Yes Virginia, they do play football in the Rocky Mountains

by JazzyUte on Jan 6, 2009 3:57 PM MST in Sugar Bowl Comment 6 comments

Utah proved as much when they walked into the heart of the SEC, slaying the Pride of Dixie Friday night. Yes, here in the highlands of the Rocky Mountains, we too play a pretty good brand of football.

Back in 2004, many dismissed the Utes as a cute story, the little team that could. They defied all the odds by crashing the BCS, but beyond that, it was a short feel good story that quickly became a footnote in college football history. Sure, they were the first and possibly the best, but as the more successful Boise State stole the show in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl against the College Football Power Oklahoma Sooners, people quickly forgot the Utes' accomplishments. To put it bluntly, Utah was so four years ago.

Well until they did it again and now the Utes sit as the first team in the BCS era to make it through the season perfect twice. USC, Oklahoma, Florida and Ohio State -- all powers for the last decade -- can't say the same.

Call these Utes the 21st Century Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes. Two programs that leaped from obscurity to football dominance in a pretty short time. They rolled through the latter part of the 20th Century, unconventional in their success and disproving every myth along the way. That is exactly what Utah is doing right now. Southern Speed might have conquered pre-game discussion, but it was Utah's speedy defense and offense that was on full display during the game. They confused the Tide, flying around the field surprisingly easily and in the end, Alabama had no answer. All the hype leading up to the Sugar Bowl fizzled and it was Utah that left everyone wondering exactly what they had been missing this entire season.

What they were missing was the birth of a football power and Friday night, Utah proved to the country that there is, in fact, football played in the Rocky Mountains. Now maybe those who were so quick to reject Utah won't be so inclined to do so in the future.

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Congrats!

Although Friday’s loss was tragic for us, you guys deserved it. You all played with more passion and speed than we did. It was evidently clear early on that we didn’t come to play and you guys did. Chalk it up to the Smith deal, injuries, or that our team didn’t want to be there, but it doesn’t matter. It’s no excuse and cannot take away from your win, and judging by Texas’s play last night I am not sure you guys shouldn’t be #1.

I am still extremely confident and excited about our future. Bama will be back – we are just not there yet. Between you and FLorida, you exposed our depth as we had to cover your speed receivers and didn’t have the talent to do so effectively. You loaded the left side and your right side pass rushers were no much for our backups. We need more depth, as it is apparant one player affected us more than we expected. I don’t know that you would beat us 50% of the time if we played 10 games (and I could very well be wrong), but you did beat us in the one that mattered. I salute you and wish you guys all the best. Maybe next year we meet you all again in the BCSNCG. Your fans at RBR have been tremendous, and for the most part I have found you to be a very loyal and respectful fan base.

What Would Don Draper Do?

by BamaReturns07 on Jan 6, 2009 4:14 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

well

Well until they did it again and now the Utes sit as the first team in the BCS era to make it through the season perfect. USC, Oklahoma, Florida and Ohio State — all powers for the last decade — can’t say the same.

I guess you don’t remember Tennessee 1998, Florida State 1999, OU 2000, Miami 2001, Ohio State 2002, USC 2004, and texas 2005? Utah isn’t close to being the first to finish undefeated in BCS play.

Call these Utes the 21st Century Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes. Two programs that leaped from obscurity to football dominance in a pretty short time.

I love your enthusiasm, man, and you may be right, Utah may be the next big program that comes out of nowhere, but they need to do it year-in and year-out before they can be talked about with FSU and Miami. Miami and FSU won national titles and were in the national title hunt EVERY year during their period of dominance from the mid ’80s all the way into the new millenium. Between them, the two schools won seven national titles; Utah has yet to win one.

I like where you’re going with this, I just think you need to tap on the brakes a bit.

Utah proved to the country that there is, in fact, football played in the Rocky Mountains.

Colorado’s MNC in 1990 proved the media already recognized this.

I Am The 12th Man.com

by Beergut on Jan 6, 2009 11:41 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Sorry, I meant undefeated twice in the BCS era.

Which they are. No other team can claim that, as no other team has been able to do it.

Utah has been a solid football program for the past 15 years now. They’ve flown under the radar, however, because their former coach, Ron McBride could never take them to greatness. Urban Meyer did and Kyle Whittingham stepped in and has kept the ball rolling. What Utah did to Alabama was not a fluke, it’s something they’ve been doing to BCS teams for a few years now.

Of course your point about Utah lacking a national title makes no sense, since Utah won’t ever be able to win a title. That is where there are differences, of course, but that is not Utah’s fault. They’ve done everything asked of them and they still won’t be able to win a title. It’s not going to happen no matter what they do, because the BCS won’t ever allow a non-BCS team to play in the title game. So while Utah may not be able to do what Miami and Florida State managed to do, it won’t be for a lack of dominance on the field. It’ll be because of flawed system that continually ignores non-BCS success.

As for Colorado proving something, I guess you could say BYU did, too. But that was a long time ago and most people have pretty much forgotten about the Buffs lucking their way into a championship.

If Colorado is the best example of college football in the Rockies, we’re in a hell lot of trouble out here.

by JazzyUte on Jan 7, 2009 12:43 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

And let's be clear...

When I say FSU and Miami, I’m not saying the Utes will dominate like them. I am saying the Utes appear to be coming from nowhere and building what could be a college football power. In this regard, there are not many modern examples, as the teams that are good today, have been good for a very, very long time. I guess I could have used Virginia Tech as an example and maybe that would be more fitting, but I still believe the way Utah shot onto the scene was very similar to what Miami did in the 70s under Schnellenberger. Now while they lack the championship, the results are very similar. A program that wasn’t terrible, but far from great, has a season that gets the ball rolling and everything seems to snowball from there. Seriously, prior to 2003, how many people knew of Utah football? Since 2003, how many people do you think know of Utah football?

by JazzyUte on Jan 7, 2009 1:02 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs