Joe Starkey, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
Utah showed the country a big-time football program Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium, one that undoubtedly could have given USC, Oklahoma or anyone else all it could handle.
The whole state of Utah, it seemed, descended on Tempe in school colors, drowning the stadium in a sea of red and dwarfing the tiny but spirited Pitt section . . .
Too bad all those Utah fans didn't get to see their undefeated and largely untested team measure itself against another powerful program.
Instead, the wacked-out politics of college football mandated that Utah play the champion of the meager Big East in one of the four biggest bowl games of the year.
Joe Bendel, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
This was all about Utah, all about its pledge to be counted among the big guns of college football. This was about the Utes' high-powered offense, their classy and savvy quarterback Alex Smith, their suddenly ferocious pass rush (nine sacks) and their fun-and-gun style that made their leader, Urban Meyer, a consensus national coach of the year . . .
Utah was seen as the unwanted guest in the BCS bowl series — a non-BCS program that didn't belong — but there is no doubting the Salt Lake City-based school now.
To be sure, Big East Conference rep Pitt (8-4) might not have provided the type of competition another BCS school could have, but Utah assaulted the Panthers with such ease and precision that it likely could have gone toe-to-toe with just about anybody in the country last night.
Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
The Panthers were embarrassed on just about every front last night as they were badly beaten by Utah, 35-7, in front a sellout crowd 73,519 that was dominated by Utah fans.
They were embarrassed offensively, they were embarrassed defensively and, by their play, they greatly embarrassed the Big East Conference they represented . . .
Both teams came into the contest lacking the elite credentials these games usually require.
Undefeated Utah was suspect because it came from the Mountain West Conference, a league that never before had sent a team to one of these games . . .
It would be nice to report that, at the least, Utah came out of this game with the label of being BCS worthy. But who knows if the Utes are really that good? The opposition last night looked like another Mountain West cupcake.
No one should have been totally surprised that the Utes' third-in-the-nation offense, led by Heisman Trophy finalist Alex Smith, had its way with the Pitt defense. This is as imaginative an offense as there is in the NCAA, and Smith operates it superbly.
If there was a offensive genius on the sideline last night, it was Utah coach Urban Meyer, who, like Harris, was in his last game. They're going to love Meyer at Florida, where he is headed. He will put points on the board just like Steve Spurrier did.
Scott Bordow, East Valley Tribune (Mesa, Ariz.):
Congratulations, Utah, you just completed the best season in school history . . .
You proved once and for all that you belonged in the alphabet soup that's the BCS, and when the final college football polls are released, you'll be ranked in the top five.
It's been a magical, unexpected season amid the rolling hills and snow-capped mountains, but some of you surely will be asking yourselves a wistful question this morning:
What if?
What if we had a chance to play for the national championship?
What if we had the opportunity to play either USC or Oklahoma?
Are we good enough? Could we beat one of college football's superpowers?
The answers: Probably not — and it doesn't matter.
Yes, Utah has had a terrific season. But the Mountain West Conference is not the toughest road to travel. The Utes beat one team — Texas A&M — with a national pedigree, and that came way back in September.
If Utah played in the Pac-10, it wouldn't have ended the season undefeated and in a BCS game. That's not a knock on the Utes, just reality.
Slim Smith, East Valley Tribune (Mesa, Ariz.):
The Pittsburgh Panthers came into Saturday's Fiesta Bowl with something to prove, doggone it.
Mock us for losses to Connecticut (you know, the UConn team without Diana Taurasi or Emeka Okafor) and Nebraska (hey, it's pretty hard to lose to the Cornhuskers these days).
Snicker over our overtime win over Furman, our come-from-behind win over Temple.
Deride us for our co-championship in the Regular East Conference (It was the Big East before Miami and Virginia Tech bailed for the ACC).
Say that we don't belong. Say that we'll get murdered by Florida's next coach.
We have something to prove, doggone it.
And wouldn't you know it, the Panthers proved plenty. Mainly, they proved to be a suitable speed bump on a road to an unbeaten season. Utes 35, Panthers 7.
Yes, Pittsburgh proved a point Saturday: The BCS is as messed up on one end of the matchups as the other.