This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

Erik Weierholt arrived at his office at 6 a.m. Monday and opened his email, scrolling until he found December 2014 — the last time all hell broke loose.

The possibility of a return visit to the Las Vegas Bowl had occurred to Utah's director of academic services about a week earlier, and he set in motion his contingency for what is the "worst-case scenario" among Pac-12 bowls, from an academic support standpoint, because it's played the day after the conclusion of Utah's final exams.

His goal was the same: for players to depart unencumbered on Tuesday, their exams behind them. The first step, for Weierholt, was to review the feedback he'd gotten from players' professors last year.

Some professors are less than thrilled to be asked to allow students to take their exams early. "Understandably," Weierholt said. For all they know, players dish on the test with fellow students. And some professors planned to write their exams the weekend before finals.

So Weierholt and Beth Brennan, Utah's coordinator of football academics, will inevitably have to proctor some exams at the team hotel, a short walk from the whirring and dinging of slot machines. But Weierholt hopes to avoid those strange scenes to the greatest extent possible.

"I absolutely think they do a better job, academically, when they're here, in a comfortable environment," he said. "Something they're familiar with."

Schools have long debated the merits of playing in bowl games. Ohio State famously turned down an invitation to the 1962 Rose Bowl because its faculty council could not abide players' participation in a game — "not a championship," but "a commercial venture," The Wall Street Journal quoted one professor as saying — the day before spring classes began.

Some opposed a playoff on the same basis. Classes will have begun at both Clemson and Michigan State by Jan. 11, when the national championship game is played in Glendale, Ariz., both teams having already extended their seasons for conference championship and semifinal games.

But earlier bowls that can conflict with fall exams are on the rise, too. There were just two bowls played before Christmas in 1999; there will be 13 this year.

"There's definitely some academic stress, going forward," said junior kicker Andy Phillips early last week.

In 2004, Virginia issued a preemptive warning that it wouldn't accept an invitation to a bowl scheduled during the school's final exam period.

And not only might football interfere with academics, but academics might interfere with players' health, found University of Missouri researcher Bryan Mann. His studies indicated players were more than three times as likely to be injured during periods of high academic stress, like finals week.

It doesn't tilt the competitive balance in the Vegas Bowl, at least. It's finals week for both BYU and Utah, and like Utah, BYU's staff has juggled the two before, including last year before the Dec. 22 Miami Beach Bowl.

BYU freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum arranged to take one final early, on Saturday, and will take the rest on Monday before leaving for Las Vegas. He credits his LDS mission to Chile for teaching him to manage his time.

Senior defensive tackle Graham Rowley only has two finals — the rest of his classes call for term-end projects — "but I know a lot of guys have issues with that, and timing. We just have to study hard ... so we get that out of the way and focus on the game when we get down to Vegas."

Brennan and Weierholt don't fault the Las Vegas Bowl for being held when it's held. Brennan said last year's cram session went "surprisingly well." Academic calendars vary, Weierholt said, and "all of these bowls are probably inconvenient for someone."

"Nobody's been freaking out yet," he said Monday. "There's quite a few of [the players] who are very stressed, but they just put their head down and keep working."

It helps, said Utah athletic director Chris Hill, that finals seem to be increasingly held the week prior to finals week. Utah senior linebacker Gionni Paul said he finished his last exam even before Utah accepted its invitation, and he began studying BYU the next day.

But if necessary, Hill said, players will stay in Salt Lake City until they meet their demands and then fly to Las Vegas, courtesy of the university. Utah does the same for spring athletes who want to attend commencement. Even if it's not cheap, Hill said, "you never go out of business taking care of people graduating or taking exams. If we go out of business for that, then we'll be out of business."

And Brennan sees at least one silver lining to the early bowl: downtime. Spring classes do not begin until Jan. 11, and her players will be better-rested thanks to fall's harried conclusion.

Jay Drew contributed reporting.

Twitter: @matthew_piper —

BYU vs. Utah

P Las Vegas Bowl

Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

TV • Ch. 4