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Jeremiah Poutasi was undaunted by Pac-12 edge rushers, allowing just three sacks in 846 snaps during the regular season, and he's typically a cool customer around media.
But informed last week that Las Vegas Bowl tickets are somewhat pricey — ranging from $35 to $120 — the mammoth left tackle looked panicked.
"Are they?" he asked, eyebrows arced.
For Poutasi, junior running back Bubba Poole, sophomore linebacker Marcus Sanders-Williams and freshman defensive back Casey Hughes, Utah's postseason destination doubles as home.
And Poutasi needs every seat he can get.
"I have at least 35, 40 people," he said. There was some talk at Utah's football facility Friday that players and staff with Nevada ties had traded their $300 worth of bowl gifts for another's share of the team's ticket allotment.
There's a silver lining for Poutasi, though. Utah's bowl destination saves him a trip — after the bowl, he'll simply remain in Las Vegas to visit friends and family during the holiday break.
The Mandalay Bay, Utah's team hotel, is just 11 miles away from Desert Pines, where Poutasi graduated from high school.
He watched Boise State beat Washington, and then USC beat Fresno State at Sam Boyd Stadium in the last two Vegas Bowls, and Poutasi caught one of his first glimpses of Utah's football team at UNLV's practice field in December 2010, after the Utes invited him to attend their Maaco Bowl preparations.
To be playing in the game himself is "pretty exciting," he said. "What better way to end the season?"
Senior strong safety Brian Blechen knows the answer: By also winning it.
Blechen started the 2010 Las Vegas Bowl, recording six tackles and forcing a fumble as Utah scored the first three points on a Joe Phillips field goal, and Boise State scored the final 26.
Also on Utah's roster when Utah's nine-game bowl win streak came to a bitter end were junior wide receiver Kenneth Scott, senior Dres Anderson (now out for the season with a knee injury), senior cornerbacks Wykie Freeman and Chandler Johnson, and senior tight end Westlee Tonga, who served an LDS mission in the area.
Blechen — who like many players will drive to Las Vegas and be compensated for those gas miles, and then continue from there to his California home — said he won't be as overwhelmed by it all this time.
"Being one of the young guys, you don't really know how things work, and obviously Vegas is just an exciting place to go stay a week with your team and be in a bowl game," he said. "This year, I'm excited to go back again."
The Utes will hit the road Tuesday evening. They'll practice Wednesday at Bishop Gorman High School (where Sanders-Williams played as a sophomore), attend a reception Wednesday night, and participate in charitable events Thursday morning before another practice in the afternoon.
Thursday night, they'll take in magician Criss Angel at the Luxor Hotel with the Rams, and then Friday they'll have their pregame walk-through at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Utah has sold out its allotment of 7,500 tickets for the game, but tickets remain available at lvbowl.com.
mpiper@sltrib.com twitter: @matthew_piper —
Las Vegas Bowl
O Utah vs. Colorado St. Saturday, 1:30 p.m. TV • Ch. 4