College football is always a source for much argument in Utah and all over the country. This season, the biggest Utah colleges have more impressive losing streaks than winning streaks.

According to ESPN, the University of Utah has a record of 5-4 and BYU has a record of 2-8. Last year, both schools had a record of 9-4, respectively. The U of U started off the season winning their first four games, with four straight losses afterward. The majority of the losses have been close games, but they haven’t been able to pull out the win. BYU started off the season with a win and then lost six straight games. Though they won their most recent game, the team has struggled to score. With records like these, it is questionable whether the U of U will be able to make the playoffs and the chances of BYU making it are slim.

So why have these teams struggled so much this season? According to the sports site, SBNation, a couple of things have contributed to BYU’s eight losses. BYU’s quarterback, Tanner Mangum, has been battling injuries and one of their best defensive players, linebacker Francis Bernard, was suspended for the entire season. There have also been other injuries on the team this year. At the end of the season last year, the team also lost their star quarterback Taysom Hill and star running back Jamaal Williams. The many losses could also be contributed to the inexperienced coaching staff, but the team had the same coaches last year and their record was substantially better. The U is doing better than BYU, but their four losses could be contributed to simply a bad season.

This season, three players from Bingham joined BYU’s football team as freshmen. Those students are defensive back Tongi Langi, defensive end Langi Tuifua, and middle linebacker and long snapper Brigham Tuatagaloa. Other class of 2017 players from Bingham playing at a college level are Cole Clemens at Vanderbilt and Jay Tufele at USC.

Utah’s beloved colleges are both struggling in their football seasons this year but that doesn’t deter many diehard fans from sporting their red or blue. Both of these teams have seen better seasons but there are always more to come.