Utah Football Working Through Transition In Preparation For Houston Cougars

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah has been through a rather difficult stretch the last three or four weeks. The team hits the road for their week nine matchup against the 2-5, 1-2 Houston Cougars in an opportunity to finally bring this losing streak to an end.

On the road to 𝐇-𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧 🚀

🆚 Houston
🏟️ TDECU Stadium
⏰ SAT 10.26 | 5:00PM MT
📺 ESPN+
📻 ESPN 700 AM / 92.1 FM#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/JS2nHtLzTL

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 21, 2024

RELATED: How To Watch, Stream, Listen To Utah Utes Football Vs. Houston Cougars

After notching a big win over the TCU Horned Frogs, the Cougars fell 42-14 to the Kansas Jayhawks last weekend. Meanwhile, a lot is happening with Utah as a new offensive coordinator takes over this week.

In their preparation, it’s clear that the offense is looking to hit the reset button. On the other side of the ball, the defense is looking to level up and get back to being more of the aggressor that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing over the years.

Taking this transition day by day is the focus

“It’s just a new chapter and we’re going to buy into what coach Bajakian’s saying,” Parks said of the transition from Andy Ludwig to Mike Bajakian as offensive coordinator. “We just coming in, day by day, and ready to take the challenge on.”

Though it’s only been a brief time under the new offensive coordinator, Parks shared what he feels we’ll see from the offense.

“I feel like we’re going to be more uptempo, we’re going to make plays, I feel like he’s going to give us the spark we need,” he shared.

RELATED: Utah Offensive Coordinator Andy Ludwig Steps Down

Running back Micah Bernard has been a leader for this team. As the offense goes through this transition, he knows that they’ve got to keep moving forward.

“We’ve got to, we’re not sulking, not doing none of that, the season goes on and we’ve got to move on,” Bernard said. “I don’t know what to expect, we’re first (week) into it, I don’t know what he’ll change, if he changes anything at all but we’ll see.”

It’s about the little details for the true freshman

There is such a huge adjustment for quarterbacks going from high school to college. The level of play and demands of the position are so much higher. Wilson is working his way through some struggles and the players recognize that.

“It’s so difficult, every week is a different beast, he’s trying to overcome everything and it’s just difficult,” Bernard said of Isaac Wilson. “As a quarterback, he takes a lot of heat in a lot of situations but he’s growing up and all I can ask is that he keeps growing.”

RELATED: Utah Announces Mike Bajakian Elevated To Offensive Coordinator, What You Need To Know

In order to continue growing, Wilson needs to continue to put in the work. To accelerate that growth, it’ll be his attention to the little things that will help him most according to his veteran receiver.

“He’s playing well for his age,” Parks said. “He’s got to focus in a little more on the little small details, and we’re right there knocking on the door.”

Karene Reid is grateful to be back, eager to get Utah out of their funk

“It’s meant a lot, it’s been really hard to sit on the side and watch my teammates, especially while we’ve been struggling,” Reid stated.

After missing four games after an injury in the Baylor game, Reid returned to the field against TCU. His impact could be felt as the team had a different intensity to it. Reid’s focus is getting the defense back on attack mode.

“I think it’s hard when you drop three games, you start to play ‘not to lose'” he shared.  “We’ve always been the aggressor, so it’s just getting back to our old ways, which starts in practice.”

With the team losing three straight, they find themselves in a unique situation that many players haven’t experienced at Utah. However, Reid knows the best way to get themselves out of this funk is sticking together and working their way through it.”

“Us older guys have never been in this situation where we’ve taken three losses, you know two conference championships in the past,” he said of how difficult this has been. “But it’s all about staying together, looking to each other, and blocking the outside noise.”

Utah knows to be an elite defense, they need more havoc

This Utah defense is playing very well. It’s among the top defenses in a number of different metrics, most importantly it’s giving up the fewest points per game. However, players know there’s another level this unit can get to and what they need to get there.

“We want to be an elite defense at the end of the day, and we need more havoc plays to make it happen,” Logan Fano said. “It’s just making it happen– Speaking for myself, I might wait for a play to come my way or wait for something to happen, instead it’s just attacking, going and taking it now.”

The defense has held tough in each game so far. There have been breakdowns and mistakes but this unit continues to battle.

“It’s a credit to our coaching, the way we’re brought up in this program, coaches hammer into us that we’ve got to be tough, resilient guys,” Fano shared. “We approach practice the same way we did at the beginning of the year but there’s been some missed opportunities we’ve got to capitalize on, and we’re focused on making those plays.”

Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.

Take us with you, wherever you go.

Download the new & improved KSL Sports app from Utah’s sports leader. You can stream live radio, video and stay up to date on all of your favorite teams.