This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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

A quick glance around Rice-Eccles Stadium toward game's end late Saturday afternoon suggested Utah had little to play for against Colorado. Snow here and there was floating out of a socked-in sky, temperatures were dropping, chunks of seats were unoccupied. You could have parked the MetLife blimp on top of portal 41 and not blocked anybody's view. The place was half-empty. If your friends and fans don't care about your effort, how much should you? As it turned out, the Utes looked at it the way they had to: as though it was half-full.

That's the way they played — tried to play, anyway — with the minds and hearts, the will and drive of optimists. Fact is, a depleted Utah team had had its fill of losing and refused to drop its third straight game to close the regular season.

Instead, the Utes, who played far from flawless football, gathered themselves enough to beat the Pac-12 South's last-place Buffaloes, 20-14, to finish in a tie atop the division. After what Utah had accomplished earlier this season, positioning itself for a run to the Rose Bowl — if not more — and then losing in consecutive weeks to Arizona and UCLA, Saturday's achievement may have seemed inconsequential.

Not to the Utes.

"It felt great to go out with a bang like that," senior linebacker Gionni Paul said.

They had their shot at sharing that title and ending with the best Pac-12 record (6-3) they had accomplished. And so, they did.

"It's a step forward," head coach Kyle Whittingham said, expressing deep feelings for his players and what they achieved this season, acknowledging things might have turned out better.

"It's an emotional time," said senior quarterback Travis Wilson. "I was glad we got a win in our last game here. I couldn't be more happy and thankful. It's been a good season. I had my rocky moments, but I still feel like we had a special season."

For all the pessimists, consider this: What would have happened had Utah lost? An undefeated start would have disintegrated into four defeats in the final six games. Had that happened, a half-filled stadium, given the wintry weather, would have been justified (when the press-box announcement was made that attendance for the game was 45,823, everybody busted out laughing).

As was fitting for the way the Utes had played in recent weeks, they struggled for much of this game. The offense was what it has been, especially without Devontae Booker and Britain Covey: Limited. When Kenneth Scott was hurt in the second half, you wondered who was left to make a play.

Enough were made — thanks largely to Joe Williams, who ran for 187 yards — to win the game, despite fumbles, muffs, 16 incompletions against 10 completions, picks and penalties. All told, Wilson passed for 108 yards.

Whittingham complimented his beleaguered quarterback, nonetheless, citing his toughness, saying he got the job done.

The Utes went up, 7-0, on a Wilson pass to Scott in the first quarter, and then settled into a sloppy kind of back-and-forth with the Buffs for the rest of the game. A 37-yard field goal by Andy Phillips jacked the Utes' lead to 10, but a few plays after Boobie Hobbs fumbled a punt at the Utah 33, Colorado quarterback Cade Apsay hit Nelson Spruce for a 28-yard score.

Emblematic of the game, which was 60 percent positive versus 40 percent negative, was a sequence at the end of the half, when Williams tore off 64 yards, setting up a terrific scoring opportunity, but a Wilson interception deflated that chance. Williams scored on the first Utah drive of the second half, a 13-play march, making it 17-7. A subsequent pick by Paul at the Buff 28 set up another Phillips field goal.

Circumstances got shaky for Utah when the Buffaloes scored with 4:13 left, on a 13-play, 80-yard drive, and got the ball back with 2:28 remaining at their own 19-yard line, the Buffs down six points. The defense rose back up to rock-steady, as Jared Norris recovered a fumble — and nothing of consequence happened after that.

Except for the Utes taking a piece of that South title, and booking that best-ever finish in the Pac-12. Too bad by then, even after the snow had stopped and a hint of sunshine broke through, two MetLife blimps could have landed in the stands without obstructing anything.

The Utes didn't seem to care one bit.

"[We're] co-champs of the South," Whittingham said. "That's a great accomplishment for our seniors. … I can't say enough good things about these guys."

For them, and maybe only them, winning was enough.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.