Bring on the postseason swag. Utah senior co-captain Troy Williams will welcome any and all perks that come with a bowl game.
The Utes took a roller coaster ride to bowl eligibility. They started with a four-game win streak only to later find themselves mired in a stretch that included six losses in seven games.
Saturday night’s 34-13 win over Colorado in the regular-season finale at Rice-Eccles Stadium got the Utes back to a .500 record and put them in line for their fourth consecutive bowl game appearance, the program’s 12th in the past 14 seasons.
“I’m glad to, you know, go out with a win here on Senior Night and go bowling, get those gifts cards, checks, whatever it may be,” Williams said with a big grin following Saturday’s game.
Williams, who started every game at quarterback for the Utes last year, stepped in for injured starter Tyler Huntley and led the Utes (6-6, 3-6) to victory in a must-win game on Saturday.
The Utes’ senior class – including 12 players who spent their entire careers with the Utes – can hang their hats on having qualified for postseason play for four consecutive seasons while competing in the Pac-12 Conference.
Wide receiver Darren Carrington II came to Salt Lake City knowing he’d have one season as a Ute. While Carrington may not have a big-picture perspective of the Utah keeping alive its streak of playing in the postseason, he certainly took pride in the Utes’ ability to pull themselves out of a tailspin this year.
“It was just cool to see we never gave up despite all the adversity we faced this year,” Carrington said. “[We got] a couple Ls, but we always fought back. That’s what I love about this team. It was a blessing to play for Coach Whitt and how he inspires us to just never give up. I mean, I love these boys. It was a fun journey.”
While it doesn’t change their record or wipe away some of the sting of 20-point losses to Arizona State and Oregon, two of the Utes’ losses came to Stanford and USC on back-to-back weeks by a total of four points — teams that’ll compete Friday night for the Pac-12 championship.
“I think we’re a pretty good 6-6 team, I’ll tell you that,” Whittingham said. “But the bottom line is we got six and dropped six. This team never folded their tent. They were competitive every single week. Even though a couple of the scores were a little more than what they should have been, I thought they competed every single week.”
Whittingham has repeatedly turned to his refrain about getting to a bowl game being a reward for the seniors, but he has also acknowledged the benefits of the extra practice time and a potential boost in recruiting as positives that come with getting to a bowl game.
Saturday night he highlighted one of the most basic of benefits: The chance to tack an extra win onto this season.
“There’s so many different reasons that it’s a positive,” Whittingham said. “You know, [it’s] the chance to have a winning record, the chance to go 7-6. It beats the alternative. If we’re sitting here at 5-7 and not going, we’re feeling pretty lousy. It gives us a little shot of adrenaline to get that win tonight and know that we’re going to be able to play together one more time.”
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