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Boulder, Colo. • The margin between Utah and being among the nation's best — even the Pac-12's best — is the 20-yard patch of grass before the end zone.
It's where teams should be the most eager to be. But from Utah's first loss that ended a yard short of a score against Cal, red-zone issues have cropped up whenever Utah has struggled, and came home to roost in Saturday's 27-22 loss at Colorado.
After one of the game's most explosive plays, a 93-yard kick return by Kyle Fulks in the fourth quarter that was just shy of the goal line, Utah bumbled through three snaps: a Troy Williams keeper for a loss, and two incomplete passes to the end zone. From three yards out, Utah hadn't only failed to get the go-ahead touchdown, but had lost two yards.
"How about that?" a frustrated Kyle Whittingham said afterward. "Pretty much sums up the night."
The Utes (8-4, 5-4) have struggled in the red zone more than any other conference team, ranked 116th and scoring only 76 percent of the time in the fifth of the field that is closest to paydirt. The Utes have also settled for field goals 13 times, scoring touchdowns on only 25 of their 50 appearances there.
In a regular-season ending loss to Colorado, Utah felt the full brunt of those struggles: With five appearances in the CU red zone, Utah ended with one touchdown, three field goals and a turnover.
Where the blame falls isn't an easy question to answer: All of Utah's field goals came after third down incompletions either dropped or broken up, with only two handoffs to Joe Williams in all three series. But then again, Williams fumbled on another carry inside the red zone.
For his part, the senior running back said the issues fell on the players.
"It's just bad execution on our part," he said. "We just have got to get better in that area. It has been a problem all season."
The end of a season isn't exactly a time to start a turnaround. And Williams is right: It has been a problem all season.
Utah's first two drives of the year went into Southern Utah territory, ending with a pair of field goal attempts and only three points. After the 24-0 blowout, Kyle Whittingham said the offense had a good start, but needed to get better.
The offense got better in some ways. The passing offense from 2015 to 2016 gained more yards (180 ypg to 216 ypg), and Troy Williams passed for 15 touchdowns against only seven interceptions (compared to 13 TDs and 10 INTs from Travis Wilson in 2015).
But the red-zone issues were never solved: In four losses this year, Utah scored on a combined 11 of 15 red zone possessions, including twice settling for field goals. The stops included Cal's goal-line stand to seal a loss in Berkeley, as well as a turnover-on-downs against Oregon that, had Utah kicked a field goal, might've spun into a different result on Nov. 19.
Adding insult to injury, the red zone was an area where Utah's much-maligned offense last year excelled, converting points on 91.3 percent of red zone possessions while scoring touchdowns 61 percent of the time.
Utah's offense was more explosive than it has been in recent years, but lacked a killer finishing ability. Even as Whittingham evaluates improved productivity in the passing game in the offseason, he'll be faced with a question that will linger for potentially a long time: Why couldn't the Utes close the deal close to the end zone?
He didn't really have an answer on Saturday night.
"I just know that we've been brutally bad in the red zone all year long," he said. "Coaches have as much responsibility as anyone, if not more."
That's not anything that Utah fans, hiding their eyes every time Utah crept inside the 20-yard line, didn't already know before.
Twitter: @kylegoon