Absol-Ute Power?: Unlike 08', Utah's 2009 Squad Has Evident Flaws

The only thing missing Saturday at Autzen Stadium was the obligatory griping of Scrooge McDuck.

And a quarterback. 

And a running back.

And a few receivers ready and able to catch some footballs.

16 straight wins turned into quack, quack, quack for an Oregon program in early-season shambles.

It rained, and it most certainly poured on the visiting Utes, as they saw their streak of 20 months straight minus a loss come to a sloppy, question-filled end in Eugene, Ore.

Do not rush to conclusions, Terrance Cain is talented kid. He's got the vision, tools and mentality to run a spread offense. Just not against a team like the Ducks, as we saw. 

Either he wasn't ready, or he isn't. Either/or.

There was a time toward the end of the second quarter, that the Utah quarterback was 4-for-17. Sure, it was raining bullets, but it seems like in a system like the Utes sport, the numbers have to be improved—drastically. 

Somehow, somewhere, Utah fans were trying to page Brian Johnson. 

Cain's inability to obtain a consistent flow wasn't the only negative showcased. 

Not by a long shot.

A 55-percent Matt Asiata was incessantly gobbled up whole by the swarming Ducks, Eddie Wide had three looks for negative rushing yards, and the athleticism of the Oregon defense obviously rattled the mindset of the Utah offense.

The ever-reliable David Reed was off beaten up. Jereme Brooks couldn't hold onto the football, and the magic that was the 2008 Utes seemed like a more-than-distant memory. 

After all, those guys did everything right. 

They caught all the breaks. They matched intensity. They stopped hearts. They caused migraines. They won.

As Cain lofted a desperation pass toward Brooks in an effort to knot the game up at 31 late in the fourth, anyone who's watched Utah over the past two seasons expected the impossible to be flipped on its back. 

Brian Johnson wasn't behind center, he wasn't leading a game-winning drive and Cain's under-thrown pass intended toward the pylon drifted into oblivion for his second interception in three minutes. 

That was that. 

Defensively, the Utes are as athletic as they've ever been, but when big plays are given up on a regular basis, you cannot expect to win football games against a Pac-10 team as talented as the Ducks. 

The minuscule LaMichael James caused Kalani Sitake headaches. He couldn't be wrapped up and essentially wrapped up the win for Oregon with his impressive second-half performance. Jeremiah Masoli was a basic non-factor through the air, going 4-for-16 for 95 yards and one interception.

Many kudos to the defense, for proving it wasn't its first rodeo and keeping the game in striking distance for the offense to come back and make the plays necessary to silence Autzen. 

Robert Johnson did it twice, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. 

Utah limited their opponent. They crippled them in one facet of the game, yet couldn't accomplish any leeway on another. 

Whether they like to admit it or not, Utes fans have been thoroughly spoiled by a dream season that no one ever really saw coming and will be continue to be for a long time coming. 

The program is going through some obvious growing pains, breaking in two brand-new coordinators on both sides of the ball. 

Yet, the offensive play-calling a whole lot to be desired. Dave Schramm seemed to fall into Asiata-mode for a couple quarters, that got the Utes precisely nowhere. 

The delayed shotgun draw was so obsolete, each time Utah continued to run the play, fans flooded social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and asked, "Where's Andy Ludwig?"

To Schramm's defense, it is his first year, he does have a rookie quarterback and an under-the-weather running back, but Utah football didn't get to where it is today by making excuses.

You could count on one hand how many times the Utes went deep on a 1st-and-10 a year ago. On Saturday, Utah tried it four or five times and came up flowers. 

A spot that proved fatal was the mind-numbingly horrid call at the end of the second quarter. Utah chose to, for some reason or another, throw a fade rout to Reed with two ticks left on the clock. 

Whether they were looking for a pass interference call, or simply believed Reed could sky-high and make a SportsCenter grab, is another question, but Utah left points on the board on the road in a situation where there has to be a play made, either on the arm of Cain, the legs of Asiata, or the foot of Phillips. 

With the coaching staff they have, the talent they have, and the recognition and experience that they have, these Utes have the stuff. They do.

Banking on the pride of the special teams play in the past, this season has been just plain mediocre. 

One couldn't help but ask, where's Urban Meyer? Where's the guy that put as much emphasis on the special teams play as he did on offense and defense?

Ben Vroman has the leg, but not the accuracy. Joe Phillips, vice versa. The return game leaves much to be desired. Shaky Smithson is able, but doesn't have the field vision and Luke Matthews could be a staple returning punts, but hasn't made cameras flash thus far in the three games. 

They've got work to do. That's a no-doubter. 

2008 is dead and gone, and unfortunately, fans will always reminisce about the 4th-and-5 against TCU, the five Max Hall interceptions and the 21-0 lead over the Tide in the Sugar Bowl. 

It's a different team. Different feel, different narrative in its entirety. 

Cain had tremendous struggles at times. That will be a insurmountable factor in the coming weeks on what kind of football taeam this will be and how they'll respond.

It's a matter of taking what you see, for what you get. 

You see the talent. You see the growth. The motivation is there, the leadership is undoubtedly up-and-at-'em with guys like Stevenson Sylvester, Robert Johnson, Matt Asiata, Koa Misi, and David Reed. 

People have been saying that his team is as tight as they've been in years. 

That's great. Can't underestimate chemistry, but if that's the case, where's this team been on the field? On paper they're the athletic defense coupled with a spread offense of play-makers that teams want to avoid. 

College football starts as fast as it goes by and if you're not looking, you may see something special run by. With a record of 2-1, there will be no BCS game for this year's Utes, no party-crashing, no Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve. 

They're a victim of a flawed system, yes. However, opponents hath none pity unto those who are known.

Utah had won 16 straight games, having not lost since Nov. 22, 2007.

That's an unbelievable accomplishment, sure, but that's no excuse for coming out flat against a team so talented.

Had it not been for their own ability to shoot themselves down, the game would've been somewhere in the Florida State taking a chunk of grass out of LaVell Edwards Stadium territory.

Is losing this game good for Utah? I would say yes. The team hasn't seemed fully-prepared for three straight weeks, and I would attribute that to those growing pains of the staff and players. 

While watching, I couldn't help but see the missing pieces.

They missed Brian. 

They missed Paul.

They missed Sean.

They missed Freddie.

They missed Louie. 

Quite an inimitable "Flying V", no?

Yeah, 2008 is over, but Utah football needs wins in Eugene, much more than wins in Laramie, Wyo. (While Coach Whittingham would certainly beg to differ)

The Utes are now in foreign territory, and it's still early in the season. How they'll respond, is an entirely different can of worms. 

Photo by: Ty Cobb