Perhaps the single most emphasized point that Kyle Whittingham drills into his players is to take care of the ball on offense.

Last Saturday, Utah didn’t do that.

Despite forcing two Texas Tech turnovers, the Utes lost the turnover margin 4-2, and teams usually don’t win too many games when they’re minus-2 in takeaways.

“Turned the ball over four times, which is really the most telling stat and you can’t play a team of that caliber, turn the ball over four times and hope to have much of a chance to win. So that was disappointing,” Whittingham said.

Utah had taken care of the ball very well through its three games against UCLA, Cal Poly and Wyoming, with just one lost fumble in total. Against Texas Tech, though, the Utes gave the ball away four times, including in some crucial moments.

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