Upcoming Event: Football versus Nebraska on December 31, 2025 at 1:30 p.m.
Football
vs Nebraska
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
The University of Utah Athletics
Ute Football Team Awaits Bowl Destination
11/30/2009 12:00 AM | Football
Nov. 30, 2009
Utah Athletics on Twitter
Utah Athletics on Facebook
Utah Athletics on YouTube
Utah Athletics on ITunesU
> Utah, 9-3 and No. 25 in the BCS Standings, awaits word on its bowl destination, which will be announced on Dec. 6. The Utes, who own the nation's longest active bowl win streak at eight games, are headed to their seventh-straight bowl.
> Utah is ranked No. 25 in this week's BCS Standings and the USA Today Coaches' poll. The Utes dropped out of the Associated Press rankings after losing in overtime to Brigham Young (currently No. 16 in the A.P. poll).
> With a 9-3 mark, Utah has clinched its third-straight nine-win season and the eighth in school history. Five of those have come in the last seven years, including three under current head coach Kyle Whittingham. Utah's nine-win seasons follow: 1964 (9-2), 1994 (10-2), 1999 (9-3), 2003 (10-2), 2004 (12-0), 2007 (9-4), 2008 (13-0), 2009 (9-3).
> The Utes are 7-2 all-time in games when both they and their opponent are ranked in the Associated Press poll. Both losses were this year (to TCU and Brigham Young).
> Utah's two most likely bowl destinations are the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl on Tue., Dec. 22 and the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on Wed., Dec. 23. Both games start at 5 p.m. PT (6 p.m. MT) and are televised by ESPN. The Utah ticket office is currently accepting pre-orders (see `Ticket Talk').
> In MWC-affiliated bowls, the Utes are 6-0*, dating back to the first year of the league in 1999. (*The Liberty and Emerald bowls are no longer partners with the MWC). Utah is 2-0 in BCS bowl games. During Utah's current national-best eight-game bowl win streak, the Utes are 2-0 in the Las Vegas Bowl (1999, 2001); 1-0 in the Liberty Bowl (2003); 1-0 in the Fiesta Bowl (2005/04 season); 1-0 in the Emerald Bowl (2005); 1-0 in the Armed Forces Bowl (2006); 1-0 in the Poinsettia Bowl (2007) and 1-0 in the Sugar Bowl (2009/08 season).
> Utah has won 23 of its last 26 games and 30 of its last 34 games.
TICKET TALK
The Utah athletics ticket office is accepting pre-orders for bowl tickets through Dec. 9. Ticket prices range from $35-$55 depending on bowl and location, which will be announced on Dec. 6. Once the bowl site is set, tickets will be distributed at the Rice-Eccles Stadium will call for no charge, or fans may choose to receive them via UPS two-day delivery for a $15 charge. Fans who cannot attend the bowl game, but wish to support the program, may donate the purchase price. Tickets can be purchased online at Utahtickets.com, at the stadium box office or by phone at 801-581-UTIX.
BOWL ROLL
Utah has the longest active bowl win streak in the nation--winning its last eight bowl games dating back to 1999. Ute bowl victims during the 8-0 run: Fresno State (1999), USC (2001), Southern Miss (2003), Pittsburgh (2005/2004 season), Georgia Tech (2005), Tulsa (2006), Navy (2007) and Alabama (2009/2008 season). Utah is 11-3 all-time in bowl games and its 78.6-percent postseason winning percentage is the best in the nation for teams that have played in at least 10 bowl games.
ONE-TWO PUNCH
Utah has a 1,000-yard rusher and receiver in the same season for only the second time in school history. With a bowl game still remaining, junior Eddie Wide has 1,032 rushing yards and senior David Reed has 1,085 receiving yards. The only other Ute tandem to accomplish the feat in the same year was Keith Williams (1,076 rushing) and Bryan Rowley (1,011 receiving) back in 1991.
LAST GAME
The No. 21-ranked Utes lost a heartbreaker in overtime, 26-23 to No. 19 Brigham Young in Provo on Nov. 28. Trailing 20-6 after three quarters, Utah mounted a comeback that culminated with a 40-yard game-tying field goal by Joe Phillips with 0:29 left in regulation. Phillips made two of his career-high five field goals in the fourth quarter, with the other score coming on a 1-yard touchdown run by Eddie Wide with a two-point conversion pass from Jordan Wynn to David Reed. Phillips would make a 29-yard field goal in overtime to put Utah up 23-20, before the Cougars scored a touchdown on a Ute defense that had been brilliant all day. Mike Wright (11 tackles, 1 TFL) and Stevenson Sylvester (8 tackles and an 11-yard sack) helped Utah hold BYU to 265 total yards, sacked Cougar QB Max Hall four times and pressured him into 12-of-32 passing for 134 yards. For the offense, Wide recorded his seventh 100-yard game of the season (114 yards). He and receiver Reed (66 yards) both went over 1,000 yards for the season.
