This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Las Vegas • Saturday's bowl was 2015 in miniature for Utah.
Just as Kyle Whittingham's fourth 10-win season will be entered into the records without any note of the anxieties or frustrations it may have inspired, so to will his fifth straight victory over BYU.
And yet, in both, it is somewhat difficult to reconcile fan feelings with the overall results.
Yes, on the heels of two straight 5-7 seasons, two straight bowl wins have Utah on an upward trajectory, as Whittingham said Saturday night. And Utah earned its 35 points, just as BYU earned only 28, on the way to Utah's triumph in the first postseason rivalry game.
Yet it was BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall who was teary-eyed recalling the effort of his team, and Whittingham sounding at times stern and describing stretches of Utah's performance as "very average," "pathetic" and then again "pretty average."
After a five-turnover first quarter that Whittingham joked was "like the Oregon game on steroids" came a conclusion that resembled the latter half of Utah's campaign, its offense needing only to moving the chains and failing, for extended periods of time, to accomplish even that.
Utah's 2015 season and 2015 bowl victory will be remembered as ones in which it reached unprecedented levels of success — a No. 3 ranking in the regular season, a Vegas Bowl record for first-quarter scoring — and then was somewhat victimized in its evaluation by that success.
Fans got a taste of what might be possible, then a hearty helping of what had come before.
On a day when Utah beat BYU and Utah's men's basketball team beat Duke in Madison Square Garden, much of the conversation on message boards and social media late Saturday centered on Utah's offensive failings. Its 197 total yards were even fewer than a famously impotent showing against USC in 2013 (201). Utah passed for fewer than 200 yards in eight games this season, and for fewer than 110 in each of its final three. And in senior quarterbacks Travis Wilson and Kendal Thompson, senior wideout Kenneth Scott and LDS mission-bound true freshman wideout Britain Covey, it stands to lose the top performers from that passing attack.
BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe softened the blow for his program's fans Saturday when he announced that former Utah defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake would head a new era for the Cougars.
Utah, now proven as a worthy Pac-12 member, seems to be on firmer footing. Few teams, anywhere, have been so reliable on defense or special teams as the Utes during Whittingham's tenure. Senior defensive end Jason Fanaika said after his final game as a Ute to "wait 'til next year ... our front seven's going to be even nastier."
But faith in Whittingham is sometimes lessened by what he seems proven to be, whereas hopes for BYU's Sitake era are not yet bound by any history. As Utah athletic director Chris Hill talks through an extension for Whittingham, he must consider that Utah's eighth straight season with a new offensive coordinatorship resulted in a 98th-ranked offense.
There is much room for Utah's offense to improve, but little evidence that it will. Is Joe Williams a substitute for Devontae Booker? Is junior college quarterback Troy Williams skilled enough to offset the losses in Utah's receiving corps? Can Tim Patrick, Evan Moeai and Siale Fakailoatonga have the impact that was hoped for before all three were lost for the season due to injuries?
And might Sitake pick off some of Utah's coaches? Between his connections and his general affability, as well as his status as the first FBS head coach of Tongan descent, Sitake may have some sway with some of Utah's assistants.
The confetti rained down on Utah again at Sam Boyd Stadium. The Utes got what they came for. Many fans, though, will be restless for more.
Twitter: @matthew_piper —
BYU passes torch
• Coach Bronco Mendenhall says goodbye while BYU prepares for the arrival of Kalani Sitake on Monday. — B2