Devin Kaufusi: Losing To BYU Might Be A Good Thing For Utah

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah is moving on from its loss to rival BYU and preparing to face San Diego State on the road this Saturday for its final non-conference game. Even with the loss to the Cougars, Utah has a lot to look forward to once Pac-12 play begins.

That has been the message from Ute head coach Kyle Whittingham and it is trickling down to its players as they have had to answer questions about losing to BYU this season.

It is cliché but it rings true that a team learns more from a loss than they do in victory.

“The message was we’re disappointed. We didn’t play as well as we’re capable of playing, I can tell you that for certain. But again, I’m not trying to take away anything from their victory because they earned it. But that was not our best football,” Whittingham said.

“Gotta pick ourselves up off the mat and got a lot of football ahead of us. This has nothing to our ultimate goal of trying to win the Pac-12 which obviously is going to be very, very challenging but we got to just pick ourselves up and figure out what we did wrong and get better and move forward.”

Whittingham: Loss To BYU ‘Does Nothing’ To Goal Of Pac-12 Title

That is the one bright spot about non-conference play and being in a major conference. Utah defensive lineman Devin Kaufusi joined KSL Unrivaled and had a lot to say about the rivalry loss, including how his family reacted to the game.

All of Utah's goals are still open to them even after losing to BYU.

Also, @devskaufusi said, "this loss to BYU could be the thing that puts us into gear and potentially be the best thing for us." pic.twitter.com/GjdNRBtlp3

— KSL Unrivaled (@KSLunrivaled) September 16, 2021

“After a loss, you can’t just sit there and sulk or wilt but you have to respond,” Kaufusi said. “We have conference play coming up … and the goal is a Pac-12 championship that we want. Looking back, this loss. to BYU could be the thing that puts us into gear, puts us in sync, and could end up being the best thing for us.”

Losses can get teams into gear and especially ones that do not derail the season and remove goals for the Utes. Honestly, the odds of Utah making the College Football Playoff were very slim at the start of the season so this early season loss doesn’t impact that.

Everything else is on the table for the Utes which includes its first-ever trip to the Rose Bowl but that can only be achieved by turning things around and learning from their mistakes against a really good BYU football team.