Utah Has Yet To Win a Pac-12 Game: Coughing Up the Football Is Not the Answer

This past Saturday's game against the Arizona State Sun Devils looked promising for the Utes. Jon Hays showed promise starting as Jordan Wynn is out with a left shoulder injury.  In fact, Utah scored first in the game.

However, later the Utes decided to keep gifting the ball to the Sun Devils through turnovers in the third quarter. Five gifts to Arizona State. This is the second week in a row the Utes have lost the game through offering themselves as a sacrifice to the football gods.

Utah could have been playing Zippy Tech and lost. Please say it ain't so! Unfortunately, it is so. Arizona State found Utah's Achilles heel and took advantage. The sad truth is the Utes could have handled the ball better and they know it.

Hays is inexperienced, but he played much better than expected. Even the arm-chair quarterback knows you don't turn the ball over five times. In football, it is team suicide unless you are the opposing team.

Utah hits the road this week to complete its non-conference schedule against Pittsburgh. This is a game in which the Utes need to figure out how to keep the ball in the hands of the backs, ends and receivers.

Whatever is needed, use it. Put Velcro on the gloves, glue on the ball, whatever it takes, but take care of the ball. 

Losing sucks and there is no way around that. However, knowing you actually were in the game and suddenly decided to give up, that sucks worse. Excuses can be made for about anything, but the ends don't necessarily justify the means.

Time to regroup Utah and win the final non-conference game. The rest of the Pac-12 teams see opportunity written all over their hands. All you need is fumbles and interceptions and there will be joy from Tucson to Boulder the rest of the season.

Charity is a great quality to have, except in football, and nobody has your back except you.