CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Utah football team suffered a disappointing 42-24 loss to Oregon State but Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham is still optimistic.

Utah was the only remaining Pac-12 team with an undefeated conference record before the Beavers put a stop to that.

The Utes had a strong start in the first half, jumping out to a 24-14 lead before Oregon State outscored Utah 28-10 in the second half, including 21-7 in the third quarter.

Not the result we wanted, but still have lots to play for. Back to work this week. #22forever pic.twitter.com/lStxtCC2zL

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 24, 2021

With all of that taking place, Kyle Whittingham was still feeling good about his program despite the loss.

“A lot of positives going forward that we have to play for,” Whittingham said after the game. “We really are not even halfway through the conference schedule, four down, five to go. I told the guys ‘don’t hang your head, come back with resolve. It’s a balanced conference that has a lot of good teams and it’s a lot of give and take in this league.’ That’s just how it is and and again they outperformed us tonight, made a few more plays than we did and that was the storyline.”

Utah dropped to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in Pac-12 play. They will return home to face the UCLA Bruins on Saturday, October 30. The game time hasn’t been officially announced but will likely be at 8 p.m. MT on ESPN.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com, Co-Host of Faith, Family and Football podcast with Clark Phillips III and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports.