"This was huge," safety Eric Weddle said.

Not only did the Utes hang on to beat Arizona 27-24 before the third-largest crowd in Rice-Eccles Stadium history - a sellout crowd of 45,528 fans attended - but they extended their school-record winning streak to 17 games and delivered a debut victory for new coach Kyle Whittingham by doing so.

"It's a giant piano off my back," Whittingham said.

Naturally.

After all, the Utes were playing their first game since finishing their historic undefeated season and losing just about everybody who made that happen. Yet the Utes who remained showed that they're not about to suddenly fall off the map and begin mopping up the basement of the Mountain West Conference.

"They came at us," Whittingham said, "and we answered the call."

Making his first start in place of the departed Alex Smith, sophomore quarterback Brian Johnson had a solid outing, completing 19 of 30 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown despite one fumbled snap and a couple of errant throws.

"We just had to show the country that that 16-game winning streak was no fluke," Johnson said. "We prepare like champions every day, and we took this game and made it really important to us to get a win and come out on top."

Running back Quinton Ganther might have been most responsible for that happening. The senior took a shovel pass 47 yards for a touchdown in the first half and rushed for 127 yards - including back-to-back long runs in the final three minutes that helped the Utes kill the clock after the Wildcats chose to punt rather than go for it on fourth-and-5 from the Utah 42-yard line with only one timeout remaining.

"That's not the way I would have done it," Whittingham said.

It did seem a curious decision, considering how well the Wildcats had stormed back in the second half.

The Utes led 10-3 at halftime and broke out to a 27-10 lead late in the third quarter thanks to redshirt freshman Brent Casteel's 59-yard touchdown run, the second of kicker Dan Beardall's two field goals, and a 24-yard interception return by Weddle.

"He threw it right to me," Weddle marveled.

Yet the Wildcats - held to just 94 yards in the first half - responded by driving right through the Utes and scoring on back-to-back possessions, even though they were playing without receiver B.J. Vickers. Vickers was expected to be the team's leading receiver this season, but he was left home from the trip for undisclosed disciplinary reasons.

Nevertheless, receiver Brad Wood caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Richard Kovalcheck to cap the first Arizona drive, and running back Gilbert Harris scored on a 1-yard touchdown plunge on fourth-and-goal to finish the second.

That cut the lead to 27-24, and set the stage for the tense finish.

After forcing a punt, the Wildcats drove on the Utes again - UA gained 297 yards in the second half, though the Utes put up 446 for the game - and seemed poised for a game-winning drive.

But they stalled at the Utah 42 with 3:16 left, and Arizona coach Mike Stoops chose to punt and rely on his defense to get the ball back, rather than go for it. It might have been a good decision, had the Wildcats been able to stop Ganther.

Ganther plowed for 18 yards on the Utes' next play, then bulled for 27 on the one after that. That virtually assured the victory, considering the Wildcats had only one timeout remaining.

The Utes managed the clock perfectly and did not give the ball back until punting with 20.6 seconds left. And two plays later, Utah's Casey Evans intercepted Kovalcheck to finally seal the win.

"It was a scare," Evans said. "But it will definitely help us down the road, facing that adversity. That will be good for all the new guys."

Whittingham agreed.

"We've talked all through two-a-days about dealing with adversity," he said. "When adversity comes, how are we going to handle it? We're going to look it right in the face and meet it head on. . . . Tonight, I think we passed the test."

mcl@sltrib.com

IN SHORT - In their first game under coach Kyle Whittingham, the Utes show a big-play offense and an opportunistic defense - sound familiar? - in beating Arizona 27-24 for their fourth straight win over a Pac-10 Conference team and record 17th straight overall.

KEY MOMENT - With Arizona having just taken the second-half kick and marched for a game-tying touchdown, Utah's Brent Casteel takes an option pitch to the right and dashes for a dazzling 59-yard touchdown to propel the Utes to the victory.

KEY STAT - Quarterback Brian Johnson showed increasing poise as the game progressed, and wound up completing 19 of 30 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown in his first career start for Utah.