Having allowed 545 yards last week against Colorado State, the Utes appear on track to be among the worst defenses in the nation. Again.
Poor defense has become synonymous with Coach Jim Fassel's teams. Since arriving in 1985, his teams have ranked, in order, 101st, 105th, 101st and 98th in total defense nationally. This year his team is 104th out of 106 teams.Fassel, who changed defensive coordinators three years ago, cites numerous reasons for the awful performances: small players, injuries, too many minutes on the field, over-anxiousness. For whatever reason, the Utes have proven again they can't play defense, no matter what year it is.
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MITCHELL'S MARKS: Despite a poor day against Colorado State, quarterback Scott Mitchell kept his touchdown string alive. By throwing a first-half strike against the Rams, he extended his streak to 20 games with at least one scoring toss.
Mitchell remains high in total offense nationally, ranking third. But in passing efficiency, he continues to slide, ranking only 30th in the nation this week.
Utah, the nation's total offense leader last year, has dropped to 15th, but the Utes are third in passing offense.
Meanwhile, speculation persists that Mitchell will leave for the pros after this, his junior year. Though he says he won't consider his options until the year is over, one television network reported last Sunday that Mitchell was among the juniors who may sign with the pros a year early.
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RALLYING THE TROOPS: While the Utes have already assured themselves of not having a winning season, there are still some high-profile games left, namely, BYU and Air Force.
After the CSU loss, Fassel said he told his team to avoid finger-pointing and back-stabbing. "I told them we're going through an extremely difficult time," he said. "It's important that everyone has to sit down and say, `What can I do?' and not worry about what everyone else isn't doing."
With three games remaining and a 3-6 record, the best the Utes can finish is an even .500.
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MUCH OBLIGED: Colorado State's Tony Alford has to be wondering if the Rams can't schedule Utah twice in one season. His 310 rushing yards against the Utes made him the WAC's leader in total rushing yards (933) and vaulted him from sixth to second place in per-game average. He also jumped from 49th to 24th in the national rankings - all due to one game.
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WORTH QUOTING: Utah Jazz G.M. Frank Layden, to the Utes prior to playing Stanford: "Gentlemen, you're going to be playing against one of the finest academic institutions in America. But you didn't come down here to (expletive) debate 'em."