball. or do anything.

MightyMike | 8:49 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

2007 Utes: No running game + poor QB play + weak offensive line + solid Defense = 7-5. Mediocrity never looked better in Red!!!

Sarcasm | 8:57 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

I guess I don't know for sure, but seems to me Brent was showing just how fickle fans can be. While I never cheer for Utah, I do feel sorry for the players who were injured and those who could not step up. Grady seems very unathletic, but if he gets some protection and some reps with that bevy of great receivers, the Utes will make some noise. Maybe these teams who open with a weak team have the right idea. Win big, get your back-ups some actual playing time and go for the gusto the next week. Boise State may have had the right idea. I would rather see BYU opening with Eastern Washington than AZ, since we are playing a 1AA team anyway. I'm one of those who is glad Kyle chose Utah for obvious reasons, but he's not to blame for the injuries. Ludwig, on the other hand does not inspire much confidence.

TyJuan | 9:18 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Okay, everyone is jumping to conclusions. There is some reasoning to fire Kyle. Play calling on both sides of the ball were absolutely awful. Kyle is responsible for all coaches and there abilities. Hopefully, it goes better next game. Oh and BYU fans, lets try not to generalize Ute fans with comments like "typical Ute" etc. If we all generalized we would say, "typical BYU fan, married at 22, wears braided belts, tucks in his mission t-shirt into his denim knee length shorts." But we are above that here on the boards

Anonymous | 9:23 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

coming from a BYU fan, I say that if Utah plays the Beavers in Salt Lake and have no injuries Utah comes away with a 10 point victory and Ute fans would be singing Whitinghams praises. If Brain Johnson is ever able to put together a couple of games without injury I think you see a dang good QB.

Ashley | 9:28 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

The solution to the Mtn network problem is to boycott the advertisers of the Mountain network.

BOYCOTT MTN ADVERTISERS!!!

BigRed | 9:33 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

I agree with Alex. The Utes need a new Offensive Coord. Ludwig has and never will be the one to get the full potential out of the athletes they have out there w/ or w/out Johnson. Their offense has struggled mightly since Sanford left for sin-city. Kyle needs to have the guts to say thanks but no-thanks.

parkcity | 9:34 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

losing a RB and QB is outside of the coach's control, but it's not like oregon state played that great. they got nothing at quarterback. having no defense, that isn't outside the coach's control. having a #2 qb that cant make a pass, that isn't outside the coach's control. giving up after halftime, that isn't outside the coach's control.
so maybe it wasn't the coach's fault they lost, maybe the injuries cost them the game, but they didn't call the game off at halftime.

utefan | 9:46 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

agreed bigred. i think if kyle doesn't get rid of ludwig, kyle will lose his job.

Anonymous | 9:55 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

As a BYU fan I felt pretty bad watching the Utes go down yesterday. Asiata was looking pretty good and Johnson was starting to shake off the first-game jitters. I'll always cheer for the MWC over the PAC 10. Hope the Utes turn things around and kick Ben Olson's bootie! However, sometimes I like it when the Utes have terrible seasons because then my team gets all the best recruits. It's a love/hate relationship.

alternate | 10:33 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Regardless of injuries, I felt Utah was not prepared. OSU looked really bad in the first half. They were ripe for the taking. But, the Utes didn't look much better. Ugly game. One more thought, do undersell AF. They always play well in SLC. The are smart, fit and always come prepared. Utah must an "A" game to beat AF.

stgeorgecoug | 10:36 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

As a BYU fan I realy wanted the Utes to pound oregon. Their D was solid in the first half and BJ was looking good. I was looking forward to playing a good MWC schedule that beat pac-10 schools. Best of luck to BJ and Asiata, get well soon and see ya'll in provo. Go cougs!

P.S.
What is it with schools from Oregon that they have to have the UGLIEST uniforms possible. The beavers were no better than the ducks nasty anti-freeze green helmates with the fake steele sholder pads.

Cork | 10:53 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Hey, Rock!

"Auditioning for admission"? Pull your head out and get serious. One or two seasons of good doesn't get anyone into the PAC-10.

UteLove | 10:57 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

It is not the coache's fault...you have to take into consideration that this wasn't a conference game so in the grad scheme it really doesn't mean much. There are unfortunate events that the Utes have to deal with, last night and over the past couple of weeks. With Jason Boone out the o-line had to adjust which was a difficult. The team will re group and be ready to go for Airforce. Go Utes, I have faith in you!

