I think most of us expected challenges this season. I mean, many of you thought this team would win anywhere from 7 to 8 games and, what do you know, that's exactly where they ended up at the end of the year - as they entered the final game of the season with a chance to push their win total up to 8.
Not bad. Right?
But, with how things went down, how the South was handed to them the way it was and the awful performance in the season finale against Colorado, do you feel this year was a bit underwhelming?
I ask because, starting next week, I will be doing a weekly column for KSL and for my first article, I want to get the fans' view of how this season played out - did it live up to expectations, or was it just essentially a throw away season?
For me, I enjoyed a great deal of our first season in the Pac-12. The USC game, even in defeat, was still one of the more exciting endings of the last few years. I loved that this team rallied at the end behind a backup quarterback that probably would have a hard time starting on a Sun Belt team, let alone leading a Pac-12 offense. I loved watching John White IV do his thang and I loved the four-game win streak that took us from the bottom of the Pac-12 South to the very top...and nearly to the championship game.
Does the loss negate all of that? I don't think so. That's not to say it doesn't hurt. It did. Utah should've been playing in the Pac-12 game, not UCLA. Utah should be preparing for a bowl game in San Diego, not Cal.
But it is what it is. That's the life of a BCS team. On any given Saturday (or Friday), you can be depantsed.
The important thing is that you bounce back and the Utes will definitely have a chance to do that against Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl (the fact we're in the Sun Bowl is pretty awesome in its own right).
Now I know the season is not finished and a victory or loss might ultimately alter your view of the overall year - but, in the context of just the Pac-12, what would you grade Utah's first season in their new conference?