Utah, like WSU, dealing with disappointment

To listen to Kyle Whittingham, you’d think his team had lost 67-63.

“It was almost like backyard football,” the Utah coach said of his game at USC last week. “You just chuck it up there and let the guy go make a play, which they (the Trojans) did over and over and over.”

It’s all relative. In truth, Whittingham’s team lost 30-23. It was his buddy, Mike Leach, who’d experienced a 67-63 backyard nightmare.

They’ll try to extend each other’s misfortunes at 7 p.m. Pacific on Saturday (FS1) when Whittingham’s No. 19 Utes play Leach’s Washington State Cougars at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Leach is aiming for his fifth consecutive win against his fellow Brigham Young graduate, with whom he’s developed a warm friendship in recent years.

Both coaches breezed through the nonleague season, set their sights on a Pac-12 divisional championship, then opened conference play with a wrenching loss. So both are 3-1 overall (0-1 in the league) and looking for a fresh start.

It’s just that Whittingham is a defensive-minded guy. To him, allowing three touchdown passes of at least 29 yards almost was as mortifying as what Leach went through, blowing a 32-point lead in an epic Pullman shootout against UCLA.

Actually, the Utes’ game at Los Angeles on Sept. 20 resembled their 28-24 loss at Washington State a year ago, when the Cougars’ Easop Winston Jr. broke loose for a decisive 89-yard catch-and-run with four minutes remaining.

This time, the critical play was a 79-yard pass from USC’s Matt Fink to Michael Pittman in the third quarter, after Fink’s 29- and 31-yard scoring throws in the first half. But the Utes’ coverage on those plays was hardly inept, and their defense in general was stellar in comparison to Wazzu’s in the second half against UCLA.

“We believe in that secondary,” Whittingham said. “We don’t think the sky is falling. Our pass-efficiency defense is really good. We’re second in the nation in run defense. There’s some things we’re doing well. But playing the deep ball on Friday night was not one of them.”

A scheduling coincidence might work in Utah’s favor. USC’s first-year offensive coordinator is Graham Harrell, a Leach disciple who employs a version of the Air Raid offense. So the Utes got a head start in preparing for the Cougars’ schemes.

“It’s the same basic animal,” Whittingham said. “The route structures and a lot of the concepts, the rub concepts and that type of thing, are similar. The Trojans are more run, but there’s a carryover. If you’re going to play those two teams in a season, playing them back-to-back would be ideal.”

Whittingham is being coy about the health of quarterback Tyler Huntley, who was seen limping late in the USC game, and running back Zach Moss, who apparently injured a shoulder in the second quarter. Huntley told the Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday he expects to play.

Their status is pivotal. Huntley is completing 76 percent of his passes, has yet to throw an interception, and with 179 gross rushing yards he can punish the Cougars for overaggression. Moss is averaging 6.2 yards per carry and ran for 106 yards on Wazzu last year.

But their importance goes beyond the individual numbers. The Utes boast an advantage of 35:13 to 24:46 in possession time per game, a stat Whittingham can appreciate, especially when facing Leach and his Air Raid. He’s not in the market for 67-63.

“In a game like this, oftentimes your best defense is an offense,” Whittingham said. “Our offense is controlling the ball, taking care of it, not turning it over. That will play into stopping that offense as much or more than anything.”

Grummert may be reached at daleg@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2290.