2009 aLLSTATE SUGaR BowL Utah Game Notes Jon M. Huntsman Center • 1825 E. South Campus Dr. Associate Athletics Director/SID: Liz Abel Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0900 Associate Director: Kyle Harris Phone 801.581.3511/3510 • Fax 801.581.4358 Assistant Director: Brooke Frederickson www.UtahUtes.com Assistant Director: Mike DeVine Office Manager: Kate Sturgeon 3 2008 Utah Football Schedule (12-0, 8-0 MWC - 1st) NO. 7 UTAH WILL PLAY NO. 4 ALABAMA IN ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL Date Opponent TV Time/Result 12-0 Utes, 12-1 Tide to meet on Jan. 2 in New Orleans Aug. 30 at Michigan ABC/ESPN2 W, 25-23 Sept. 6 UNLV* The Mtn. W, 42-21 Location New Orleans, La. Sept. 13 at Utah State KJZZ W, 58-10 Date Friday, Jan. 2 Sept. 20 at Air Force* VERSUS W, 30-23 Site Louisiana Superdome (72,000/FieldTurf) UTAH FOOTBALL Sept. 27 Weber State (HC) W, 37-21 Kickoff 7:17 p.m. CT Oct. 2 Oregon State VERSUS W, 31-28 Television Fox Sports Oct. 11 at Wyoming* The Mtn. W, 40-7 Radio KALL 700AM Sports Radio, ESPN Radio Oct. 18 Colorado State* The Mtn. W, 49-16 Nov. 1 at New Mexico* The Mtn. W, 13-10 Nov. 6 TCU* CBS C W, 13-10 > No. 7 Utah (12-0) will play No. 4 Alabama (12-1) in the 75th Allstate Nov. 15 at San Diego State* The Mtn. W, 63-14 Sugar Bowl on Friday, Jan. 2 in New Orleans. Kickoff is 7:17 p.m. CT Nov. 22 Brigham Young* The Mtn. W, 48-24 (6:17 p.m. MT) in the 72,000-seat Louisiana Superdome. The game will Jan. 2 Alabama (Sugar Bowl) Fox Sports be televised by Fox Sports. HC-Homecoming ; *-Mountain West Conference game > Utah ended the regular season ranked No. 6 in the BCS Standings Utah Hotel, SID Contacts and No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches, Associated Press and Harris polls. Team Hotel > Utah’s No. 6 BCS ranking ties its best in school history—which is also New Orleans Marriott (555 Canal Street) the best BCS ranking ever by a team from a non-automatic qualifying Utah Sports Information Director conference. The Utes, who have been ranked sixth in the BCS standings Liz Abel (arrives New Orleans Dec. 27, 3:00 p.m.) for the last three weeks, rose to No. 6 in the final BCS standings of 2004. Cell: 801-209-6346; Email: [email protected] The 2004 Utes finished with a No. 4 A.P. ranking, which is the best in school history. Utah Assistant Sports Information Director Brooke Frederickson (arrives New Orleans Dec. 31) Cell: 801-493-9254; Email: [email protected] > Utah is 12-0 for the second time ever—tying the school mark set in 2004. Media Access/Policies at the Sugar Bowl > Utah owns the longest win streak in the nation at 13 games. Utah and Press Conferences Alabama were tied at 13 before the Tide’s loss to Florida on Dec. 6. Utah Times and days to be determined has won 20 of its last 21 games. Media at Practices / Interviews 1. Media may attend the last 30 minutes of practice. > With the invitation, Utah becomes the first team from a non-automatic 2. TVs may shoot the last 15 minutes of practice. qualifying conference to play in two BCS bowl games. Utah was the 3. Interviews will be conducted following practice. original BCS Buster in 2004—beating Pittsburgh in the (2005) Fiesta 4. Practice on Dec. 27 and the walkthrough on Jan. 1 are CLOSED Bowl to complete an undefeated season at 12-0. Utah’s Bowl History (10-3) > Utah has the second-longest current bowl win streak in the nation at Year Bowl Opponent Result Score seven games—one behind Boston College. Utah wins during the streak 1939 Sun Bowl New Mexico Won 26-0 came against Fresno State (1999), USC (2001), Southern Miss (2003), 1964 Liberty Bowl West Virginia Won 32-6 Pittsburgh (2005/2004 season), Georgia Tech (2005), Tulsa (2006) and 1992 Copper Bowl Washington State Lost 31-28 Navy (2007). 1993 Freedom Bowl USC Lost 28-21 1994 Freedom Bowl Arizona Won 16-13 > With two wins over ranked teams this season (then No. 11 TCU and 1996 Copper Bowl Wisconsin Lost 38-10 No. 14 BYU), Utah improved to 6-0 all-time in games when both Utah 1999 Las Vegas Bowl Fresno State Won 17-16 and its opponent were nationally ranked. 