This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
The first clue that this would not become a memorable day that propelled the Utah Utes toward the Rose Bowl came before Saturday's kickoff, when Alamo Bowl materials were distributed in the Rice-Eccles Stadium press box.
At halftime, the Sun Bowl brochures arrived.
After the game, well, nobody was sure where this once-promising season would end, after another case of the Utes receiving the outside assistance they needed and refusing to help themselves. Utah's 17-9 loss to UCLA completed the team's steady decline from a 6-0 record and No. 3 ranking that presented all kinds of glamorous possibilities as of mid-October.
The day's most discouraging development was that Oregon beat USC, giving Utah coach Kyle Whittingham a 56th birthday present he couldn't use. For the third time in five seasons on Nov. 21 or later, everything fell into place for Utah in the Pac-12 South race as other teams kept delivering. Except the Utes never can follow through, blowing their chances to win the division and play in the conference championship game.
That explains how Whittingham could reach this point in his 11th season and alternately cite "a lot of positives" and "a shame" in the Utes' missed opportunity for greatness.
Having fumbled away a chance to force overtime with a tying drive, the Utes (8-3) are positioned to complete a rather unsatisfying 10-win season by beating Colorado and winning one of the Pac-12's lower-tier bowl games.
"It's difficult when you have something in your grasp and you let it slip away," said kicker Andy Phillips, whose presence as a featured player in the postgame interview session was a symptom of Utah's biggest problem.
Phillips did his job wonderfully, with field goals on three consecutive possessions in the middle of the game. The trouble was the Utes' failure to finish those drives, even though fill-in running back Joe Williams was performing well in Devontae Booker's absence and the offense was piecing together first downs after losing top receiver Britain Covey.
And then the Utes bogged down with four straight three-and-out sequences, before launching a last march from their 11-yard line to the UCLA 33 — only to lose the ball in an accidental exchange between quarterback Travis Wilson and Williams.
There's your summary of Utah's offensive performance in 2015: The Utes fumbled while faking a run on third and 10.
Statistically, the fumble was charged to Wilson, but Williams took the blame and Whittingham agreed. Regardless, the Utes crumbled in a game that was beginning to resemble the program's epic 2008 win over TCU.
For all of their injuries and inconsistency, the Utes managed to hang around with UCLA. When Wilson scrambled for 9 yards on a fourth-and-8 play, with shadows on the field and the sun shining on the East stands, a potentially dramatic finish was in the making.
But then everything was gone — the game, the division-title hopes, the Rose Bowl and any chance that these Utes would be remembered for anything other than what they might have done. Phillips spoke of "a very successful season, in my mind," but the good things will be overshadowed by Utah's November failures.
Imagine that Oregon, the team the Utes beat by 42 points in September, would help them by knocking off USC. And all that did was ensure that next weekend's USC-UCLA game would determine the South's contestant in the Pac-12 title game.
The Utes are relegated to concluding the regular season against Colorado, technically giving them a chance to share the division championship — with no real reward for that achievement.
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