Sunday, 23 November 2008
Utes enjoying second perfect season in five years
Jared Lloyd - daily herald
It had been almost precisely four years -- four years and two days to be exact -- since Utah players, coaches and fans last celebrated a perfect season with a victory over BYU.
Saturday's 48-24 Ute win was much more dramatic than the 2004 52-21 victory but the end result appears to be the same: Another perfect season, a Mountain West Conference championship and a berth in a BCS bowl game.
"I couldn't be prouder to go out like this," said Utah senior quarterback Brian Johnson. "It's tough to win a championship, but we buckled down and focused.
"I'm just grateful for the opportunity to play with this team. There's no group of guys I'd rather be anywhere with than my teammates. We knew this game would be a tough challenge but we stuck together and pulled it out," the fifth-year senior added.
The victory provided the crowning achievement thus far for Ute head coach Kyle Whittingham, who also evened his record against the Cougars to 2-2. The fourth-year coach won the first meeting in 2005, in overtime, before losing the last two in heartbreaking fashion.
"I couldn't be more proud of our program," he said. "I genuinely love these guys. In 25 years of coaching this is the most enjoyable group of people I've worked with, the senior class, the staff, everyone. I'm proud to be a part of it."
It might not have happened against BYU if the defense hadn't forced six turnovers and Whittingham was quick to point that out.
"The six turnovers was easily the key for us winning the ball game," he said. "You rarely if ever lose a football game when your opponent commits six turnovers. The offense did a great job, Johnson was lights out and the defense forced takeaways."
The Utah defensive front seven set the stage for the later success by getting in the passing lanes of Cougar quarterback Max Hall.
"Our goal tonight was to get to Hall," said Ute sophomore defensive end Paul Kruger, a graduate of Timpanogos High in Orem. "We wanted to try and take him out of his game. That was our whole focus and we did that."
Whittingham chalked up the success of the defense to the quickness of the players.
"We have a very fast, athletic football team," he said. "We felt that the speed factor was an advantage in our favor and it showed."
Johnson made things happen offensively, completing 30-of-36 passes for 306 yards with four touchdowns.
"He's been phenomenal," Whittingham said. "Brian is a competitive kid and he really responded to the challenge BYU presented him. If he's not an all-conference quarterback, I don't know who is."
With players stepping up to make plays on both sides of the ball, the pieces fell into place for the perfect finish to the regular season.
"It's been an amazing season and we did a tremendous job tonight to have a dream ending," Krugar said.
Now the Utah focus turns to the future and where they will be playing their final game of the season. The Utes are almost certainly guaranteed a spot in one of the BCS bowls, but they'll have to wait to find out which one.
"We're going to sit and wait and see what happens," Whittingham said. "I think it might take the perfect storm for us to get a shot at the national title but we've done our part. We're not going to worry about what we can't control."
While the team might need a lot of help to reach Miami, that doesn't mean they don't want the chance to play on the biggest stage.
"Why not?" Johnson said. "I think we're talented enough but it's going to be influenced by things out of our control. We beat three ranked teams, so the resume is there. It's in control of the computers and the polls."
The Utes might be waiting for a couple of weeks to make their travel plans but for now they'll savor coming out on top of their biggest rival.
"I'm just soaking it all in," Whittingham said. "It's a breakthrough for us and for the conference."
