It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City and I'm not talking just the weather. The victory over Wyoming, the largest win since the Utes defeated UTEP 56-3 in 1997, marked what might be the most defining moment of Kyle Whittingham's career at Utah -- he's one tough SOB and you don't want to mess with him.
The buildup to Utah's victory, however, goes beyond Joe Glenn's guarantee. For that you have to look back to Utah's 31-15 loss to the Cowboys last year. After that game, Wyoming players lambasted Ute players in the papers, comments which were seeped in arrogance and were completely uncalled for. That part of the story, though, is conveniently ignored by the press. The definition of a sore winner is one that attacks the team they just beat in the media. Whittingham took note of that bashing and had this game circled. No one likes to lose and no one likes to be called out by the opposing team when they lose. That played a major role in Utah's mindset leading up to this game, Glenn's comments were just the icing on the cake.
So was Whittingham classless? Who cares? Classless or not, Wyoming gave up and failed to show. If Cowboy fans and members of the media want to point fingers (and not the middle finger, thank you), point them at Joe Glenn and his coaching staff. They were the ones who did not prepare their team for this game. It wasn't as if the Utes spiked their food, torched their bus or kept them locked inside the locker room during the game. Both teams had the same amount of players, both teams played the same amount of quarters and both teams started 0-0. Because of that, Whittingham's onside kick, though questionable, doesn't bother me and it wouldn't have bothered me had Wyoming done it up 50 on the Utes.
So for Wyoming fans out there wanting to burn Whittingham at the stake, look at your own coaches. Blame them for the embarrassing loss, not Kyle Whittingham. Whittingham has a job to do and that's to win as dominant as possible. This is college football, not the damn Ice Capades and maybe people should really just toughen up. The most amusing part of this all, though, is the fact Wyoming recovered, had their best field position of the day and still managed to not score. If I'm a Wyoming fan, that would upset me far more than a team kicking an onside kick up 43 in the third quarter. But what do I know, I'm just a supporter of an apparant classless program.