SAN ANTONIO — Utah can make Pac-12 history in the Alamo Bowl. The 11th-ranked Utes can become the first team to bounce back from a loss in the conference championship game and end the season with a victory. They had an opportunity to do it last season. However, a loss to Northwestern in the Holiday Bowl put them in line with the other runners-up.
— 2011: Illinois 20, UCLA 14 (Fight Hunger Bowl)
— 2012: Baylor 49, UCLA 26 (Holiday Bowl)
— 2013: Texas Tech 37, Arizona State 23 (Holiday Bowl)
— 2014: Boise State 38, Arizona 32 (Fiesta Bowl)
— 2015: Wisconsin 23, USC 21 (Holiday Bowl)
— 2016: Oklahoma State 38, Colorado 8 (Alamo Bowl)
— 2017: TCU 39, Stanford 37 (Alamo Bowl)
— 2018: Northwestern 31, Utah 20 (Holiday Bowl)
The pattern doesn’t sit well with the Utes, who are coming off a 37-15 setback to Oregon in the Pac-12 finale.
“Trends are made to be broken,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. “So we’ll see.”
The Utes (11-2) get another chance to do so Tuesday (5:30 p.m., ESPN) against Texas (7-5) in the Alamodome. They’re 11-2 in bowl games under Whittingham, the second-best winning percentage in NCAA history.
Whittingham credits preparation and the work the players put in for the success.
“There’s no shortcuts and our guys take the bowl situation seriously,” he said.
Running back Zack Moss agrees. Every senior, including several probable NFL draft picks, opted to play in the Alamo Bowl instead of beginning preparations for the scouting combine.
“We don’t take it very lightly. So we’re going to come out and be prepared,” said Moss, who added that this game is special and the veterans don’t want to end their Utah careers with a loss. “So hopefully we can get a win here, hoist up that trophy.”
It remains to be seen if there’s sufficient motivation for the Utes to do so. After all, they were on a trajectory that could have landed them in the Rose Bowl or even the College Football Playoff. Defensive end Bradlee Anae, a consensus All-American, is confident the team will rise to the challenge. He insists they are determined to finish things off in positive fashion.
“We have one more shot as a group of seniors to leave the program better than we found it,” Anae said. “And so we’re fired up and ready to go.”
Safety Terrell Burgess declined to discuss the Oregon game with reporters Saturday.
“We’re on to Texas now,” he said. “But I think we just learned that we’ve got to make tackles.”
A simple solution? Perhaps.
Utah, however, has a depleted secondary with junior cornerback Jaylon Johnson declaring for the NFL draft and injuries sidelining safeties Julian Blackmon and R.J. Hubert. The Utes face a Texas offense that averages 468.2 yards and 35 points per game. Junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger has passed for 3,462 yards with 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Senior receiver Devon Duvernay is second in the nation with 103 catches this season.
Duvernay said he isn’t licking his chops or anything because of Utah’s personnel woes.
“I’m just going to do what I did all year — just try to watch film and just see what I can do to win that matchup,” Duvernay said. “I feel like at the end of the day it all comes down to matchups and just winning your matchup.”
Another pivotal matchup involves Utah’s highly touted defensive line. After a subpar showing in the loss to Oregon, a resurgence could come with senior starters Anae, Leki Fotu and John Penisini playing their final games for Utah. Texas offensive line coach Herb Hand has done his homework and is well-versed on the Utes.
“Obviously they present a challenge,” Hand said. “They’re very well coached. They’re older guys that have been in the program for a while. They play extremely hard. I tell the offensive linemen all the time that when we work, it all works. And that’s our challenge.”
Another storyline to watch includes the crowd. It’ll likely be heavily donned in Burnt Orange. The Longhorns are playing less than 80 miles from their home in Austin. There’s also great interest in how Jason Shelley will make the transition from quarterback to safety and whether Texas transfer Cameron Rising will see action against his old team.
Then there’s the rankings. A win could land Utah in the top 10 at season’s end. Whittingham said it’s something the team has talked about. Other reasons to prevail include the program’s bowl record, winning a 12th game and sending the seniors out the right way.
“There’s a myriad of reasons for winning the game, not that you need anything more than being a competitor,” Whittingham said. “But those are carrots out there we have talked about that would mean a lot to our program. Bottom line, to finish in the top 10, that’s definitely something in the forefront of our guys’ minds.”