2001 Las Vegas Bowl USC Won 10-6 2003 Liberty Bowl Southern Miss Won 17-0 >The Sugar Bowl will feature two of the nation’s stingiest defensive 2005 Fiesta Bowl Pittsburgh Won 35-7 teams. Alabama ranks sixth in scoring defense (13.0), while Utah is 12th 2005 Emerald Georgia Tech Won 38-10 2006 Armed Forces Tulsa Won 25-13 (17.2). On offense, Utah is ranked 15th in scoring (37.42) and Alabama 2007 Poinsettia Navy Won 35-32 is No. 30 (31.15). See pages 4-5 for complete rankings on the two teams. www.UtaHUtES.CoM 1 2009 aLLSTATE SUGaR BowL Utah Game Notes Utah General Information BCS BEATERS Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Utah has more wins against BCS schools (15) since 2000 than any President: Michael Young other non-automatic qualifying BCS school. The Utes are 15-10 Athletics Director: Dr. Chris Hill against BCS teams since 2000, 10-3 since 2004 and 2-0 this year. Conference: Mountain West Conference Since the BCS began in 1998, Utah is tied for the most wins (16) Enrollment: 28,205 against BCS teams by a non-BCS team. The top non-BCS teams Nickname: Utes since 2000: Utah (15), Fresno State (14), Navy (13), TCU (12) and Colors: Red, White (PMS 187, White) BYU (10). The top non-BCS teams since 1998: Utah (16), Navy Stadium: Rice-Eccles (45,017/FieldTurf) (16), TCU (15), BYU (14) and Fresno State (14). Utah Football Coach Kyle Whittingham Year School Overall MWC Bowl NEW ORLEANS TIES 2005 Utah 7-5 4-4 W (Georgia Tech) Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham has lived in New Orleans 2006 Utah 8-5 5-3 W (Tulsa) twice. His father, Fred, played for the New Orleans Saints from 2007 Utah 9-4 5-3 W (Navy) 1967-68 (and part of 1969) during his seven-year NFL career. Kyle 2008 Utah 12-0 8-0 Whittingham also played in the Big Easy—spending the 1984 Totals 36-14 22-10 3-0 season with the USFL’s New Orleans Breakers … Backup safety RJ Rice (Salt Lake City) spent part of his childhood in New Orleans, Education where he played in his very first football game, meaning he will start Brigham Young and end his football career in New Orleans. Bachelor’s in educational psychology (1984) Master’s in athletic administration (1987) UTAH FOOTBALL COACHES’ BOX The Utah coaching staff assignments will remain unchanged for Coaches’ Game Day Locations the Allstate Sugar Bowl, even with Gary Andersen accepting the On The Field head coaching job at Utah State on Dec. 4. Andersen will continue Kyle Whittingham, Head Coach to serve as Utah’s defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Gary Andersen*, Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line through the bowl game. Kalani Sitake, who was announced as Charlie Dickey, Offensive Line Utah’s new defensive coordinator at the team’s bowl announcement Jay Hill, Tight Ends/Special Teams party on Dec. 7, will stay as the linebackers’ coach for the bowl. Aaron Roderick, Wide Receivers Dave Schramm, Running Backs Kalani Sitake^, Linebackers BOWL BITS Morgan Scalley, Safeties First-time Sugar Bowl invitee Utah will play an Alabama program *New head coach at Utah State that has appeared in 13 Sugar Bowls—tied for the most ever with ^New defensive coordinator will begin his duties after the bowl LSU. Alabama last played in the Sugar Bowl in 1993, when it beat Miami for the national title … Utah is designated as the visiting In the Press Box team in the Allstate Sugar Bowl … Utah has played an indoor bowl Andy Ludwig, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks game one other time in its history. The Utes beat West Virginia 32-6 Aaron Alford, Cornerbacks in the 1964 Liberty Bowl in the Atlantic City Convention Center Zac Connors, Offensive Graduate Assistant in what was billed as the first indoor major bowl game …Utah is Ilaisa Tuiaki, Defensive Graduate Assistant 10-3 all-time in bowl games and its 77-percent postseason winning percentage is the best in the nation for teams that have played in at 2008 Team Captains least 10 bowl games … This is only the second time in its 115-year Brian Johnson, Robert Conley, Stevenson Sylvester, Brice football history that Utah has played on January 2. The Utes beat McCain (special teams captain appointed by game) New Mexico in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on Jan. 2, 1939. CONSENSUS KING LOUIE Utah senior Louie Sakoda is Utah’s fourth all-time Consensus All-American and the first Ute to win first-team All-America honors at two different positions. Sakoda, just the second player from any school to be named a finalist for both the Lou Groza (kicker) and Ray Guy (punter) awards in the same year, was selected as a 2008 first-team All-America kicker by the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Football Writers Associa- tion of America (FWAA), Walter Camp Foundation and Sporting News. He is the first Utah football player to win first-team honors on all five of the teams that comprise the consensus team.