Up until that point, they'd looked good (albeit miniscule sample size) with Rising and mostly mediocre with Wilson.
But there was a LOT of noise and discontent with Rising's extended absence and excitement about his return coming into the ASU game.
But then he was hurt in the second play of that game and Whittingham stubbornly stuck with him, even when it was clear he wasn't able to play effectively. Whittingham has done a lot of good things as a coach, but that choice was coaching malpractice and completely frustrated the players and damaged team cohesion