There have been better teams and better years inside the frame of Utah football, but there’s never been a better season played against the consistent level of competition the 2018 Utes faced.
Even with a few blemishes along the way, they should be commended for achieving what they have.
And that’s why they owe themselves something, still — a Holiday Bowl win on Monday night, the fitting way to end the season and the year.
It’s not as though the Pac-12 was any kind of juggernaut, any sort of murderers row, relative to other P5 leagues this year. And yet, the two top teams in the history of Utah’s program — the 2004 and 2008 iterations, great teams each — did not have to contend with what these Utes did, at least not week in and week out. They had some toughies, for sure, especially the ’08 Utes, but it’s impossible to say with exactness how those teams would have finished had they played the 2018 schedule. What the Mountain West threw up against them, on the whole, wasn’t quite its equal.
This time around, other than Washington, the Utes lost to only two opponents.
Take any of the best teams at any of the in-state schools in their histories and force them to run through what Utah did this season, and the guess is, there would have been some results on the wrong side of the ledger.
It’s not just the strength of each individual opponent the Utes played, it’s the cumulative effect of playing all of them.
The 2018 Utes were far from flawless. There were games when the offense was confused and ineffective, and when the defense couldn’t solely slam the door shut on foes. But ending up 6-3 in league, 9-4 overall, and staring now at 10 wins, having won the South and gone to the Pac-12 championship game, finishing a touchdown and a two-point conversion away from the Rose Bowl was a heady trip.
MONSON’S TOP UTAH BOWL WINS
1. 2009 Sugar Bowl: Utah 31, Alabama 17.
2. 2005 Fiesta Bowl: Utah 35, Pitt 7.
3. 1964 Liberty Bowl: Utah 32, West Virginia 6.
4. 2001 Vegas Bowl: Utah 10, USC 6.
5. 2018 Holiday Bowl?
It could have been better. But it was pretty darn good, considering the injuries and adversity the team weathered. It was undisputed progress for a program still in its relative infancy in the Pac-12.
All of which rolls up to the reason Utah has to win the Holiday Bowl.
One last triumph is the only way the 2018 season can be punctuated in proper form.
Nothing else will do.
Beating 8-5 Northwestern, an outfit against which the Utes are appropriately favored, is a must. This isn’t one of those situations where a loss is optional because a short-ended score at this point doesn’t matter.
It does matter because this Utah team matters.
It’s been of high enough quality that losing now would tarnish the aforementioned progress. And after the scarcity of points in the league title game, and being on the wrong end of that low score, it is time now for the Utes to stand up and show the best of what they can be, not the worst or the least.
In some ways, the Wildcats mirror Utah, being a strong defensive club and all. But they are not as talented, nor as accomplished.
Neither of those things guarantees a bowl victory. Superior teams lose to lesser ones in the postseason as a matter of less-than-shocking routine. But if Utah does what it is capable of doing, what it typically does in bowl games under the eye of Kyle Whittingham, it can hang the team picture on the wall, with a 10-4 record under it, and look back at it with a great deal of pride.
If it doesn’t do what Whittingham’s Utes usually do, then it will look back on the end of a mostly sweet season with a taste of bitterness. And nobody in the Utah program wants any part of that.
What it comes down to, then, is a proper focus on the matter at hand. Again, a Whittingham strength. His 11-1 bowl record is proof of that.
Moreover, Utah football on the whole wins its bowl games, sporting a most impressive all-time postseason record of 17-4, not including a loss in the 1947 Pineapple Bowl, a game not sanctioned by the NCAA. In this particular case, against this particular team, the outcome doesn’t concern whatever force or resistance Northwestern will put up as much as it concerns the Utes preparing for their business the way they should, the way they can, and then executing it.
No Ute wants to throw back any portion of what’s been gained this season. Next year has the potential of being even more successful, what with the returning experience and talent. Acceleration into the offseason via mighty mo’ is the order of the week.
Utah fans are fairly psyched for this Holiday Bowl, even after the Utes missed out on going to Granddad’s game on New Year’s Day. And if the fans are up for it, the players and coaches should find plenty of motivation for and satisfaction in playing in San Diego on New Year’s Eve.
They can win the Holiday Bowl, if they will.
And … they will, by a minimum of one touchdown, maybe more.
GORDON MONSON hosts “The Big Show” with Jake Scott weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone.
