So... We Won...
Fucking hell. I wish I was there instead of the white trash area of my birth.
http://www.sltrib.com/utahutes/ci_2508162
Utes prove they belong in BCS by bowling over Panthers
TEMPE, Ariz. -- In the end, nothing could stop the Utes.
Not a tumultuous coaching change and six weeks off, not the pressure of being the first team from outside the power conferences to break into the Bowl Championship Series, and especially not any of the dozen teams that gave them their best shot.
Pittsburgh was the last to try, at the 34th annual Fiesta Bowl on Saturday night, and the Panthers limped away the same as all the rest, losing 35-7 to the greatest Utah team ever to take the field at a Sun Devil Stadium so filled with red sweat shirts that it might as well have been in Salt Lake City.
"It doesn't get any better than this," receiver Paris Warren said.
The victory capped a historic 12-0 season and tied the school-record 16-game winning streak set 75 years ago. It also sent coach Urban Meyer out a winner -- he's leaving for Florida with a 22-2 record in two seasons with the Utes -- and ushered in the Kyle Whittingham era in a most appropriate way.
Though the Utes tore through their season setting scoring records and blowing away opponent after opponent with their diverse and devastating offense, it was Whittingham's defense -- seen as vulnerable by the Panthers -- that set the tone.
Led by middle linebacker Tommy Hackenbruck and nose guard Steve Fifita, it smothered the running game, sacked tough quarterback Tyler Palko nine times (a Fiesta Bowl record), and kept talented receiver Greg Lee from doing any serious damage.
"We proved our point," linebacker Corey Dodds said.
The Utah defense did the same thing in a shutout of Southern Miss at the Liberty Bowl last season, but the offense really needed it then.
This time, the Utes were perfectly capable with the ball.
In perhaps his last collegiate game, quarterback Alex Smith completed 29 of 37 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns, and ran for a game-high 68 yards on 15 carries.
Warren set a Fiesta Bowl record with 15 receptions for 198 yards and two touchdowns and the Utes beat the Panthers with everything they had, from gashing runs and shovel passes up the middle to precise throws down the field and option runs all over the place. They even threw in a hook-and-lateral trick play, with Warren taking a lateral from fellow receiver Steve Savoy and streaking 18 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter that provided the final margin.
"There were a few plays we were dumbfounded," Pittsburgh nose guard Vince Crochunis said. "We didn't know who had the ball."
The Panthers entered the game feeling disrespected by the Utes, and hearing critics charge that they were good enough to belong in the BCS. They also were saying goodbye to coach Walt Harris, who's leaving for Stanford just as Meyer is headed to Florida.
But while the Panthers insisted before the game that they were up to the challenge, they wound up looking like just another Arizona, Utah State or New Mexico.
In fact, they were only the second team the Utes shut out in the first half all season -- Utah State was the first, way back in September -- and they failed to score 10 points for the first time in 30 games.
With starting left tackle Rob Petitti ill with the flu and right guard John Simonitis knocked from the game in the third series with a back injury, the Panthers never could contain the Utah pass rush, and the one touchdown pass Lee caught did not come until the Utes led by four touchdowns.
"It was a tough game for us," Harris said, "because we did not match up physically as well as we needed to, to stay in it."
The only downside for the Utes was that they did not prove much to skeptics who still don't view them among college football's elite, despite their opportunity to finish in the top four in the final opinion polls. They were the most heavily favored team in the bowl season, and did just as they were supposed to, beating a team that many viewed as the weakest of the major conference champions.
But that hardly dampened the enthusiasm before, during or after the most anticipated game in school history.
The Utes led only 14-0 at halftime, a low score for them, owing to some penalty problems that extended Pittsburgh drives and stunted their own.
But after running back Quinton Ganther bounced off the pile and around the right end for a 4-yard touchdown late in the first quarter, reserve defensive end Martail Burnett blocked a 48-yard field-goal attempt by Pittsburgh's Josh Cummings that left the Panthers scoreless after a 15-play drive and allowed the Utes to drive for another touchdown.
Smith found Madsen with a 6-yard dart 10 plays later, and the Panthers never recovered.
