Utah Looking To Prove They Are A Team With Endurance, Not Just Enthusiasm
Oct 12, 2022, 9:46 AM
Utah Utes players honor two former players, Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, just before the start of the fourth quarter as Utah and Oregon State play at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. Utah won 42-16. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY- Everyone knows by now that the 2022 football season has not gone how the Utes envisioned it. Last weekend’s loss to UCLA ended the dream of a College Football Playoff, but Utah is still looking to prove they are a team with endurance, not just enthusiasm. A win over #7 USC this weekend would keep the Utes in the Pac-12 Conference Championship hunt- another big goal of theirs heading into this season.
32-42 final.
Proud of these guys. Time to get back to work. pic.twitter.com/efGbY69dhU
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 8, 2022
Is Utah A Team With Endurance?
Many of the same players from Utah’s historic Rose Bowl and Pac-12 Championship season are back this year and no one has forgotten that they were sitting in pretty much this same spot last season. Tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham said earlier this week that the losses can be harder to handle than the wins, but he’s hopeful guys will respond the rest of the season because they have been here before.
“In football, sometimes it’s harder to get over the losses than it is to enjoy the wins,” Whittingham said. “When you have a big loss- the thing I told my guys today is a quote- I can’t remember who said it but, ‘enthusiasm is common, endurance is rare.’ It’s easy to be enthusiastic when everything is going right. When you are winning, when you are rolling the energy is high. It is much easier to be enthusiastic, but what we need to do is have grit and be able to endure. This is a marathon, not a sprint, right? They have got to have the mindset that adversity is going to happen and how they respond to that adversity is what will shape what happens next.”
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 9, 2022
Linebackers coach Colton Swan echoed Whittingham’s message. This Utah team will either show they are resilient and can get back on pace with the marathon, or they won’t. At this moment, it’s all about respecting and trusting “the process” to get there.
“Resiliency, you’ve got to respect the process- that’s kind of what you are up against,” Swan said. “I mean, you have to look back, you have to reflect. You have to learn from your process last week and improve on things that you felt like you were lacking. The process is to come, practice hard, do the things that we do- lift hard, train hard. Whatever it is we do- we know how to win here. Respect that process. Get it done. Don’t take any shortcuts and understand, if you do it well, you’re going to play well on Saturdays.”