Long season ahead | 11:05 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Really guys, did any of you Utah optimists here actually watch the game? The Utes scored one touchdown on a short field after an interception. Even with Johnson and Asiata, the team offense looked bad. After those guys went down, they just looked pathetic.

I have to say I have no confidence in Whittingham and Ludwig. They just continued to try the same old plays, even though it was obvious they weren't working. There seemed to be no in-game adjustments by the coaching staff. There was an article in the Trib where Whittingham said that Last year's leading rusher (Poston) got zero carries, because the game plan was to use him only on 3rd down. Memo to coach Whit, when things don't go the way you planned, try something else!

From what I saw last night, I have a hard time seeing the Utes beat anybody except the lower-rung MWC teams.

I predict 5-7.

Die Hard BYU Fan | 11:20 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

I personally got sick to my stomach with the injuries from last night. I hate Utah with a passion, but beating them when they are missing their top two guys is like boxing with your sister.

I hope they are able to return...

Texas Ute | 11:25 a.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Lets see Brad. Giddings, Lovat, Criner, Faisell, McBride. All fired Utah coaches who went on to great things. Not! Get real Ute fans the Sheriff of Whittingham is not the savior. Good man, poor coach. Good coaches have depth ready to go after injuries. All teams have injuries. Cut your losses, think with your brain Ute fans, not just your heart.

silly | 12:01 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

There are some silly things said among these comments, but "good coaches have depth ready to go after injuries" is the silliest so far. The first string is the first string because they are better than the second string. Part of the miracle of 2004 was that nobody got hurt (even with Smith running the option). There has never been a MWC team that is 2-3 deep everywhere, and it is never easy to replace all conference players.

everyone calm down | 12:12 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

cougar fans back off, worry about your own team. Ute fans quit freaking out. so utah lost its season opener to a very fine osu team. Utah's 1's gave the beavers all they could handle until the depth of the quality bcs conf. team started to show. The team showed a lot of grit after johnson went down and that bodes well. Granted Grady will have to pick it up and next week he should do so. He is talented but inexperienced. A solid week of practice with the 1st team will help and ludwig, however inept he is, will tweak the gameplan for grady. Dont forget he has plenty of weapons to get the ball to and no team in the MWC will be able to contend with the six pack. The running game is not that bad, the OSU defense was just that good, no one will run much on them (including usc). The utes are still in fine shape, they will be able to beat AF and UNLV, and utah state with grady. Johnson will be back in time to lead the team down the stretch for a good run at the MWC.

Guate | 12:18 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

I have to start by saying I'm a diehard BYU fan, and I like some others never root for the utes. My question is that if your season depends so much on your quarterback being healthy, why in the world would that silly shotgut option play be such a big part of the offense? If your quarterback is carrying the ball often the probability is very high that at some point in the season they guys will get hurt. That indeed sounds like a coaching problem to me. Thank goodness we got Bronco!!!

dhansen | 12:25 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

The worse thing about football is injuries. Teams that have great seasons are lucky .... lucky because they have no serious injuries to key players. Johnson's throwing shoulder being separated is going to be a tough one to recover from all year long. To be fully healed it is going to take more than three weeks for certain but the Utes will none the less re-deploy him back into the starting slot simply because the rest of the QB's are no good. Look for more injuries next saturday as the pesky little fly boys from AirForce come to town with their cheap shot chop blocks to knees. You have to feel for the players that were injured. As a parent of several high school athletes who have had to make the long road back from injury, it is a tough road physically and mentally on the player and the parents.

VoiceOfReason | 12:29 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

To those that who think the coaching was bad, I agree that the Utes need a new offense. I watched 1/2 of the game and got bored watching the Utes try to run. It was obvious they were not going to make it. Move on to the pass, and throw a run in once in a while to keep the other team's defense honest. At some point you have to move on. That was terrible, injuries or not...

