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The Utes weren't able to close out Arizona. What were the biggest negatives and positives of the game?
Sean Reynolds, Block U: Well the biggest negative is that Utah lost. With a bowl game on the line, in front of a home crowd, and against a team that hadn't really been all that competitive on the road, losing like we did was a huge negative. The offense was better, but it isn't like they were going up against a solid defense or anything - Arizona has one of the worst defenses in the country. Even so, Utah still couldn't match the average total points the Wildcats have given up this season. Had they, they would've won.
Now that Utah isn't bowling, what are the things that must improve this offseason for you to be satisfied with Kyle Whittingham?
Sean Reynolds, Block U: I'd like to see some coaches go, but I don't know how likely that is. This team has seen so much turnover the last few years that maybe it's best things stay pat for an offseason. Other than that, shoring up the defense, specifically in the linebackers and good portions of the offense has to be goal numero uno.
SB Nation Snippets
What does Block U think of that game-changing fake punt that probably swung the game Arizona's way?
HOW 'BOUT THAT FAKE PUNT, YA'LL? BALLS OF STEEL, BABY! BALLS OF STEEL!
Reynolds is also pretty concerned about the future of the program now that the Utes won't be ending up in a bowl game.
But in the past, there was at least one game that drove our confidence and optimism. It was almost always a bowl game, of course, because the Utes rarely lost those, but it was just enough to get you through the months until football started up again. Even after the 2010 Las Vegas Bowl, we at least had the Pac-12 invite to look forward to and the hope that Norm Chow could turn things around with a healthy (ha) Jordan Wynn.
This go around? I guess we look forward to next season so that we can get this season's nasty taste out of our mouths. But while I expect heightened anticipation the closer we get, since we always are excited and pumped for the upcoming season, expectations will not only be tempered, but we'll enter 2013 far more cautious and far less confident than we have any season since, probably, 2007 (if not longer).