With a marquee Pac-12 matchup between the Utes and Oregon Ducks set for Saturday afternoon at Rice-Eccles Stadium, college football’s biggest show is returning to the Wasatch Front.
The University of Utah is hosting ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday morning, the fifth time the show has visited the U.
Here’s a look at Utah’s “GameDay” experiences over the years.
No. 6 Utah 52, BYU 21
Nov. 20, 2004
Utah was on the verge of busting the BCS when “GameDay” came to Salt Lake City in November of 2004.
“It’s been the story of the year,” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said.
“The whole country is focusing right here on Salt Lake City,” added ESPN analyst Lee Corso. “This is a really great opportunity for Utah to showcase its football program.”
Utah’s coach Urban Meyer simply said it would be “a week that not many people will forget.”
Led by quarterback Alex Smith, the Utes were 10-0 … and all they had to was beat BYU to punch a ticket to the Fiesta Bowl. Corso was correct in his prediction that day: The Utes won, handing their rivals a 52-21 drubbing. They would go on to complete their perfect season with a win over Pitt in the Fiesta Bowl.
Herbstreit’s prediction that week, meanwhile, wasn’t quite as strong. Asked if he thought Meyer would leave Utah for a bigger program, the analyst hedged: “One day he probably will go, but I think right now the thing to remember is he is committed to Salt Lake City and to Utah.”
No. 4 TCU 47, No. 6 Utah 7
Nov. 6, 2010
A national showdown between two top-5 teams had plenty of pregame hype.
There were an estimated 10,000 in fans in attendance for “GameDay,” some of whom camped out for 30 hours to represent their Utes on national television. They were met with taunts from Corso.
“This place,” Corso said, facing west toward downtown Salt Lake City, “is almost as nice as Provo.”
The analyst projected that the No. 5 Utes would lose that day.
It was a blackout game for the Utes. But by the time the clocks showed zero, it was a memory to simply block out.
The Horned Frogs senior quarterback Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes and Utah found its BCS dreams busted, while TCU improved to 10-0.
“They out-coached us. They out-played us,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.
No. 5 Utah 30, No. 23 Cal 24
Oct. 10, 2015
Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton was sitting on the “GameDay” set wearing a Utah ball cap when Corso went looking for some headwear of his own.
In the show’s climactic moment, Corso reached under his desk, grabbed the head of the Utah mascot, Swoop, and plopped it on his own noggin.
The whole “GameDay” panel picked the Utes that morning.
Then the Utes got busy picking Jared Goff.
The California quarterback would go on to become the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, but not before being intercepted five times at Rice-Eccles Stadium that night.
No. 4 Washington 31, No. 17 Utah 24
Oct. 29, 2016
A year later, “GameDay” was back on campus. This time, however, Corso wouldn’t get the same reception.
“I love coming to Utah. Beautiful scenery, fresh air and great people,” Corso said. “You know what else they got, this city? They have a big home underdog. I always like the underdog, you’re right. But not this week. Give me Harry Husky!”
The analyst turned out to be right thanks to Dante Pettis’ 58-yard game-winning punt return.