KYLE STYLE
Kyle Whittingham, the 2008 National Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and the Paul "Bear" Bryant awards committee, is 46-17 in his fifth year as Utah's head coach. He is 8-4 against BCS schools and 4-0 in bowl games. Whittingham is the second coach in school history, and the first in 100 years, to record winning seasons in his first five years. In his 16 years on the Utah staff--Whittingham served as the defensive coordinator from 1995-2004 and as the defensive line coach in 1994--Utah has won 70-percent of its games (132-58) and played in 10 bowl games (winning nine). A year ago, he led Utah to the best record (13-0) and national ranking (No. 2 A.P.) in school history and Utah finished as the only undefeated FBS team in the NCAA. His bowl wins have come against Georgia Tech (2005), Tulsa (2006), Navy (2007) and Alabama (2009/2008 season). Whittingham has coached in both of Utah's BCS appearances, serving as the co-head coach in Utah's win over Pittsburgh in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, and as the head coach in the victory over Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl. He has coached four All-Americans at the U., including consensus picks Luther Elliss (1994), Eric Weddle (2006) and Louie Sakoda (2008). Sakoda was also a first-team All-American in 2007, while Morgan Scalley earned second-team honors in 2004.
UTAH IN THE 2009 RANKINGS
The 2009 Utes have been ranked for 10 polling weeks, including all six weeks of the BCS Standings. Below is Utah's week-by-week ranking in the Associated Press, USA Today Coaches' and BCS polls. Utah's complete ranking history can be found on pages 16-17 of this release.
Week AP Coaches BCSPre. 19 18 N/A9-8 17 17 N/A9-13 18 16 N/A10-11 24 - N/A10-18 19 20 1810-25 19 19 1611-1 17 16 1411-8 16 14 1611-15 23 23 2111-22 22 19 2111-29 RV 25 25
UTAH'S ALL-TIME RECORD
Utah's all-time football record is 604-420-31. The Utes are 371-173-16 at home (53-16 in Rice-Eccles Stadium, which opened in 1998), 216-233-13 in road games and 17-14-2 in games played at neutral sites. Utah is 4-4 in overtime games (1-1 this year).
UTAH VS. THE MWC
The Utes are 235-134-10 all-time against Mountain West Conference schools. The breakdown follows: Air Force 12-14, Brigham Young 53-34-4, Colorado State 54-22-2, New Mexico 32-17-2, San Diego State 16-12-1, TCU 5-2, UNLV 13-2, Wyoming 50-31-1.
PROTECT THIS HOUSE
Utah finished its 2009 home slate by winning its 17th-straight home game. It is the second-longest home win streak in school history. Utah has gone undefeated at home for the last two years--its first back-to-back unbeaten home seasons since 1947-48.
OUTSIDE THE LINES
The Utes averaged 45,155 fans a game in Rice-Eccles Stadium this season, which is the second-largest season attendance average in school history behind last year's 45,585 mark. The 2009 Utes played before four standing-room only crowds in 45,017-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium.
INSIDE THE HUDDLE
First-year kicker Joe Phillips set school records for field goals made (5) and attempted (5, tie) against BYU on Nov. 28. Phillips was honored as the MWC Special Teams Player of the Week for his record-breaking night ... Four true freshmen have played for the Utes: Sam Brenner (12 games), Victor Spikes (7 games), Chase Maires (7 games) and Jordan Wynn (5 games).
QUARTERLY REPORT
Quarter Utah OpponentsFirst 92 61Second 83 71Third 75 50Fourth 91 48OT 10 6OFFENSIVE ELLIPSES
Utah ranks third in the MWC in rushing (169.4) offense, total offense (389.6), pass efficiency (129.8) and scoring offense (29.2) ... Utah is 16-of-16 in the red zone in its last four games with 11 touchdowns and five field goals ... Utah is out-scoring opponents in every quarter and is at its best in the first (92 points) and fourth (91 points) quarters. The Utes lead 10-6 in overtime scoring.
DEFENSIVE DATA
Utah is ninth in the nation (second in the conference) in pass efficiency defense (100.1) and is also ninth (third in the MWC) in opponent third down conversions (56-of-181, 30.9%) ... The Utes rank in the top 25 nationally and third in the league in the following defensive categories: 13th in pass defense (172.8), 19th in total defense (314.2) and 22nd in scoring defense (19.7) ... Utah had season defensive highs in its overtime loss to BYU for most pass breakups in a game (7), sack yardage (40 yards on four sacks) and TFL yardage (46 on six TFL) ... The Utes held BYU quarterback Max Hall to his lowest passing total of the season. Hall, averaging 294.0 yards passing per game entering the contest, finished with 134 yards on 12 completions.
SPECIAL TEAMS SPECIALTIES
Utah leads the MWC in kickoff coverage (47.8) ... The Utes are second in the MWC in field goals made (18) ... Utah held TCU--which was averaging 30.0 yards per game on kickoff returns (third in the nation)--to just two kick returns for an average of 15.0 yards ... Utah has blocked three kicks (two punts and a field goal). Batting down a punt by Utah State was Matt Martinez, while the team was credited with a blocked punt against Oregon. R.J. Stanford blocked a Louisville field goal attempt.
Players Mentioned
OL
/ Football
DB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
K
/ Football
P/K
/ Football
LB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
QB
/ FootballFormer Utah Football Head Coach Urban Meyer inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Wednesday, December 10
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Kyle Bonagura
Wednesday, December 03
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Yogi Roth
Tuesday, December 02
NSD26: Dylan Waters
Tuesday, December 02