Red-zone issues an all-too-familiar tune for struggling Utes

If Utah’s inept red-zone ways are driving you up the wall, don’t worry, because you have company.

“It’s driving me nuts,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said at his weekly Monday press conference, “and it’s been driving me nuts for quite some time.”

What was supposed to be a new page in Utah’s offensive identity with the hiring of another new offensive coordinator in Troy Taylor has turned out to be much of what tormented the Utes a year ago. The red zone is where opportunities wither away too often for Utah this season, and the inefficiency has undoubtedly played its role in this four-game losing streak.

“It seems like an eternity,” Whittingham said.

A pinch of hyperbole, sure, but the struggles are, yet again, too real.

Utah went 1 for 4 in the red zone in its 41-20 loss at Oregon over the weekend, unable to punch it in from 3 yards out on one drive and eventually lucking into a tipped ball at the line that fell into the arms of right tackle Darrin Paulo, sprawled out across the goal line.

“All that matters is touchdowns,” Whittingham said. “I’ve said that in the past. Field goals are a loss, because it means you got stopped. If you get a field goal in the red zone, that means they stopped you. So we’ve got to find — somehow, someway — that answer.”

According to NCAA stats, Utah is tied for 68th in college football in red-zone offense. The Utes have made 39 red-zone trips in eight games, but have cashed in on touchdowns only 18 times. That’s an underwhelming 46 percent clip.

“I just feel like sometimes the teams do a good job of knowing what we’re doing and sometimes we just make mistakes,” quarterback Tyler Huntley said. “It just goes hand-in-hand. It’s not going our way right now, but we’ve got to change that and make sure we put points up on the board. That’s it.”

Fullback in a spread offense

Here’s how the conversation went with Cody Ippolito.

“It was just like, ‘You want to play fullback?’” explained the senior linebacker transfer from Arizona. “I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, why not?’”

After spending time in the depth chart at linebacker, Ippolito transitioned to the other side of the ball and had a featured role in the loss against Oregon. He now dons two jerseys on a weekly basis: No. 48 on offense and his familiar No. 57 on defense. A former fullback in high school, it didn’t take Ippolito long to remember the ins and outs of the position.

“I’m a smart player, so like I can learn anything just like that,” he said. “Once I get it down in practice, it’s stuck there.”

“He has the fullback type body and we thought, ‘Who is a guy that maybe isn’t getting as much playing time somewhere else that we can get some mileage out of?’” Whittingham said.

Odds and ends

Kickoff time for Utah’s Nov. 11 home game against No. 25 Washington State was announced Monday. … The Utes and Cougars are scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium where the game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks. … Friday night’s game against UCLA is Utah’s 10th annual “Blackout Game,” as players will don all-black uniforms during Halloween week. … All fans are encouraged to wear black as well. … Utah is 7-2 all-time during “Blackout Games.”