Though lacking any history, Utes and Huskies linked in more ways than one
by JazzyUte on Sep 26, 2011 11:48 PM MDT
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PrintSaturday's game between Utah and Washington might be the first time ever former BYU players lined up to coach against one another.
Kyle Whittingham was a linebacker for the Cougars back during their glory days in the 80s and Steve Sarkisian led the one-year revival of BYU in 1996 - quarterbacking the Cougars to a 37-17 victory over Utah at Rice Stadium en route to a 14-1 regular season finish.
Of course, during his two-year stint down in Provo, he had transferred as a junior from El Camino Community College, he was coached by current Utes offensive coordinator Norm Chow - a graduate of the University of Utah.
But the connections don't end there. Sarkisian was the Trojans' quarterbacks coach on two separate occasions, coaching along side Chow and Tim Davis, Utah's current OL coach. He became the full-time offensive play caller in 2007, when Lane Kiffin, who replaced Chow, left to coach the Oakland Raiders.
The links go well beyond just coaching, however, as current Husky linebacker Cort Dennison is a Judge Memorial Catholic High School graduate - a school that is in the shadows of the U and Rice-Eccles Stadium. Dennison grew up an avid Utah fan and has been to the stadium, by his own estimation, a hundred or so times. His father still has season tickets to the Utes, yet he didn't receive a scholarship, even though he had hoped for one - the coaches wanted him to join the team as a walk on.
Even though Utah and Washington have not met since 1979 and have a limited history of playing each other, the two programs do share some strong ties and they'll be on full display this Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
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Oh.. OK. That makes sense.
There’s history, just not history of the right type.
by Hawnk on Sep 27, 2011 12:50 AM MDT up reply actions 2 recs
Jazzy mentioned the series record in another post so he's aware that there's some history.
It might be a little hyperbolic for Jazzy to say there isn’t any history, but only a little.
I enjoy reading about college football history, but the relevance of a game that took place in 1979 is minimal. No player on either team was born then. The relevance of a game in 1931 is non-existent.
The fact that Jazzy has decided to ignore games from before he was born doesn’t bother me, and I doubt it really bothers you. I suspect you just wanted an excuse to mention the series record.
Yeah, I'm just goofing with y'all. I really respect you guys.
Great fans. Great coach. I’m really excited to see you and the Buffs join the club. I’m not expecting a win Saturday, but I do expect a great game. Pac-12 football is the best thing going.
haha, it's all good...
Yeah, there is history – just not much. Utah certainly has a better history with some other Pac-12 schools (namely the Arizona schools and Oregon). It’s kind of interesting these two haven’t played since ‘79. I know you’ve tripped down to Provo a few times in my lifetime, but not SLC.
We’ve played Washington State (5 times) and Oregon (7 times) since last playing Washington. Weird how that works out. In fact, those seven times the Utes & Ducks met have all come after 1990.
Utah might actually be the most common non-conference opponent on Oregon’s schedule over the last 21 years, though I’m not sure.
Correction, Utah has a better history with ALL other Pac-12 schools.
Gotta get that one last WOOF! in, while I still can….=).
Saturday is when history begins. Pac-12 history. Should be epic. Both these teams have a lot to prove.
We’re both arguably on the upper tier of the great muddled middle (along with ASU), trying to climb up to Oregon and Stanford level. Realistically, we’re probably both a couple years away. But screw realistically, right? The winner Saturday gets to extend the dream another week. If the win is convincing, the Dux and Trees are looking a lot less daunting.
And even the loser Saturday is still very much in the bowl picture. It’s all good. Good teams, good coaches, good fans, good game, a good tradition being established. Here’s to no injuries, and a boatload of awesome plays that we’ll be talking about 30 years from now.
Winner Saturday also probably gets into the top 25.
So that should be nice.
Should be a fun game. Glad it’s at five, that means plenty of time to drink!
I would say Top-20.
But then, I am a hopeless Pac-12 homer. You tailgating?
Of course!
Some are heading up Friday night, but I’ve got plans Friday, so I’ll be up there late morning.
Wish I could be there with you.
I’m smelling the ozone on this one, one of those insanely electric, competitive and portentous games that the schedule pops up 3-4 times a year if you’re lucky. I really appreciate you and this site for letting us Seattle-bound folks in on a little of the excitement, if only vicariously.
