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"There's no quit in these guys. They're physically tough and mentally tough, and I'm proud to be associated with them."

Those were the words Kyle Whittingham spoke after his team had beaten Stanford on its home field the other night in double overtime, propping Utah's record to 7-3 overall, and, more impressively, 4-3 in the Pac-12.

He couldn't have been more correct.

That's exactly what the Utes are: The Tough Bunch.

Everybody can see the flaws Whittingham's team has, especially on offense. It is a clunky crew, an attack that often leads with the ack-ack-ack before punting for field position.

In this day of fanciful football, when spinning the numbers on the board is the rage, when a quarterback putting up 300 yards of passing is nothing and when a single running back goes for 400 yards in one game, it's hard to appreciate and recognize an outfit like the Utes.

But man, their shortcomings underscore their strengths. For the latter, they deserve credit.

They're good, in spite of themselves.

If the offense ever came around, they'd be great.

Like Whittingham said, his team is rugged and resilient.

"I'm proud of the way our guys continue to find ways to win, and to slug it out 'til the bitter end," he said on Monday. "Just keep playing. That's the bottom line. They just keep playing."

They just keep brawling.

The Utes are a group you'd want on your side in a yard fight. Ask any opponent, all the opponents, Utah has faced this season and they'll come clean with it: These guys are full-on grown men who do not quit, who do not fade, who do not feel sorry for themselves in the face of adversity, who do not get their daubers down. They wear red, but they are kings of the black and blue. If you're going to take them out, you're going to earn that with execution and with blood, sweat and fears.

Beat the Utes and you'll celebrate the victory with an ice bath.

Whittingham deserves respect for instilling in this particular team at this particular time that kind of character, that kind of resolve. Not all teams have it, not even teams that achieve success. The Utes would be dead without it. And the win over Stanford is only the most recent example.

They gained 247 yards, just 197 before the overtimes commenced. They picked up 14 first downs. And, yet, they won.

Ask all you want about the detonation of offense — two touchdown passes — in the overtimes, and why it took so long to make hay. But there is no questioning the Utah players' guts. It wasn't pretty or comely. It was hand-to-hand. They threw down with the Cardinal the way they've thrown down with everyone this season.

The Utes gave up a large lead to Washington State, but even in that game, they had a chance at the end to get the win. A mistake here, a dropped pass there made the difference. The OT loss to Arizona State was brutal. And Oregon? It was 30-27 deep into the second half, as Utah attempted — and failed — to slam a lid on a nuclear explosion.

And the league wins have been forged with the same grit. Tight counts, three of them on the road: 10 sacks in the Rose Bowl against UCLA, to win by two, a double-overtime deal in Corvallis, and then the double-OT Fight on the Farm. Throw in the three-point triumph at home against SC, and … well, stop to grasp what's gone on here.

In a season at the start of which Utah was teetering on the edge of Pac-12 oblivion, after two decisively losing conference campaigns that saw the Utes unable to win on the road and unable to win enough at home, sometimes acquiescing in close losses, they have rebuilt their program, reestablished their reputation, resurrected their respect — from the outside in and from the inside out.

Even from an unattached observer, that is cool to watch.

That is something to acknowledge.

Whittingham warrants praise, then, even as the offense slumps down to an unimaginative grind. But his assistants and especially the players deserve it, too. The seniors on this team, the ones who absorbed so much losing over the past few years, have shown great leadership. "They've given us a lot of effort and, really, everything they've got," Whittingham said. And the defense, which could have bagged the whole deal when the offense bumped and skidded at so many turns, has remained steadfast.

The Utes are no joke in the Pac-12. Not anymore.

They're not perfect, and heaven only knows what they might have accomplished this season with a little more consistency, a little more nitro on offense. But nobody can doubt the pluck of this team. It's admirable.

Who knows exactly what will happen or who will win in the final two regular-season games against Arizona at Rice-Eccles and Colorado at Boulder. But one thing everybody should know: Utah will not shrink away, will not give in or up. If the Utes get beat, the victors will pay their toll and earn their win — and then hit the ice tub hard in the postgame.

Utah football is for real, in a real league.

This particular iteration of Utes, imperfections and all, has achieved that much — and it's a lot.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM/1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.