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Clearly, this is not what anyone was picturing when Rose Bowl organizers presented flowers to the University of Utah's president, or when Ute fans tailgated in anticipation of the minute when the school officially became a Pac-12 member or when the conference commissioner spoke of Utah's season of "discovery" in football.

The Utes stand 0-4 in the league, appearing overwhelmed and raising questions about their ability to compete at this level.

So the issue is whether the Utes deceived us with good marketing and a small sample of past performances against teams in this league, or if this season with a fill-in quarterback can be dismissed as an aberration. This much is certain: The Utes are not who we thought they were going to be.

Three weeks ago, before things got worse, Ute coach Kyle Whittingham already was saying, "I don't know if people thought we were going to come in and take the Pac-12 by storm and just walk through it. That's not reality."

True, but there were some reasonable expectations, short of the Rose Bowl, and the Utes are not even living up to those. Utah was picked third in the Pac-12 South in the preseason media poll.

The season is still salvageable with bowl eligibility, although that becomes more unlikely with every Pac-12 defeat. The Utes' five remaining opponents stand 11-25 overall and 8-15 in the league. Utah's breakthrough could come Saturday against an Oregon State team that gave up 499 yards to BYU. But if they lose that game, the Utes may not beat anybody — except fellow newcomer Colorado.

As for what's gone wrong and whether it's fixable any time soon, these five angles are worth studying:

The quarterbacking • It all starts with that position, although it may not end there. Jordan Wynn played decently at USC and was showing good signs against Washington before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the season. Now, Utah's QB situation is beyond ridiculous.

Jon Hays is trying, and it's not his fault he's playing in the Pac-12, but he obviously doesn't belong here. The blame goes to coaches who did not adequately evaluate or recruit quarterbacks, which forced them to scramble and find Hays last spring.

The Norm Chow factor • The Utes' offensive coordinator cannot be blamed for the QB mess he inherited, but he's not qualifying for any genius label, either.

This is a tough year for gurus. Auburn's Gus Malzahn, the country's highest-paid assistant coach, is being exposed without Cam Newton. Auburn is 93rd in total offense. Chow's offense is 108th and fading, and he's making a lot of money, too. Of course, that's partly because UCLA is paying him not to coach there.

The talent level • The Utes are not being physically overwhelmed, although they're not matching up as well as expected. The lack of a passing threat puts tremendous strain on the offensive linemen, but those guys should perform better.

Utah's 15 turnovers in four conference games say as much about the competition as its own troubles. The likes of UNLV and New Mexico would not be forcing all those fumbles and interceptions. So the Utes have some catching up to do in recruiting, obviously.

The different circumstances • Urban Meyer and Whittingham went 7-3 against teams in the former Pac-10 from 2003-09, but it's apparent that edges in preparation and motivation played into that. The Utes wanted to prove themselves against teams at that level. Now, they're being treated as equals, which works against them.

The future • Funny, but I don't remember Whittingham's "That's not reality" commentary in the promotional material that resulted in 98 percent of Ute fans renewing their season tickets in a tough economy. This will become an intriguing case study if Utah is unable to right itself. Ultimately, fans must decide whether the Utes' first Pac-12 season is misleading or if this is what the future looks like.

Actually, this season will be deceiving no matter how it ends. If this Pac-12 stuff seems tough now, imagine if the Utes were playing Oregon and Stanford. —

Oregon State at Utah

P Saturday, 5 p.m.

TV • Ch. 14