Insane is right, I'm sure
Though I hadn’t realized that about Cort . . . he’s going to have some extra motivation of his own (probably not enough to cancel out Rice-Eccles going bonkers, but still). I’m a little less concerned about this game after the Huskies went into Lincoln and came out alive, beaten but unbowed; this may still be the most intense crowd they face all year, but it won’t be nearly as large. Should be a great game.
by The Ancient Mariner on Sep 27, 2011 6:48 AM MDT up reply actions
We should have given that guy a scholarship.
But then Husky back-up QB Derrick Brown signed with Utah before he changed his mind.
by Utah-UCLA alum on Sep 27, 2011 9:20 AM MDT up reply actions
Too bad Cort got away
That has been Utah’s forte, finding gritty overlooked players with heart and polishing up their skill set and technique.
Washington’s leading tackler went to high school walking distance from Rice-Eccles Stadium. Ouch. How did that happen? Looks like the Utes missed out.
Utah’s LBs listed from the ’07 class are:
Koa Misi- 2nd round NFL draft pick
Nai Fotu- current back up
Jamel King- Had 2 tackles last year, but then may have been injured. Didn’t play second half of season.
Thor Salanoa- Committed to Hawaii after playing at Snow. May not have qualified academically.
Mo Neal- Arrested for fighting and transferred to Weber State.
by UteinBrooklyn on Sep 27, 2011 9:38 AM MDT up reply actions
Shhhh
Kyle Whittingham was a linebacker for the Cougars back during their glory days in the 80s and Steve Sarkisian led the one-year revival of BYU in 1996 – quarterbacking the Cougars to a 37-17 victory over Utah at Rice Stadium en route to a 14-1 regular season finish.
Let’s just keep that a secret ;)
Good luck this Saturday!
looking forward to it
should be a great game. my guess is that you guys pull it out to get to 1-6. should be closer than the 7 point spread.
i wouldn’t want jordan wynn as my intramural flag football qb, but our defense might be bad enough to make him look respectable.
Lacking any history together?
Ted Bundy disagrees.
How cool would it be if they made this the Bundy Cup, loser has to display a bronze bust of Ted Bundy in their trophy case until the next matchup. Hell, it would be pretty cool just to have the Bundy Cup between the two blogs, say loser has to make this picture their blog logo for 1 week with the tagline “Ted Bundy was a (Husky/Ute)” (Not that I have any negotiating power for UW Dog Pound). :P
Although to be fair, I’m still not certain if Bundy attended Utah, just that he was accepted.
by Mind of no mind on Sep 27, 2011 4:56 AM MDT reply actions 2 recs
I'm fairly certain neither school is clamoring to be mentioned in the same breath...
with a real-life monster. It would be a way to drum up publicity for both schools… of the negative variety. Out of respect for the victims and their families, this connection is better left unmentioned and Bundy is better left dead and forgotten. That guy was piece of shit.
by -FeloniousMonk on Sep 27, 2011 6:27 AM MDT up reply actions
Ted Bundy never graduated from Utah's law school.
UW actually gave him a degree, so I guess we have that going for us.
I don't know
but I just don’t think Serial killer humor is all that funny.
Want to see someone really get their brain twisted up? Try explaining the Monty Hall problem to them....
by BigBenSportsGuy on Sep 27, 2011 10:13 AM MDT up reply actions 4 recs
Tough crowd! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
One of my favorite jokes of all time on the Weekend Update was back when Norm McDonald did the show;
Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was attacked and killed by another inmate this week. Just before the fight, Dahmer threatened, “Hey, don’t mess with me, pal. I used to eat guys like you for breakfast!”
Maybe I’ll shelve the serial killer humor for next time we play Ohio State, maybe a Bundy vs Dahmer joke will fly there.
by Mind of no mind on Sep 28, 2011 5:06 AM MDT up reply actions
I thought it was funny...
then again, I know that you guys joke about Bundy all the time on the Washington blogs, so I knew about the history of serial sarcasm.
I Think . . .
It’s a smiling guy raising his arms in a shrug.
If anyone found my snowboarding gloves after storming the field following the 2004 TDS game, I want them back!
Bundy did attend the U's law school
He enrolled in the fall of 1974. I actually had lunch with him during that fall. He was creepy.
There is confusion about his relationship with Utah because he was accept prior to 74 but did not enroll. I guess his serial killing got in the way. He was accepted a second time and did enroll and attended classes.
