Ahead of Utah-Oregon, ‘College GameDay’ crew talks pig hunting with the Mailman, pig farming with Bryson Barnes and the Utes’ longshot Heisman

This week marks the fifth time that “ESPN College GameDay” comes to Salt Lake City for a University of Utah football game, and the second time that host Rece Davis has appeared as part of a show here.

But his history with the city actually goes back much longer.

“My first trip here was actually for the 1997 NBA Finals — I was hosting the NBA Finals as an ESPN radio host, so I was here for not for the one where Michael Jordan cheated, where he pushed [Bryon Russell] and the offensive foul should’ve been called, but I was here for the Jordan flu game,” Davis said Friday morning from President’s Circle on the U.’s campus.

Clearly, he knows how to play to an audience, as was further evidenced by him invoking a unique conversation he once had with then-Jazz star Karl Malone.

The Mailman at some point made an offer that’s stuck with him.

“Karl asked me to go pig hunting with him — like, shoot them from a helicopter,” Davis recalled. “I haven’t gone yet, but it actually sounds like fun, even though I’m not a hunter. I probably need that thrill in my life, hanging out of a helicopter and shooting at feral hogs.”

Told he could now go pig farming with Utes quarterback Bryson Barnes instead, Davis laughed.

“I could, yeah! That sounds like less fun,” he replied. “That sounds like harder work.”

Davis, analyst Desmond Howard, and the rest of the GameDay crew are indeed here for work, which on this occasion happens to be previewing Saturday afternoon’s matchup between Utah and Oregon at Rice-Eccles Stadium — a game that figures to have significant Pac-12 implications.

On the day before the game, though, Davis and Howard braved the chilly conditions outside to provide their insights on both the action to come and on the Utes’ season as a whole to this point, while NFL punter-turned-personality Pat McAfee hosted his show a few hundred feet away — an oddball spectacle that featured myriad Utes-related guests, plus the revelation of Utah’s helmets for Saturday’s game, as well as the celebrity guest prediction-maker for ESPN’s broadcast.

Howard said he enjoys following Utah because its head coach’s mentality and approach means that the team will usually have a chance to be really good.

“This is one of those programs that I personally like, just because I like Kyle Whittingham,” Howard said. “I like his style. I’m an old-school type of dude and he’s old-school type of coach. So I respect the physicality that they bring to the gridiron. So I’m more than excited to watch these guys tussle with Oregon tomorrow.”

Davis said the Utes are consistently good because the coaching staff is not only adept at recognizing talent, but perhaps even better at maximizing it. He said he appreciated that so many standout Utes players wind up excelling at positions different than what they were originally recruited as.

“They do a great job of evaluation, they do a great job of putting people into roles. I’ve grown very, very weary of the overused word ‘culture’ — I wish I could think of a better one that applies here,” he said. “But there’s a real camaraderie and for-the-good-of-the-team spirit here that I think allows people that, when players go down to injury, or when they’ve had to sit for a year or two, waiting their turn, that they are ready to step into the role. And I think that has served them very well.”

It’s not just about mentality, though.

They both acknowledge that Utah has some legit talent.

Howard called Jonah Elliss “one of the best defensive ends in all college football … you’ve got to account for guys like that.” Both were intrigued by the addition of safety Sione Vaki to the offense and the spark that he’s brought the past few weeks.

And both are incredibly impressed with the job Barnes has done stepping up of late after being thrown into a tough position with Cam Rising redshirting (and probably Brandon Rose, too).

Davis was asked if he’s surprised by the Utes’ 6-1 record when they’re playing a guy at quarterback who began the season as a non-scholarship player.

“I shouldn’t be, but probably a little bit, to be honest. Especially when he struggled in the early part of the season,” he said. “But I said last week that after they had that [USC] game in hand and sort of let it get away, with the fourth quarter and punt return and turnover, that most teams would come apart, [get] frustrated, or [have] some anxiety that would surface. … And yet, he came out there calm and made plays, made that huge run, showed extraordinary toughness, which sort of epitomizes this entire program.”

Howard added that it’s natural to be “kind of skeptical” of an offense that’s playing without its star quarterback, while noting that the Utes are also missing a top weapon as well in tight end Brant Kuithe, who’s been ruled out for the season.

But he said the toughness instilled by Whittingham has helped keep Utah’s season afloat.

“Listen, this is gonna be a four-quarter brawl. This game won’t be over in the second quarter, it won’t be over in the third quarter,” Howard said. “You understand no matter what the score is, no matter what’s happening, that Utah’s still gonna come at you with all they got, which is why you respect them so much.”

The addition of Vaki on offense hasn’t hurt, either.

As for what kind of attention the two-way star might be getting nationally if he keeps up the type of production he’s displayed against Cal and USC, well, the 1991 Heisman Trophy winner said there’s probably not much chance of Vaki getting in that conversation, as his offensive exploits began so late in the season, but with some attention-grabbing plays over the next few weeks, he thinks Vaki could at least get some analysts to start mentioning him in the conversation.

“In my opinion, as a Heisman winner, as a Heisman voter, it’s not about your stats, it’s about Heisman moments in big games,” said Howard. “… He has an opportunity now, [but] he’s coming from behind. Let’s keep it 100 — he’s coming way from behind. But if he’s able to do some things, maybe he can get an invite. But you have some games coming up where people will really be paying attention. Like tomorrow.”

Vaki’s transition to offense came because injuries to Utah’s primary playmakers decimated the attack.

The Utes have been hit hard by injuries all across the roster, for that matter, with Rising, Kuithe, Rose, star linebacker Lander Barton, tight end Thomas Yassmin, and running back Micah Bernard all incurring season-ending injuries.

Given that subplot, Davis is particularly impressed by what Utah has already pulled off.

“I really, really respect what they’ve accomplished, and the way they go about their business, and the adversity that they’ve overcome with all of the injuries,” Davis said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen the number of injuries to key players that they’ve endured, and they’re still right in the middle of the Pac-12 and College Football Playoff race.”

Speaking of which, it wasn’t lost on Howard that such a marquee matchup, an Oregon vs. Utah game that will be the center of the college football world for a day, just amplifies the disappointment over the impending demise of the storied Pac-12 Conference.

“Bittersweet, right? We’ve called it the toughest conference in college football. I think it’s the most talented and they had the most depth, too,” Howard said. “So for this to be the last hurrah, so to speak, it’s bittersweet.”