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Kragthorpe: How will Utes approach visit to Washington, with two chances to win one game?

Bowl eligibility could come down to next week vs. Colorado<br>

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Washington Huskies quarterback Jake Browning (3) hands off to Washington Huskies running back Lavon Coleman (22). University of Washington Huskies defeated University of Utah Utes 31-24 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Saturday, October 29, 2016.


College football players and coaches basically spend 12 months of the year preparing for the opportunity to compete in 12 games. That makes each of them meaningful, regardless of whether the opponent is from a lower level or ranked in the Top 25.

So it is silly to suggest that Utah’s home game vs. Colorado next week is more important to the Utes (5-5) than Saturday night’s visit to Washington. Yet the way the math works, it is only natural that coach Kyle Whittingham would want to have the most healthy team facing Colorado with bowl eligibility likely at stake and the Buffaloes coming off a bye.

Whittingham has said as many as a half-dozen injured players would be evaluated during the week, possibly until just before game time in Seattle. I never would recommend holding out players just for the sake of a better chance to win next week, because they deserve to compete as often as possible. Even so, that strategy certainly must have crossed Whittingham’s mind.

Wow. This is tricky. If any part of the Utes’ mentality wavers Saturday, they’re in trouble. In other words, they can’t allow themselves to think that all they have to do is beat Colorado to go to a bowl, because in that case the Huskies might embarrass them.

Two of the worst Jazz performances I’ve witnessed in the last decade came in similar situations. The Jazz went on the road with a close-out opportunity in a playoff series, recognizing they could come home and win to advance. They got crushed, and those were miserable games to watch. But in a practical sense, nothing was lost. Each time, the Jazz won at home in the next game. NBA players are conditioned to bounce back.

The difference is that this Ute team has proven to be fragile, in the way it responds to defeat. In October, two losses turned in four losses, with Whittingham citing the demoralizing effects. In contrast, he expects to see an angry Washington team after the Huskies lost to Stanford and were knocked out of College Football Playoff consideration.

If the Ute players see their teammates being held out when they possibly could play Saturday, that would send the wrong message. So Whittingham has to field the best team available, take a shot at the Huskies and then regroup for Colorado. Any other approach might be logical, but won’t necessarily work.