This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In between bowl preparations, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham will be squeezing in some additional research: on the Utes themselves.
Whittingham said he's still in the process of "evaluating" the 8-4 regular season the team wrapped up on a down note. Much of the focus has been on Utah's red zone offense, which finished No. 116 in the nation and which Whittingham felt cost the team games against Cal and Colorado, at the very least.
While Utah saw improvement in passing production, Whittingham said, that wasn't the biggest obstacle to success.
"Had the red zone production been where we wanted it to be, we'd probably be 10-2 or 11-1," he said. "That's how important it is."
Ute players said they were still struggling with how the season ended during a 1-3 November finish. Many of them didn't watch the Pac-12 Championship game, out of frustration that they weren't playing in it.
Senior guard Isaac Asiata said the red zone issues flustered him. Among the offensive linemen, they're only looking internally at the moment.
"As an offensive lineman, a lot of people look at us first. I will always look at us first," he said. "If we're not doing our job, it's kind of hard for things to happen."
What will happen on offense? In keeping Aaron Roderick and Jim Harding as co-offensive coordinators, the Utes had their first repeats at the position in eight years. Is consistency ideal? Or is change needed?
When asked if he was committed to his current coaching staff, Whittingham demurred.
"Everything is in evaluation process right now," he said. "Not ready to make a comment on that."
Asiata, on the other hand, stuck by his coordinators, saying that they faced unfair scrutiny in their positions.
"One week you can be doing amazing and people will think you're the greatest thing to ever happen to this program, then you mess one thing up, and they say you're the worst and calling for your job," he said. "I think they're great coaches. I know they evaluate and look at themselves before anything else."
Looking ahead?
While the bowl game is straight ahead, the future beckons beyond. For some Utes, that includes the NFL.
There was some news for Asiata on Monday, as the second-team all-conference lineman accepted an invitation to the Senior Bowl, the first Ute to do so. Others, such as defensive end Hunter Dimick, have had casual conversations with agents, although the NCAA limits the extent to which current players can dive into that.
"It's been a little bit crazy lately with everything going on. I'm just talking to my parents, we'll take it one day at a time," Dimick said. "It's just kind of very vague conversations. The NCAA rules don't allow you to agree or anything like that."
NFL Draft Scout rates Dimick, who bounced back from an injury-filled junior year, as the ninth-best senior defensive end in the country, while ranking Asiata 10th at his position.
But some of Utah's top NFL prospects may not be seniors at all: Lowell Lotulelei, Marcus Williams and Garett Bolles have all been hot names in NFL draft buzz in the past month. Whittingham said he's submitted several juniors to the NFL draft advisory committee already. He didn't name them but said "you can probably figure out who the guys are."
"There's going to be 2-3 guys that will be going through that, and based on the evaluation that comes back, making decisions at that point," Whittingham said. "Right on the fence — all pending the evaluation."
Pac-12 reaction
Utah had some self-interest invested in seeing Washington get to the College Football Playoff — the $6 million payout that goes to the conference, plus moving up in the bowl order — but Whittingham said he was nonetheless excited for the Huskies, who are facing Alabama in the Peach Bowl. He said it would have been "a complete tragedy" had they been left out.
Among other conference schools, USC made the Rose Bowl, which Asiata described as "sour" since Utah beat them earlier in the year. But he acknowledged he was happy to see former Ute and current Trojan defensive tackle Stevie Tui'kolovatu make the game.
"I make fun of him all the time, and I get a hard time on Twitter about it all the time, but I'm excited for Stevie," he said. "That guy works his tail off. Whether he's with us or USC, I hope he goes and takes it to them in the Rose Bowl."
Whittingham also commented briefly on Oregon coach Mark Helfrich getting fired last week. While Utah was the last team Helfrich beat on the way out, Whittingham seemed to have nothing but sympathy.
"With the money and everything attached to it now, people want immediate results, and there's not much margin for error," he said. "I think Mark Helfrich is a heck of a football coach, and that's my comment on that, I guess."
Briefly
The Utes expect to fly out to the Bay Area on Dec. 23 and spend Christmas together as a team. ... Utah expects defensive backs Boobie Hobbs and Justin Thomas, who left the Colorado game early, to return fully healthy. ... Linebacker Sunia Tauteoli and tackle Sam Tevi also played sparingly or through injury in recent weeks, and Whittingham said the pair should be close to 100 percent by the game. ... Whittingham added that no players have yet approached him requesting a transfer, but acknowledged that the window for any decisions on transfers typically comes in December.
Twitter: @kylegoon