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In sports, the best player on a team often defaults to being "the best leader."

This is only a slim part of the truth for Utah's senior captain Nate Orchard.

There's the typical things he does: hitting the weights hard, having strong practices, and being the tough glue for the team's toughest unit.

Then there's dinner. That's what Kenneth Scott, who spends most of practice on an opposite sideline from Orchard, will remember more than anything else.

"I know if I'm hungry, if I don't have nothing to eat, that he's very genuine," Scott said. "He'll bring you over to his house and feed you."

It might be because Orchard himself was taken in by a family, one whose name he eventually took. It may be thanks to the fact that he's a father now, and understands the responsibilities of being more mature, a man among young men who knew how to lead when he walked on the campus.

You can read into his motivation as much as you want. He knows - and Utah's senior class has exemplified - that being good to people is what builds unity. Inviting teammates over to for a home-cooked meal has as much to do with Utah's 7-3 record as anything he does on the field.

"It begins with the minute you set foot in this program," he said. "You already got guys that you're friends with. Buddies that look up to you in different ways. At all times, you want to be a good example for them."

For this senior class' last home game Saturday, it won't take too long to go through all the festivities: Only 15 scholarship seniors will be introduced, walking onto the Rice-Eccles Stadium field with their families.

Don't think of it as small: Think of the class as beaten lean by battle. Many of them were the first recruiting class to only know the Pac-12, the group that huddled together a little tighter through two five-win seasons. They are admittedly sparse, and one of the senior captains, Dres Anderson, was lost for the year only a few weeks ago. But the impression they leave looms large.

"I think adversity makes you tough," Kyle Whittingham said. "These guys went through some tough times, and they developed the mindset that they would not be denied."

They have their role models: Brian Blechen said he remembered Justin Taplin-Ross and Greg Bird as two of the players he looked up to most. Tony Bergstrom, Dave Kruger and Chaz Walker were forceful personalities on the team.

But so was Orchard, even from the start. Blechen watched Orchard play for Highland in the 4A state championship, then his eyes bulged when he saw the burly wide receiver take off the pads.

"I was like, 'No way, that's a fully grown man,'" he said. "All I can remember about Nate is him looking the same today as his first day. He's always been Nate, you didn't think of a freshman even when he got here."

The Utes needed guys like Orchard to weather some of the toughest times in the program's recent history. While Utah did manage an eight-win campaign in 2011, back-to-back losing seasons created questions: Were the Utes good enough? Did they have enough talent? How long would it take to get back?

Quietly, the challenges bound the class together.

"I mean it's something you're just forced to deal with, just like anything in life," Westlee Tonga said. "We knew what it took to get there. We got there but didn't quite get over the hump. Now we've gotten over the hump, and hopefully that keeps on going."

Utah will miss Orchard's 16.5 sacks. It will miss Eric Rowe's 10 break-ups, and Blechen's 50 tackles. It will miss Anderson's and Kaelin Clay's receptions and touchdowns.

But it will also miss the rides that Junior Salt gave to the offensive line, the times Blechen lent his meal card out to those missing their own, the arms each of the seniors put around their younger teammates just when that was what they needed.

The seniors hope that trait lives on: brotherhood. That, and another thing.

"I haven't given much thought to the legacy: I just want to win," Tonga said. "I want to win out. I want to win the bowl game. Hopefully, that's what we've brought to the table, that's what we've given to the team. We always expected to win."

Twitter: @kylegoon —

Utah's seniors

Seventeen seniors (15 on scholarship) will be recognized on Saturday:

Dres Anderson, WR; Brian Blechen, DB; Kaelin Clay, WR; Wykie Freeman, DB; Jacoby Hale, LB; Sese Ianu, DT; Chandler Johnson, DB; Andre Lewis, WR; Geoffrey Norwood, WR; Nate Orchard, DE; Davion Orphey, DB; Ryan Petersen, WR; Marc Pouvave, OL; Greg Reese, DE; Eric Rowe, DB; Junior Salt, OL; Westlee Tonga, TE.

Senior stats and figures

• Nate Orchard has the program's single-season record for sacks with 16.5 this year.

• Dres Anderson is the fifth all-time leading receiver in school history with 2,077 yards.

• Eric Rowe has started 43 of his 44 career games in his four years.

• Brian Blechen has started all 45 of his career games and has nine career interceptions. —

No. 15 Arizona at No. 20 Utah

P Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

TV • ESPN