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Suddenly at the center of the argument about which team should be No. 1, Kyle Whittingham compared the national media crush as "almost like living in a biosphere or dome."
Except, in a reversal of the forgettable 1996 Pauly Shore flick, he's thinking locally.
The rest of us are the ones thinking glooooobally.
"You've got people tapping on the glass, looking in at you, and you've just got to block it out," Whittingham said Monday in a press conference that officially began an unprecedented fish-bowl existence for an early-October Utah team.
The Utes are No. 1 in ESPN's "Power Rankings" and No. 19 in ESPN's "Football Power Index." They received seven first-place nods from AP voters, while eight others thought they were 10th or worse. Few undefeated teams in recent history have inspired such a wide array of opinions, including, perhaps, the BCS-busting Utah teams of 2004 and 2008.
Add in that they'll play on new turf, in new jerseys, with ESPN's "College GameDay" set nearby, and if the Utes are prone to distraction, we'll soon find out.
"With the media today what it is, and all the different aspects of it — online, all the stuff — there's so much it's almost overwhelming," Whittingham said.
"It's great for our program, great for our university, and so we've got to be able to handle it. If you want to be a good team, you've got to handle the success that you've had and the attention that's being placed on your program, and that's part of the deal."
Utah's players were given last week off to rest — if they so chose — and recover. Whittingham said Monday that junior defensive end Hunter Dimick will play against No. 23 Cal, while the status of senior wideout Tim Patrick remains uncertain. Neither played in Utah's 62-20 dismantling of Oregon.
Cal head coach Sonny Dykes acknowledged after edging a post-bye Washington State on Saturday that it's "probably not an ideal situation" to be playing a road night game against a rested Utah team.
He went on to say: "We're going to have to play better than we played [Saturday], probably, to have a chance to win. But our players know that, and I think they will play better."
Whittingham's turn at the podium was preceded by an announcement that he and players would not answer questions about Oregon, because the Golden Bears are commanding their full attention.
He then began his assessment of Saturday's 5-0 visitors where most do, with junior quarterback and potential top-10 NFL draft pick Jared Goff, saying he "very rarely misses a throw."
He also quoted with Goff-like accuracy the 18 turnovers Cal's defense has generated this season, the most in the nation.
That's the result of keeping ball carriers in front of them "and waiting for an offense to make a mistake," he said.
If his Utes are to beat Cal, they'll have to pressure Goff, cover dangerous wideouts like Kenny Lawler and Bryce Treggs, and avoid turnovers, he said.
If they can do all that, it won't mean they're better than Ohio State, TCU or Baylor. But at least it would be a good indication that they're better than Cal.
No. 23 California at No. 5 Utah
O Saturday, 8 p.m.
TV • ESPN