Utah Football: Injuries Are A Reason Not An Excuse

Aug 29, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes tight end Jake Murphy (82) runs for a touchdown after a catch during the first half against the Utah State Aggies at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Every time I talk about Utah Football being affected by injuries, many of you people scream, “you’re just making excuses.”

Well, here is an article from the ESPN folks who talk Pac-12 on just that subject.

Injuries aren’t and excuse, they’re a reason, and the Utes have had a doozy of a reason.

Coming into the season the Utes had a fantastic plan, rely heavily on their excellent tight ends Tonga and Murphy.  On the outside if you’re going to double Dres or Scott, the other would be running free.  And all of that would allow guys like Denham and Norwood to be really solid 3rd and 4th receiver options.  And all of this with a big strong QB who was running the ball well too.

And all of that would do a great deal to help the O-Line, after all you’re going to hesitate to blitz that group because you’ll pay.

The injuries happen and they all exacerbate each other.   Without Tonga and Murphy some pass blocking and short to mid passing game is affected.  Without Scott, teams can sit a safety on Dres.  Without all three teams feel like they can man cover us and blitz us in a multitude of ways.  And then Travis’ hand makes sure he doesn’t have the touch and short accuracy the team was counting on.

And the second part of this is people scream, “why don’t we have replacements?”  Well not many teams could lose 3 of their top 4 options and a QB and remain as effective.  It’s a fact.  Guys can do some good things, but if they were as good as or better than the starter, they’d be starting.

And how anyone would be dumb enough to think Kyle Whittingham could have controlled any of it is beyond me.

So stop screaming that is an excuse.  Because it’s not just some blogger pointing out that it isn’t.  If you hear someone say this nonsense, point out to them that they’re simply wrong.

Because it’s not an excuse, its a reason.