It’s hard to believe that the College Football regular season is over for the University of Utah. Honestly, where does time go? It seems like just the other day we were discussing the Montana State Bobcats. Is there a most anticipated, yet far too short time of the year than Football Season? We build it up for eight and a half months every year and it’s over before you know it.

Utah has completed its first season in the Pac 12 and BCS/”Big Boy” football. I think it would be fair to say that the season didn’t exactly play out the way many of us thought it might and I’m not talking about strictly wins and losses. It was a rollercoaster like season for Utah Football, but one that likely taught a
number of lessons. I’m going to use this space today to outline three key lessons learned after the first year of Pac 12 Football play.

Lesson Number One: You better have a quarterback or two ready to play if you want to compete in the Pac 12. We knew heading into the season that Jordan Wynn was plan A, B and C this season for the Utes. Keeping Wynn healthy was the key for any big success in their first Pac 12 season. After an injury scare in the BYU game, Utes fans worst fears were realized late in the first half against Washington. At that moment everything changed for the Utah Season, because they simply didn’t have a competent backup in the program ready to go. Look around the league, just about every school in the Pac 12 has multiple options ready to go if their starter goes down. Look for better options next season with Jordan Wynn hopeful for a return an healthy senior season, plus highly touted recruit Travis Wilson, Tyler Shreve and Jon Hays all in the mix at the QB spot for Utah.

Lesson Number Two: Utah needs more and better athletes. As I called games week in and week out with Frank Dolce and Sharrieff Shah, what became apparent week after week was the high level of athletes and skill guys and number of them at every school. Whether it was a Wide Receiver, Offensive Line or just about any other position on the field, Utah had good players, but not always elite players. With the exception of Defensive Line or Secondary, the Utes will need a talent and depth upgrade across the board moving forward. The good news is that Utah has a good start on the recruiting front already. The staff knows the challenge that lies in front of them and is up for the task of what needs to be done. In addition, the turnover on multiple coaching staffs in the Pac 12 combined with the stability at Utah, should help a great deal in recruiting right now.

Lesson Number Three: There are no off weeks in the Pac 12. We need to look no further than last Friday afternoon. The worst road team in college football over the last four years walked into Rice-Eccles Stadium and outplayed a Utah team with everything to play for. The week before it took Utah overtime to beat one of the worst programs over the last 5 years in the Pac 12. Bottom line you have to bring it every week when you play with the big boys. The Utes learned that lesson the hard way, by missing out on playing in the Pac 12 Title Game tomorrow against Oregon.

I thought before the season began that the Utes had a reasonable shot at a 9-3 season with the major sticking point being a HEALTHY Jordan Wynn. Clearly Wynn wasn’t able to stay healthy and the Utes finished at 7-5. Consider this an educational season in Pac 12 football. Let’s hope the lessons were well learned and applied moving forward.

We should find out this weekend where Kyle Whittingham’s guys are playing this postseason. Most projections have the Utes in El Paso on New Year’s Eve against either Georgia Tech or Virginia. The Sun Bowl certainly isn’t San Diego or San Antonio, but the money and exposure will be better than anything that Utah would have had prior to the Pac 12.

I always welcome your comments on-line or feel free to email me at bill@espn700sports.com.