Utes, Ducks find themselves in similar funks before showdown in Eugene

The Utes could look into a mirror and see the Ducks.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham didn’t say it verbatim during his weekly Monday press conference, but it was close.

“Two teams that need a win,” he said. “That’s the storyline.”

The Utes are 4-3, 1-3 in Pac-12 play, and are reeling on this three-game losing streak after beginning the year 4-0.

The Oregon Ducks, at 4-4 and 1-4 in Pac-12 play are in the same boat, having dropped their last three games after an impressive start.

Something’s gotta give, right?

It will one way or the other Saturday afternoon at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., where both teams aim to put a screeching halt to their respective skids. The Ducks return home, having lost over the weekend 31-14 at UCLA, where first-year coach Willie Taggart proclaimed, “It’s hard to think of a lot of positives when you lose.”

For the second time in three days, Whittingham said the same.

“Not a lot of positives from our game Saturday,” he said.

Like the Utes, Whittingham said, the Ducks have encountered their own quarterback issues in 2017. Starter Justin Herbert suffered a broken collarbone a few weeks ago, leaving the duties to freshman Braxton Burmeister. Utah sophomore Tyler Huntley returned from a four-week absence and threw four interceptions in the 30-10 home loss to Arizona State.

“Obviously they’re more run-oriented with the freshman and more QB-run game and not quite as complex,” Whittingham said, “but that’s to be expected when you have a freshman running the offense opposed to the guy [Herbert] who did a good job for them last year, and was off to a pretty darn good start this year before he went down.”

Any parallels that standout between the two teams at the moment?

“Lack of continuity at quarterback,” Whittingham said.

Utah defensive tackle Filipo Mokofisi tuned into games during Oregon’s 3-0 start, but found out Monday that he won’t be facing the dual threat of Herbert. The senior team captain said he’s eager to see the team respond after such a lackluster performance against the Sun Devils.

“We’re just going to prepare the same way that we always do — we have to,” he said. “We can’t change just because one team is struggling. We’re having our own problems, they’re probably having their own problems, so just got to prepare like any other week.”

Oregon might not be as dynamic with Burmeister (246 yards passing, one touchdown and five interceptions) under center, but the Ducks do have running back Royce Freeman, who in the loss at UCLA, set the school’s career rushing record. Considering the talent that has moved through that position in that program the last decade, Freeman’s achievement of 5,103 total yards is quite the feat.

“Obviously they’re always fast, they’re going to get you tired and start hitting big plays on you,” Mokofisi said.

The Ducks are averaging just over 10 points a game during their skid, but remain fifth overall in the Pac-12 in scoring offense and total offense. The Utes, meanwhile, are as Whittingham has said since the loss against ASU, without an identity during the losing streak.

“You say how can that be? I’m asking the same question,” he said. “We’ve got to figure out what we do best and hitch our wagon to that, and go in that direction.”

Mokofisi said the overall vibe around the locker room must rise this week in order for Utah to have a shot at winning its second straight game at Autzen Stadium.

“I would say right now coming off three losses, you can get deflated, you can get down on yourselves, but us as leaders just got to bring each other up and think positively,” he said.

And the message?

“We can go 5-0 from here on out,” Mokofisi said.