I've been pretty open about how I felt this season was disappointing and that we needed a bowl game to really make it something impressive. I don't think I was off base with that feeling - certainly when you realize just how few actual good wins the Utes had. 

I mean, our best regular season victory was an overtime thriller against a fairly okay Air Force team. They're good, but not season-defining good. 

Which made winning the bowl game important. Important for the following reasons...

• 10-wins. This is important because only once in program history has Utah recorded back-to-back ten-win seasons (2003 and 2004). The fact we netted ten in a rebuilding year suggests the Utes probably are at the point under Whittingham where rebuilding seasons will look less like 2005 and more like 2009 - even if there isn't a huge victory over BYU. At least there won't be losses to the likes of New Mexico and San Diego State, right?. 
• 9 consecutive bowl wins. I think the players and coaches and fans take pride in Utah's bowl win streak. It is impressive and a victory in the Poinsettia moved the Utes to second place all-time (albeit tied) in that regard. They're only two wins short of tying for the NCAA record. Doable, but not if they had lost last night. Of course, it also means Utah won every bowl game they played in this decade.
• Top-25 finish. Maybe the most important because, rightfully or not, where you finish often dictates where you will start next year. Now the consensus is that the Utes might not produce a 13-0 campaign in 2010 with some of their losses and the fact their schedule is pretty tough, however, it doesn't hurt to have the potential there. Had Utah started 2008 ranked in the low-20s, it's very possible they have a better and stronger shot at national championship inclusion than what they ended up with. Unlikely, obviously, but you never know. 
• A big-time, memorable win. Bowl games often offer memorable wins, regardless of the opponent. I can't tell you every team Utah beat in 2001, but I surely remember they knocked off SC that year in the Las Vegas Bowl. This year, though, the Utes had failed to own a big-time, memorable win. Like I mentioned earlier, Air Force came the closest and even that will probably be forgotten through the passages of time. A win over Cal won't. It offered a final exclamation point on a season that badly needed it. 
• Momentum. I know this is subjective and many will suggest it's hard to gain momentum from a bowl game. However, I do think it plays a role for a young team or a team being led by a young quarterback. Granted, maybe I'm off here (Brett Ratliff had a superb bowl game and was less than consistent the following year), but it can't hurt, right? I think Jordan Wynn needed this and for a freshman especially, a victory like that can act as a starting point to a great career here. 

I said the Utes needed a bowl win to salvage their season and they got it. I'm not as satisfied as I would have been had they defeated BYU last month. But the Poinsettia Bowl helps. It helps a lot.

Who's your choice?

It might not be the Sugar Bowl. However, it's almost as sweet! Okay, not really. But it was a good victory for a team dying to win a memorable game. 

I am going to have more on this game later, but boy was this an enjoyable game. Maybe of the most enjoyable bowl games of recent memory (not counting the win over 'Bama).

And my Ute brothers, Jordan Wynn is money!

How 'bout nine in a row?

Let's hear what you think. Register for a free account here and leave your comments, predictions and other game day chatter below in the comment section. GO UTES! BEAT THE GOLDEN BEARS!

Took forever, didn't it? But we're only a few hours away from the last game of the season. So, that means you better soak it all up because football ends around 9:30 tonight and won't return for a very, very long time.

Because of that, this better be a damn good game or it's going to be difficult getting through the next few months knowing how this season ended (back-to-back losses, a loss to BYU, no real good wins, blah). Luckily, the Utes have a legitimate shot at winning their ninth straight bowl game and it seems a good portion of the media is actually buying the Utes' hype this time around (which didn't happen during the Oregon/TCU/BYU games). 

Whether that means anything, though, hinges on just how good the Utes play tonight. They can't struggle through long stretches like they did in all three of their losses. I believe if they are going to win, they either need to jump on Cal early or keep the game close throughout. A comeback, especially if they fall behind by two-scores, could be asking for too much.

Specifically what they need to do after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

I love the internets. Twenty years ago, it actually took effort to round up some resident know-it-all to get answers about a topic you're not entirely familiar with. And truth be told, I don't know much about Cal football. Except their coach before Jeff Tedford is currently the athletic director down in Provo. Oh and their offensive coordinator is some guy named Andrew Ludwig. 

Whoever that is. 

So, knowing I had Cal Berkeley connections a mouse click away, I caught a cyber wave on over to the best damn Pac Ten blog known to man (early-90s internet lingo FTW!) and asked them a few questions about today's game and how in the hell California went from sixth nationally to losing by a billion points to one of the Washington schools. 

In fact, I actually answered some questions of my own. If you're interested in what I had to say (doubtful) go check it out and ignore the obvious confusion in copying and pasting my answers to the appropriate questions. Apparently the university can produce the scientific director of the Manhattan Project, yet their students still haven't figured out how to properly align answers to the corresponding questions. 

I keed!

 Anyway, the good stuff is after the jump!

Continue reading this post »

I haven't used this term all season because I hate to box the Utes into such a subjective statement. If they do actually lose, it's hard to really salvage anything out of that loss if you're putting it all on the line in your mind. With that said, I can't help but think the Poinsettia Bowl is a huge game for varying reasons. 

With a victory, the Utes can do something only done once before in program history - record back-to-back ten-win seasons. That happened from 2003 to 2004 and it's often considered the most successful two-year stretch by a Utah team. And though finishing 10-3 in 2009 probably won't hold as much weight as the 10-2 finish in 2003, it still is rather solid for a rebuilding year.

The alternative, unfortunately, is another 9-4 season and most likely a finish outside of the top-25. At first glance, it isn't entirely an awful rebuilding campaign. However, if you dig deeper, you see this season has pretty much been a mile long and an inch deep. Utah has been good at beating the teams they should beat and that's it. They've yet to win a game against a better opponent (Oregon, TCU) or one equal to their stature (BYU). 

Cal offers yet another opportunity to record an important and memorable win for the the Ute football program. If they fail in that regard, it will be the first time in a very long time (2000) where the Utes failed to gain one eventful win. 

2008 was chalk full of them. 2007 had victories over UCLA (11th nationally), Louisville (a year removed from finishing 6th nationally), TCU and Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl. 2006 was a very similar season to 2009 - yet Utah managed to beat a good Frogs team that finished 11-2 and 21st nationally). While 2005 had wins over BYU and Georgia Tech in the Emerald Bowl.

Continue reading this post »

The California Golden Bears enter the Poinsettia Bowl with a pretty respectable 8-4 record. They were also ranked entering the final week of the regular season after a great win over their resurgent rival Stanford on the road. 

Yet, like Utah, there could have been so much more to this season. In fact, California started the year ranked 12th nationally and rose as high as sixth after a 3-0 start. It's been pretty much all downhill since that impressive start and it began against Oregon a week after the Utes' nation-leading winning streak was halted by those same Ducks. 

Cal saw a harder fall, undoubtedly, because expectations were extremely high entering this season. They were, after all, a potential heir to the throne if SC were to vacate it in a rebuilding year. Part of that equation happened, however, the Golden Bears failed to take advantage of the situation and instead were passed by the Oregon Ducks. 

Because of this, many fans in Berkeley are justifiably disappointed. When you're floated around as Rose Bowl material three weeks into the season (Cal last played in the Rose Bowl in 1959) and the best you can do is the Poinsettia Bowl, there certainly will be some frustration among fans.

But has this season been a success and does that success hinge on their bowl performance? 

Continue reading this post »