An honest opinion | 12:40 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

I watched the game last night only because I am a huge college football fan. I have to be honest neither team looked like they were on track with what they wanted to do. If OSU doesn't have Bernard they don't score once in the game. He had to break at least one and sometimes 4 or 5 tackles at the line of scrimmage every time he carried the ball. The quaterback situation at OSU is horrible so they couldn't rely on anything besides Bernard. Utah on the other hand just had an extremely bad string of luck. Loosing their number one quaterback and running back in the same game. No team in the nation can bounce back from something like that in the same game and win. I think both teams were very average and unfortunately I don't think OSU will even finish middle of the pac-10 this year. As for Utah, you better hope your back up QB can get on track because I didn't see once play where he made an actual impact on the game.

chet kinkaid | 12:44 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

The U. needs to make changes to the football program BAD. Wittingham is a GREAT defensive mind. However, as a head coach I would rather have Mac back (oh wait he is). I was hoping that after seeing two great years from Meyer that Wittingham would have learned more from him. I know that Wittingham had nothing to do with the loss of key players. However, He does recruit, coach, hire and fire other coaches. If he does not start to make the changes to the coaching staff and have a successful year this better be his last year.

Was Hoping | 12:53 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Well Silly, good coaches should at least be able to have their team remain competitive after injuries, even without the same depth level. That's why there are more than 22 players on a team.
Our Utes were not looking all that impressive even before those key injuries. We were fortunate OSU receivers kept dropping easy passes to keep the game looking closer than it really was. Our offense was disappointingly predictable, which in turn literally eliminated our running game. Our defense, which didn't suffer the injuries, had so many missed tackles that I quit counting them. OSU is a decent team with a very good running back and a good defensive line. But that's all. They are mid PAC-10 material at best. From what was seen last night, we'll probably finish mid MWC at best. I was hoping for more, but it's just not there this year. To continue believing so is to be unrealistically optimistic. I hope the coaches can somehow pull a rabbit out of there collective coaching hat and make me eat my words. But don't bet too much on it. We'll all keep hoping. But last night was a hard reality check against too much hope for this year. Too many things were just too obviously and painfully negative, even for those of us who started the game very hopeful. If proven wrong, no one will be happier than I. It never gets any better than the Utes and Cougars playing the last conference game for all the marbles. Maybe next year.

pac-10 | 1:04 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

hey cork, the pac-10 has been considering taking on 2 more teams and Utah has been their number one candidate the whole time. Utah is not only considered because of the solid football program over the last ten years but the other athletic programs' continued success. Most importantly they are considered because of the tremendous academic respect that the U garners, which really is the class of the MWC. And should the pac-10 decide to expand the 12th team would likely be colorado who they would like to lure from the big-12. Only time will tell.

Disgusted | 1:04 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Fire Ludwig!!! And smack Whit up the side of his head to get him thinking about depth. You have to have people that can step up. Oh well, there's always next year -- if we get a better offensive coordinator.

Texas Ute | 1:27 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Ok "Silly". What did Urban Meyer have when he lost his QB Elliott down here in Tejas in '03? He called up a very well prepared Alex Smith and finished with only 2 losses. What did the Okie coach do when his QB got catch selling no cars. He inserted a new one. What did the same Okie coach do when Adrian Peterson hot-dogged into the endzone and broke his collarbone? Are you listening Casteel. He inserted another one and finished with a decent season. What did Mack Brown do when he lost Vince Young to the Pros a year early? He put in ready to go Colt McCoy, who became freshman of the year. So silly me Elmo. I stick by my injury statement about good coaches.

Thank you "Was Hoping". You appear to be the only voice of reason.

ManfromAZ | 1:51 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

The Utes represent my native state and BYU represents my religion. I hope Utah regroups and defeat that traitor Ben Olson and UCLA!

Yer high | 1:52 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

The Pac 10 expansion starts and stops with BYU. Utah will be lucky to get brought along by the Cougars.

Desert Fox | 1:53 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

Hey Pac-10, where did you get your info? This is big time college athletics. Utah lacks in a lot of areas where they could compete in the Pac-10 conference namely, volleyball, track and field, etc. Also the lack of tier one facilities could be a big road block. Your stadium holds what maybe 50,000 on a good day? So maybe just stay in the MWC and try to get competitive again.

PAC 10, really? | 1:53 p.m. Aug. 31, 2007

The fact that there is any discussion about firing your head coach after an opening season loss is ridiculous. So you lost a game. Last I checked one of the two teams is coming away with a loss and the Beavers are great team at home. Maybe all the Ute fans are having delusions of grandeur from the Meyer Seasons. My question is where are all of these people getting there information about the Pac-10 expanding and the Utes being there number one option? Last official statement from the Pac 10 was that they were not interested in expanding, let alon making Utah there first choice. So did your friends, brother-in-law's, nephew's, cousin get this information from an inside source?

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