College football is back, and with it, comes the crazy upsets that seem to happen every week. Case in point, the first week of football in 2022. The Utah Utes, ranked seventh in the nation amongst football programs entering the season, lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Florida Gators. It a was a terrible performance from the team.

So, what was the reason for the Utes' shocking loss to Florida? Well, according to Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, it was sloppy football fundamentals that dug them in. The head coach talked at length about the defense making some uncharacteristic mistakes during the game, which added up to their eventual loss. (via Salt Lake Tribune)

“It was sloppy, is the word I keep going back to, because that’s what it was,” Utah football coach Whittingham said. “Sloppy technique-wise, sloppy fundamentally, sloppy tackling, sloppy fits… We just weren’t in the right places at the right time, and when we were there, we missed 27 tackles. That was the count, which is way high for us. It’s usually single digits, 10 or less, nine or less.”

The Utes' defense seemed to be thoroughly perplexed by Florida's offense during the college football season opener. In particular, it was quarterback Anthony Richardson that ran circles around the team, literally and figuratively. His dual-threat capabilities were the main reason for Florida's upset win.

To make matters worse, the Utah football team encountered issues when they were trying to get home. They are now looking to get back on track against an in-state rival in Southern Utah.