This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's the way they've lost that makes it easy to forget that, not so long ago, it was widely thought they had no business hoping to beat such teams.
In Tempe, in overtime, after a field goal miss from Andy Phillips, one of the nation's most accurate kickers.
In Salt Lake City, after ceding 14 points with a single unforced error from return game revelation Kaelin Clay, and still trailing just 30-27 early in the fourth quarter.
No. 7 Arizona State and No. 3 Oregon are favorites to play for the Pac-12 Championship, and the winner has an excellent chance to earn a spot in the first-ever College Football Playoff.
Utah was supposed to struggle to reach a bowl game.
Now, even with senior wideout Dres Anderson, junior quarterback Kendal Thompson and junior wideout Tim Patrick lost for the season due to injury, and with senior Tevin Carter potentially forgoing a return to apply for a medical hardship waiver, Utah has a reasonable expectation of beating Pac-12 heavyweight Stanford in Palo Alto next week.
"We're more equipped now to compete in this league than at any time since we joined it," Whittingham said after a 51-27 loss that was much closer than the scoreline suggests.
The Utes might be undefeated without nose dives in the final moments of three Pac-12 games, and the latest AP poll reflects that. Besides No. 25 Utah, only No. 20 LSU has three losses.
Then again, they might also have four to six losses had they not finished well against No. 14 UCLA, USC and Oregon State.
What's done is done.
On the subject of what is, and not what might have been: Utah racked up 440 total yards against the Ducks, its most this season in a conference game, and offensive coordinator Dave Christensen answered critics' calls to open up the passing game and increase the tempo.
Whittingham acknowledged after the game that there was a conscious decision to use more two-back sets and to take more shots downfield.
"Very good to see us throw the ball a lot better," Whittingham said. "We had over 300 yards throwing, and that was very encouraging."
It's hardly a positive to lose Thompson, who was dynamic on Utah's opening drive, but Travis Wilson no longer has to live in fear that he could be pulled at a moment's notice.
He wasn't bad, either. Wilson's 297 passing yards Saturday night marked just the second time this year he passed the 200-yard mark.
Yes, his streak of attempts without an interception ended at an FBS-best 181, but his two deep balls to Clay were artful, and he was aware enough to find junior Devontae Booker out of the backfield for 110 yards and a score.
With Clay, Phillips, Booker punter Tom Hackett and defensive end Nate Orchard continuing to rank among the nation's leaders in their relevant categories, and Kalani Sitake's defense continuing to befuddle future NFL quarterbacks for whole quarters and halves at a time, the bright spots are myriad.
The Utes will head to Palo Alto to face a Stanford team that has only been beaten by ranked teams, and features the nation's fourth-best scoring defense.
A Pac-12 South title is no longer on the line.
But Utah is playing for a worthy consolation prize: respect.
Twitter: @matthew_piper —
Utah at Stanford
O Saturday, 4 p.m. TV • Pac-12 Networks Radio • ESPN 700