This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
The Utah Utes pride themselves on their recruiting assessments, believing their judgements are one of the reasons they have been able to find talent where other teams haven't.
On Saturday, they'll be facing two that got away.
Both Washington quarterback Keith Price and linebacker Cort Dennison were interested in the Utes, but the Utes failed to follow through in recruiting them.
Price originally committed to Washington, but opened up his recruiting again when Washington fired coach Tyrone Willingham.
Price visited Oregon and was supposed to visit Utah, but the Utes stopped recruiting him when Jordan Wynn de-committed from Colorado and committed to the Utes.
Asked about Utah's recruiting of Price, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said Tuesday he can't remember the exact circumstances of why the Utes passed on Price, but admitted the sophomore is a talent.
"We knew he was a good player and he has proven it with what he has done up there," Whittingham said.
As for Dennison, the graduate of Judge Memorial wasn't offered a scholarship by Utah. Dennison is now a starting linebacker and team captain who leads the Huskies with 34 tackles this year.
Dennison said in a Seattle Times article he doesn't hold any hard feelings towards the Utes. "It's just, I don't know what it is, but you know sometimes you get looked at as an underdog, but those kind of things just motivate me and I like when people doubt me or whatever the case may be," he is quoted as saying.
Whittingham didn't elaborate too much on why the Utes didn't make an offer to Dennison, saying only the Utes did know of him. "He's doing a nice job," Whittingham said.
And about those rumors
Whittingham, whose name was mentioned as a candidate to replace Willingham when he was fired as Washington's coach in 2008, said he was never contacted directly regarding the position.
"They've definitely got a great coach in place," he said of Steve Sarkisian. "He is doing a great job and is a guy I've known throughout the years and what he's done the last few years with that program is impressive."
Take care of the ball
Sarkisian is well aware the Utes rank third nationally in turnover margin with 12 takeaways and three turnovers, and he complimented Utah's defense.
"They go for the punchouts and the swipes," he said. "But mainly they just play hard."
The Utes lead the Pac-12 in fumbles recovered [eight] and turnovers caused.
Twitter: @lyawodraska