This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Maybe it's the extra time the Utah Utes have to study film, or the time off their feet to rest, or maybe there is some annual solar flare that occurs that throws everything in the world into the right alignment for them.

Whatever it is, Utah has become an unbeatable team after bye weeks. The Utes (2-1, 0-1), who host Washington (3-1, 1-0) on Saturday in their Pac-12 home opener, have won eight games in a row following open dates.

Their last loss after a bye was in 2002 at San Diego State. Their last home loss following a bye was in 1996 to BYU.

To put some perspective in how long Utah's success after byes has been a constant, consider that since the last home loss, the Utes have switched conferences twice and experienced three coaching changes.

Jordan Wynn, Utah's starting quarterback, was just 6 years old when Utah lost to the Cougars in 1996. No wonder neither he nor many Utah players think the winning streak is a big deal — they can't even remember that Utah-BYU game, much less know what it is like to lose after having an extra week of preparation.

As far as they are concerned they should always win after byes, because that is simply what they do.

"We've got a good system and we follow it," Wynn said.

What exactly that system is sounds almost too simplistic for the success it has reaped. The Utes don't go on a retreat where they watch hours and hours of film, or practice long into the night on their bye weeks.

Instead, they practice hard in limited amounts, watch some film and rest a lot, particularly the injured players. The Utes then get the weekend off to do as they please.

Simple, they say, but successful.

"We always try to turn the bye week into a positive," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "Our system never changes and it hasn't for years."

That philosophy goes regardless of when the bye is or how the Utes are playing as they head into it.

Take this week, for instance. The bye came just three weeks into the season and when the Utes' offense finally found its rhythm in Utah's 54-10 win over BYU.

Yet the Utes still believe they have been able to work the bye to their advantage, giving key players such as lineman Tony Bergstrom, fullback Luke Matthews and tight end Jake Murphy a chance to heal from injuries.

The Utes also used the week for some extra film study of the Huskies on their own time. They view that opportunity as particularly advantageous since Washington is an unfamiliar opponent.

"We watched a lot of football," cornerback Conroy Black said. "It was fun to be like a fan and watch football, but we got a lot of studying of Washington done, too. The bye week is definitely a positive for us."

As confident as the Utes are in their bye-week preparation, they acknowledge that Saturday's game against Washington represents the greatest challenge to their win streak in many seasons.

Beating teams like Wyoming, CSU and New Mexico after byes are one thing; beating a team that was picked to finish third in the Pac-12 north behind Oregon and Stanford is another challenge altogether.

It's a challenge they are ready for, the Utes say.

"We try to take full advantage of bye weeks," lineman Sam Brenner said. "We worked hard and hopefully we've gotten better and rested up."

lwodraska@sltrib.comfacebook.com/lyatribuneTwitter: @LyaWodraska —

Utah's bye wins

The Utes have won eight games in a row after a bye week. Their last loss after a bye was to San Diego State in 2002:

Opponent, score

2003 Wyoming, 47-17

2004 N. Carolina, 46-16

2005 Wyoming, 43-13

2006 CSU, 35-22

2007 Wyoming, 50-0

2008 N. Mexico, 13-10

2009 CSU, 24-17

2010 Iowa State, 68-27 —

Washington at Utah

P Saturday, 5 p.m.

TV • ROOT