With spot in Pac-12 championship game secure, Utah turns focus to BYU before taking shot at the Rose Bowl

BOULDER, Colo. — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham wouldn’t budge. After Saturday’s 30-7 win at Colorado, he repeatedly offered short responses to media questions about the Utes claiming at least a share of the Pac-12 South title.

Whittingham downplayed it being a big win in Boulder, noting they’re all big.

When pressed about it maybe being a bit bigger than usual because of the division race, he still wouldn’t bite.

“Oh maybe,” Whittingham said. “We’ll see what happens here.”

The reporter followed up with a reminder that the Utes had secured a share of the divisional crown.

“Yeah, I guess that’s right,” Whittingham said.

Then came another question from the reporter.

“So doesn’t that make it a little, little bigger?”

Whittingham’s reply: “Let me think about that for a while.”

The measured responses came because the day’s scenarios were only half complete. About nine hours or so later, Oregon edged Arizona State 31-29 to give the Utes their first outright Pac-12 South crown and the program’s initial berth in the conference championship game — Nov. 30 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California against either seventh-ranked Washington State (10-1) or No. 16 Washington (8-3).

I don’t know if I have been around a team that handles adversity any better than these guys. These guys just have a lot of guts and a lot of toughness. – Utah coach Kyle Whittingham

Should the Utes, who moved up to 17th (coaches) and 18th (AP) in this week’s top 25 rankings, prevail, they’ll play in the Rose Bowl.

Yes, the Rose Bowl.

Although Utah still has this Saturday’s rivalry game against BYU to play at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the non-conference clash — win or lose — has no impact on the possibility of Pasadena.

What did, however, was coming out on top in snowy, cold Boulder. The Utes overcame a sluggish start to pull away handily in handing the Buffaloes their sixth consecutive start. A day later, Colorado fired head coach Mike MacIntyre.

Utah finished Pac-12 play with a 6-3 record. The Utes defeated Stanford, Arizona, USC, UCLA, Oregon and Colorado. Setbacks came against the Washington schools and Arizona State.

After passing for 221 yards and two touchdowns in his second start in place of the injured Tyler Huntley, redshirt freshman quarterback Jason Shelley said Utah football deserves the success.

“We’ve worked hard. We’ve put in a lot of work these past few years and the years before,” Shelley said. “And this year, we feel like we should have gotten some respect, and we earned it.”

While it took hours for the outright division title to materialize, Saturday’s game at Folsom Field didn’t go Utah’s way until the second half. The Utes and Buffaloes were locked in to a 7-7 standstill after two quarters.

Whittingham said no wholesale changes were made.

“We just executed better,” he explained.

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Individual standouts included wide receiver Jaylen Dixon (four catches for 125 yards and one touchdown), kicker Matt Gay (three field goals and three PATs) and linebacker Francis Bernard (10 tackles). Cornerback Jaylon Johnson and safety Marquise Blair made interceptions, and defensive lineman Hauati Pututau recovered a fumble. The Utes made 16 tackles for loss, including six sacks.

Utah’s big numbers came despite losing leading tackler Chase Hansen to a targeting penalty in the first quarter.

“I don’t know really what to say to that, other than targeting is something that has some gray area as far as when it’s going to be called and when it’s not,” Whittingham said. “And so, you continue to educate your players and coach them to do it the right way.”

Whittingham added that officials in the box must have had different angles to see the play involving Hansen than he had watching it on the stadium’s big screen from the field.

“It can be frustrating,” Whittingham said. “But it’s all in the name of player safety, which is the most important thing.”

The Utes, meanwhile, are now 2-0 since Shelley and running back Armand Shyne have moved up as starters after season-ending injuries to Huntley and Zack Moss.

“I don’t know if I have been around a team that handles adversity any better than these guys,” Whittingham said. “These guys just have a lot of guts and a lot of toughness.”

*****

BYU (6-5) at No. 17/18 Utah (8-3)

• Rice-Eccles Stadium
• Saturday, 8 p.m.
• TV: FS1
• Radio: ESPN 700AM/KSL 1160AM