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Scott Mitchell: Utah’s Loss ‘Had Nothing To Do With Florida’

Sep 7, 2022, 2:55 PM

Cam Rising dives during football game...

Utah Utes quarterback Cameron Rising (7) fights to keep his balance on a run up the middle as Utah and Florida play in Gainesvillle, Fla., on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

(7)

SALT LAKE CITY – Let’s be real. While Utah did lose the game against Florida, there were opportunities for the Utes to walk away from The Swamp with a win over the Gators, according to former Utah quarterback Scott Mitchell.

Utah had their issues in this game for sure, such as not punching the ball in on 4th-and-goal at the 1-yard line on the first drive of the third quarter. There also was the game-sealing interception on the final play, plus a few throws that could have been picked off by the Gator defense. Defending quarterback Anthony Richards was a chore as he rushed for 106 yards and threw for another 184.

Utah should be kicking themselves after this loss. It was all there for the Utes to get a win against the SEC and show that they and the Pac-12 are a conference to be feared. Now, the opposite occurred with the same old narrative that the Pac-12 isn’t a good league or the Utes are just another team.

Mitchell, host of Unrivaled, had an up-close view of this game as he is also the radio analyst for Utah football games; He is disgusted by the result and got heated when discussing the loss. He firmly believes the Utes played badly.

“As bad as they played and as sloppy as they played. They had a massive opportunity to not just tie up the game but to win the game,” Mitchell said. “I am looking at the long game here. I am looking at how to get Utah into the [College Football] Playoffs. I am not interested in moral victories. I am so tired of everyone saying, ‘give Florida some credit.’ Bullcrap! You all stunk in that game, it had nothing to do with Florida, not one thing.”

 

Utah Needs Someone To Get Mad

Mitchell wants someone to take responsibility for this loss and show some real, raw, and angry emotion. The players and coaches can all say they have things to work on and get better – which is accurate – but someone needs to get out there and be angry about this loss. The players and coaches are all disappointed and mad at the loss. Utah defensive tackle Devin Kaufusi said as much when he joined Unrivaled for his weekly appearance.

This Utah team has big goals that can still be achieved but after this loss, someone needs to get in front of the team and get mad to light a fire.

“Somebody up on the hill at the University of Utah needs to have a Tim Tebow moment,” Mitchell said. “Someone needs to say this is unacceptable about how we played. I guarantee if you talk to all of the players they will go, ‘we played like garbage, we played tentative, played not to lose, and didn’t play to win.’

“I don’t want to hear about ‘Florida this or Florida that’ none of it. Someone needs to get pissed off and say this is unacceptable and this will never happen again.”

Utah needs to channel the anger of the Florida loss and use it for the rest of the season.

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Scott Mitchell: Utah’s Loss ‘Had Nothing To Do With Florida’