He got into Utah based on recommendations including one from the then governor of Washington a graduate of UW. There you go.
College football over the NFL any day. College basketball way over the NBA any day. Go Orange. Go Utes. Go Kings. Go Dodgers.
by OrangeUte on Sep 27, 2011 10:23 AM MDT via iPhone app up reply actions
Yeah, Bundy attended the U...
…while killing women here.
As for the Bundy Cup, yeah, I don’t think that’d work too well. haha
How did BYU
play 15 games that season?
by Joseph Silverzweig on Sep 27, 2011 8:24 AM MDT reply actions
Rules that have changed since
So everyone played 11 regular season games.
Back then, before the switch to 12, there were a lot of “Kickoff Classic” games in the first week of the season. As an encouragement to play in those games, you were allowed to play another game that season.
So that made 12.
They Played Hawaii on the island, and the rule that still stands is that If you play on the Islands you have the option of another game. That makes 13.
Those were also the days of the overbloated WAC, which did have a championship. That was 14.
And then they were obviously bowl Eligible. That made 15.
More evidence that anti-playoff arguments hold no water.
Teams already have played 15 game seasons and it was no big deal.
At least 8 teams a year will play at least 14
12 game regular season, Conference Championship and Bowl Game.
As well as any bowl eligible team who is in the same conference as, and plays a road game against Hawaii, has the option for the 14th.
14 games are kind of normal now.
Yeah...I believe BYU was the first team ever to win 14 games at the FBS level...
Ohio State was next when they went 14-0 in 2002 through a similar scheduling quirk that you outlined above – though no game against Hawaii. They played Texas Tech in the Pigskin Classic and then somehow were allowed to play twelve other games before the Fiesta Bowl.
Not only did 1996 cause BYU to be the first team to ever win 14 games...
… but their incessant whining about being left out of a Bowl Alliance game, is generally considered the breaking point that brought about the BCS.
Which only goes to show that BYU success really is bad for College Football.
Utah's history with the entire PAC 12 is as follows:
Ranked from most games played to least (record, winning percentage, and last year played in brackets):
CU: 57 (24-30-3; 42%; 1962)
Arizona: 36 (19-15-2; 53%; 2005)
Oregon: 26 (8-18; 31%; 2009)
ASU: 22 (6-16; 27%; 1993)
OSU: 15 (5-9-1; 33%; 2008)
WSU: 10 (5-5; 50%; 2000)
USC: 9 (3-6; 33%; 2001)*
UCLA: 9 (1-8; 11%; 2007)
Cal: 7 (3-4; 43%; 2009)
UW: 6 (0-6; 0%; 1979)
Stanford: 5 (2-3; 40%; 1996)
So, except for Stanford, we have at least slightly more history with every PAC 12 team not named Washington, and we’ve played every PAC 12 team except UW and CU since 1993, but for both UW and CU it’s been at least 30 years.
We only have a winning record against Arizona, and we’re tied with WSU. Everyone else will take some work to break into the + column. CU would be 7 wins in a row, Oregon and ASU would be 11, UCLA is 8, Washington is 7, OSU would be 5, USC was 4, now it’s 5, Cal and Stanford are both 2, WSU would be 1.
- USC stats are not including this year’s game.
Everyone hates a pink-shirt-wearing communist.
another connection
our new university president!
we could call this one “michael young’s revenge”
He had to flee on account of adultery...
I find that hilarious.
by -FeloniousMonk on Sep 28, 2011 8:12 AM MDT up reply actions
i'm predicting a 31 to 28 utah victory. we will win but not cover the 7 point spread.
Public Enemy #1 and enjoying every minute of it. Tapology.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Sep 28, 2011 9:55 AM MDT reply actions
Hi Wolfy
I hate to gloat brother but
Nya nya na na na
U DUB 31
Utah 14
You know I love you bro :P
Learn JiuJitsu.
"Gelato isn't Vegan?" -- Superman
"It's milk and eggs bitch." -- The Punisher
come join us at Tapology. its the best site for MMA coverage and message boards.
i still made money on the game. the line actually went to +7.5 points to the huskies. i really did think we would win a close one. 7-5 i think is the best we will do now. record wise.
Public Enemy #1 and enjoying every minute of it. Tapology.
by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 3, 2011 1:55 AM MDT up reply actions
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