"Going undefeated is hard to do," Meyer said. "There are a lot of great football teams out there. It's hard to say goodbye, but I'm saying goodbye 12-0. What a great effort by our guys. This is the best group I've ever been around."
mcl@sltrib.com
http://www.sltrib.com/utahutes/ci_2508162
Utes prove they belong in BCS by bowling over Panthers
TEMPE, Ariz. -- In the end, nothing could stop the Utes.
Not a tumultuous coaching change and six weeks off, not the pressure of being the first team from outside the power conferences to break into the Bowl Championship Series, and especially not any of the dozen teams that gave them their best shot.
Pittsburgh was the last to try, at the 34th annual Fiesta Bowl on Saturday night, and the Panthers limped away the same as all the rest, losing 35-7 to the greatest Utah team ever to take the field at a Sun Devil Stadium so filled with red sweat shirts that it might as well have been in Salt Lake City.
"It doesn't get any better than this," receiver Paris Warren said.
The victory capped a historic 12-0 season and tied the school-record 16-game winning streak set 75 years ago. It also sent coach Urban Meyer out a winner -- he's leaving for Florida with a 22-2 record in two seasons with the Utes -- and ushered in the Kyle Whittingham era in a most appropriate way.
Though the Utes tore through their season setting scoring records and blowing away opponent after opponent with their diverse and devastating offense, it was Whittingham's defense -- seen as vulnerable by the Panthers -- that set the tone.
Led by middle linebacker Tommy Hackenbruck and nose guard Steve Fifita, it smothered the running game, sacked tough quarterback Tyler Palko nine times (a Fiesta Bowl record), and kept talented receiver Greg Lee from doing any serious damage.
"We proved our point," linebacker Corey Dodds said.
The Utah defense did the same thing in a shutout of Southern Miss at the Liberty Bowl last season, but the offense really needed it then.
This time, the Utes were perfectly capable with the ball.
In perhaps his last collegiate game, quarterback Alex Smith completed 29 of 37 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns, and ran for a game-high 68 yards on 15 carries.
Warren set a Fiesta Bowl record with 15 receptions for 198 yards and two touchdowns and the Utes beat the Panthers with everything they had, from gashing runs and shovel passes up the middle to precise throws down the field and option runs all over the place. They even threw in a hook-and-lateral trick play, with Warren taking a lateral from fellow receiver Steve Savoy and streaking 18 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter that provided the final margin.
"There were a few plays we were dumbfounded," Pittsburgh nose guard Vince Crochunis said. "We didn't know who had the ball."
The Panthers entered the game feeling disrespected by the Utes, and hearing critics charge that they were good enough to belong in the BCS. They also were saying goodbye to coach Walt Harris, who's leaving for Stanford just as Meyer is headed to Florida.
But while the Panthers insisted before the game that they were up to the challenge, they wound up looking like just another Arizona, Utah State or New Mexico.
In fact, they were only the second team the Utes shut out in the first half all season -- Utah State was the first, way back in September -- and they failed to score 10 points for the first time in 30 games.
With starting left tackle Rob Petitti ill with the flu and right guard John Simonitis knocked from the game in the third series with a back injury, the Panthers never could contain the Utah pass rush, and the one touchdown pass Lee caught did not come until the Utes led by four touchdowns.
"It was a tough game for us," Harris said, "because we did not match up physically as well as we needed to, to stay in it."
The only downside for the Utes was that they did not prove much to skeptics who still don't view them among college football's elite, despite their opportunity to finish in the top four in the final opinion polls. They were the most heavily favored team in the bowl season, and did just as they were supposed to, beating a team that many viewed as the weakest of the major conference champions.
But that hardly dampened the enthusiasm before, during or after the most anticipated game in school history.
The Utes led only 14-0 at halftime, a low score for them, owing to some penalty problems that extended Pittsburgh drives and stunted their own.
But after running back Quinton Ganther bounced off the pile and around the right end for a 4-yard touchdown late in the first quarter, reserve defensive end Martail Burnett blocked a 48-yard field-goal attempt by Pittsburgh's Josh Cummings that left the Panthers scoreless after a 15-play drive and allowed the Utes to drive for another touchdown.
Smith found Madsen with a 6-yard dart 10 plays later, and the Panthers never recovered.
"Going undefeated is hard to do," Meyer said. "There are a lot of great football teams out there. It's hard to say goodbye, but I'm saying goodbye 12-0. What a great effort by our guys. This is the best group I've ever been around."
mcl@sltrib.com
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