Of all the teams that have been playing the conference shuffle, The Utah
Utes were one of the few that had to upgrade their status. Since 2004,
The Utes have gone undefeated twice without earning a shot to play for
the national title on either occasion. The Utes just finished their
first season in The Pac-12 Conference and they didn’t do that bad. The
Utes finished the season with a record of 8-5 and the future is looking
bright in Salt Lake City for head coach Kyle Whittingham and crew.
In The Utes first game as members of The Pac-12 they traveled to Los
Angeles to take on The USC Trojans. With a few seconds remaining in the
contest,The Utes trailed 17-14 and were looking for a potential
game-tying field goal. The Trojans blocked the field goal to preserve
the win but The Utes served notice that they were not in The Pac-12 to
take up a roster spot.
This season The Utes were able to avoid playing both The Stanford
Cardinal and Oregon Ducks who both competed in BCS bowls this year.
Going into the last game of the regular season, Utah had a chance to win
The Pac-12 South but they fell short at home in a surprising loss to
The Colorado Buffaloes. The Utes finished the conference schedule with a
record of 4-5. This wasn’t bad for a team that was expected to struggle
with the game speed of The Pac-12 after leaving The Mountain West
Conference.
The Utes capped off year one in The Pac-12 with a 30-27 overtime victory
over The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in The Sun Bowl. Coach Whittingham
knew that this was a pivotal year for The Utes as they look to improve
the football facilities and recruit the best athletes to compete in The
Pac-12. The state of California has always been a hotbed for supplying
talent in The Pac-12. California schools such as USC have made a living
off of getting talent to stay in Southern California while schools like
The Ducks and The Washington Huskies tend to swoop down from The Pacific
Northwest to obtain talent from The Golden State. The Utes currently
have 31 players from the state of California on the roster and as
members of The Pac-12 they should be able to push for the elite talent
from the state. In the state of Utah, The Utes generally only have to
worry about The BYU Cougars for the talent in the state.
This squad takes it cue from Whittingham. Whittingham was a linebacker
at BYU and that toughness carries over to his team. The Utes were plus
10 in the giveaway/takeaway category this year and that helped them to 8
wins.The Utes lost junior quarterback Jordan Wynn early in the season
to a shoulder injury, but junior Jon Hayes filled in admirably as he
helped to rally the team to four straight wins late in the season. The
2012 schedule is basically the same for The Utes as they will alternate
sites with opponents from this season. The Utes were down at times this
year but never out. They fought all season and they will look to do the
same in 2012.
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