We've used that statement now two times this season. The first was prior to the TCU game and the second a few weeks ago when Utah took on the BYU Cougars. They won both games and because of those two victories, they're now in position for that third biggest game in program history. Except this time, they have far more to gain from a victory than any time in Utah history.
Sure, the Utes' victory over Pitt in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl was a defining moment for the program, but it was also an expected one. Entering the Sugar Bowl, no one is giving Utah a chance. This might be the first time since the 1990s where the Utes are this big of an underdog. Which means a victory against Alabama would be monumental. No one is expecting it, the Tide would be only weeks removed from being the #1 team in the country and if Florida manages to defeat Oklahoma in the national championship, it could cause a firestorm of controversy with an undefeated Utah team owning just as good of victory over Alabama as the possible one-loss national champions. Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself just a bit, first thing first: figure out a way to win. And that isn't going to easy.
There will be time in the coming weeks to dissect every aspect of this game, so I'm not going to do that right away. But I will say this, with Utah being such an underdog and getting little respect from the media, Kyle Whittingham has been given an opportunity to use that as a rallying cry. And from what we've seen over the past few years, he does that extremely well. When Utah takes the field on January 2nd, they will enter that game with an Us Against the World mindset. It might not be enough to propel them to victory, but I am pretty confident in saying here that they will not go down without a fight. If people really believe this will be a repeat of last year's Sugar Bowl, they're going to be in for a very big surprise. These Utes fight and they're going to take that fight directly to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
Now hopefully it's good enough for Utah to get that ultimate program defining victory.