SALT LAKE CITY—Utah coach Kyle Whittingham received an early 52nd birthday present when he turned on the television Saturday night and saw Arizona had upset Arizona State.
That win, coupled with Utah’s victory over Washington State earlier in the day, means a team that started 0-4 in the Pac-12 now conceivably has a chance to capture the South Division title.
“We knew it would take a major miracle to work our way back into it when we were 1-4, and at 2-4 it was a minor miracle and 3-4 it was a long shot,” Whittingham said. “Now that we’ve got to 4-4, it’s probably a 50-50 proposition.”
Utah (7-4, 4-4) will need some help.
If the Utes close out the regular season at home Friday with a win over Colorado (2-10, 1-7), they still need Cal to beat Arizona State on Friday night and USC to beat UCLA on Saturday night to win the South. USC is ineligible to play in the Pac-12 championship game because of NCAA sanctions.
Whittingham said the turnaround is every bit as satisfying as 2007, when the Utes started 1-3 and finished 9-4, including a win over Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl.
“It’s one of the most rewarding seasons I’ve had here personally, just to see a group down and out as far as conference play … and see them rebound and respond and show the resiliency they’ve shown,” he said. “It’s been a pleasure to be a part of. It’s a tough group. There’s not an ounce of quit in this football team.”
The Utes endured critics who said they were in over their heads making the jump from the Mountain West Conference to the Pac-12.
Now they’ve won four straight, including’s Saturday’s wild 30-27 overtime win in the snow at Washington State.
Unlike the past nine years, the Utes can’t count on a rivalry game with Brigham Young to get them fired up for the finale.
Instead, they face a school they haven’t played since 1962.
Fan input from both schools has deemed it the “Rumble in the Rockies.”
“It sounds like one of those old WWF events,” senior offensive tackle Tony Bergstrom quipped.
He wasn’t disappointed that it couldn’t be called a true rivalry.
“We already had our rivalry game,” Bergstrom said of a 54-10 win over BYU on Sept. 17.
Whittingham, who officially celebrated his birthday Monday, acknowledged the CU game has a different feel.
“Ever since I’ve been here, (the last game has) been the rivalry game with the guys from Provo, but this year’s different,” Whittingham said. “I don’t think you can manufacture a rivalry game. It’s something that has to naturally come about.”
Whittingham said the season would still be a success even if Utah wins but doesn’t have the other games fall correctly.
“It’s a good start to come away with a winning record and get into a bowl game the first year in a league as competitive as the Pac-12,” he said.
If Utah wins, and ASU and UCLA both lose, Whittingham said he wouldn’t apologize for being the South champ in a season when USC ends up with the best record but is ineligible.
“We don’t look at that as an asterisk,” he said. “We’d look at it as of the teams that were eligible, we were in the mix and came out on top.”
Friday will be the final home game for 18 Utah seniors, a situation that is just starting to set in for guys like Bergstrom.
This senior class boasts a 40-10 record. Two more wins would make it the winningest class in Utah history.
“That’s something I always wanted,” Bergstrom said. “I saw last year’s seniors go out that way and I wanted the same thing for our class.”
