SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah football team is in the midst of one of its toughest stretches of losing it’s seen under Kyle Whittingham. After losing to Washington on Saturday, the Utes have lost six of seven games and face a must win at home against Colorado to become bowl eligible.

It’s a staggering turn to the season after the team started 4-0, and appeared to have skipped the rebuilding process, with fans hoping their team would compete for a conference championship.

Close losses to USC and Stanford did little to sway fans optimism, other than to pine for the return of sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley after starting Troy Williams during the two losses.

Then the season came unhinged.

Huntley’s return was marred by a zero-touchdown, four-interception performance in a blowout loss to Arizona State. The Utes followed that up with a sluggish, unathletic showing against Oregon, minus Oregon's starting quarterback Justin Herbert. The Utes steamrolled a miserable UCLA team, which fired its coach two weeks later, followed by another turnover-filled loss against Washington State in Salt Lake City.

Then there was the inspiring, confusing and ultimately frustrating loss to Washington that may have been the hardest loss to swallow all season for Utah fans.

The Utes' otherwise listless offense appeared to have found its rhythm against maybe the best defense they’ve faced this season, repeatedly keeping Washington at arm's length with long scoring drives. The defense looked like a vintage Utes defense; stout against the run, good in pass coverage, with a drive-killing pass rush.

With two minutes left, the Utes had a seven-point lead and the ball, and were a first down short of ending the game. But a failed drive gave the ball back to the Huskies, who converted on a difficult fourth and 10 before marching down the field for a game-tying touchdown.

The Utes followed that up with another failed drive, giving the ball back to Washington, which appeared to be resigned to taking the game to overtime.

The rest as they say, is history.

Head coach Whittingham called a timeout after a run on first down, which would have otherwise sent the game to overtime. Two long passes and a field goal later, the Utes managed to lose a game in regulation, surrendering 10 points in the game’s final two minutes, that should have been unlosable.

Fans were livid while football experts across the country were dumbfounded.

Whittingham defended the decision as a show of an aggressive game plan, both after the game and at Monday’s press conference.

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Kyle Whittingham’s decision to call timeout with 22 seconds left of a tie game is still being debated in circles — both formally and informally — around the Beehive State, and here is no different.

Truthfully, it’s a nearly indefensible decision. Logistically, short of the Utes forcing a turnover, winning the game in that situation is nearly impossible, and the likelihood of Washington marching down the field for a long field goal attempt is much greater than the Utes getting that takeaway.

After the loss, fans and media members alike were questioning Whittingham’s job.

In short, here are the key arguments from those looking to replace the Utes' coach.

• He called a bad timeout against Washington.
• He’s yet to win a Pac-12 South title since the Utes joined the conference.
• He’s yet to oversee a truly capable offense.

They aren’t without merit, and all three are certainly true. The timeout call against Washington cost the Utes an opportunity win the game in overtime. He has yet to win a Pac-12 South title, despite the fact that each of the other five teams have made an appearance in the Pac-12 title game. And despite (maybe because of?) the revolving door at offensive coordinator, the Utes have yet to find a workable offensive identity.

Where do those arguments falls short? They’re barely cause for concern, much less termination.

The Utes have a defensive identity, and part of that is because of Whittingham’s history as a player, where he was a linebacker, and because of his family lineage, his father having worked as a defensive coach in both college and the NFL. It has hurt the offensive side of the ball, with the Utes regularly moving their best athletes to the defensive side of the ball, even if they were recruited as offensive players.

It’s an identity that has worked for the Utes.

Since joining the Pac-12, the Utes are 46-35 and have made bowl games in four of their six seasons. Three of the six have ended with the Utes nationally ranked.

While they haven’t won the conference title, it’s not for lack of opportunity. In each of the last two seasons, the Utes have been in competition to win the Pac-12 South before disappointing losses in Week 11. In 2016, a last-second touchdown from now-Ute Darren Carrington II cost the Utes a chance to win a southern title. An injury to the starting running back cost the Utes their offensive identity against UCLA in 2015. A series of missed field goals cost the Utes a chance to represent the south against Colorado in 2012.

And then there’s the timeout.

It was a shockingly bad decision. And that’s why it felt so extremely out of character for the Utes under Whittingham. Though the coach has been criticized for being too conservative at times, settling for field goal attempts rather than going for a touchdown, see the Utes' win over BYU in 2016. Or for being too aggressive, see the Utes going for the two-point conversion against USC this year, rather than going for overtime. He has rarely, if ever, been criticized for his clock management. Likewise, I can’t remember a time it was so obvious Whittingham made a glaring mistake regarding basic game strategy. It’s simply not a mistake the coach has made before Saturday.

No coach is perfect, and even some of the best make enormous mistakes in high-profile situations. In 2013, Alabama coach Nick Saban, widely regarded as the greatest coach in college football history, famously chose to attempt a 57-yard field goal against Auburn, rather than to play for overtime. The field goal came up short, and was returned for a touchdown, costing Alabama a chance to play in the national championship game.

Pete Carroll cost the Seattle Seahawks a Super Bowl ring, choosing to throw the ball on the goal line, rather than handing it off to Marshawn Lynch, which resulted in an interception and a victory for the New England Patriots.

Whittingham’s mistake pales in comparison to those, and yet both remain employed by these same teams, and rightfully so.

The Utes lost a game on Saturday that they should have won, and a big reason for that loss was a bad timeout called by the head coach. The loss is particularly shocking because it’s not something we have seen from Whittingham during his tenure at Utah.

While that doesn’t make the loss easier to swallow for Utah fans, it should provide perspective on how rarely Whittingham fails to make the right decision. While today, it’s easy to point at what he did wrong, it’s a good reminder of all the things Whittingham has done right.

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