Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
The 12-0 Utah football team began preparations for its Jan. 2 game against 12-1 Alabama with a practice at Tulane University on Dec. 27. Despite getting a late start out of Salt Lake City, the Utes had time for a full practice--finishing under the lights.
Invited guests at Utah's practice included former Utes Steve Smith, Jordan Gross and Ma'Ake Kemoeatu, all starters for the Carolina Panthers, and Josh Savage, who plays for the New Orleans Saints. Carolina and New Orleans will play today in the Superdome and the entire Utah football team plans to attend the game.
Quotes From Kyle Whittingham
Opening Statement: "We are pleased to be here in New Orleans. We are in a BCS game - what is not to like? It is a great opportunity for our players. They have had a terrific season and there were several times they had their backs against the wall and fought their way out of tough situations. They really deserve to be there - I don't think there is any doubt about that."
On Alabama: "Alabama is a formidable opponent with one of the most storied programs in all of college football - if not the most storied. Alabama is steeped in tradition - they are a tremendous opponent for us. You look at tape and the first thing that jumps out at you is the physicality of their football team. We have our hands full. Our guys are excited about the opportunity to go up against a football team like the Crimson Tide."
On the long break before the bowl game: "We had a lot of time between games. We finished up before Thanksgiving and lot of teams went a week or even two weeks beyond that. We did have some down time - we had Thanksgiving week off, then we came back the next week and put the players in the weight room and ran them through some conditioning. The following week we began moderate practice - I think we went three days. Then we had finals, so we were forced to juggle academics and football, but we got back into full-time last week. Then we had Christmas off and, of course, we resumed practice today. Ideally, you'd rather not have that much time off, but I think we handled it as well as we could."
On Alabama's Offensive Line: "Without a doubt Alabama has the best offensive line we have seen all season. Andre Smith, their left tackle, is what he is - the best lineman in college football. Alabama plays smash mouth football - they are going to try to run the ball right down your throat. They don't care if you know it, they are just going to continue to do it - it's their M.O. And of course, they run a nice play-action pass off of that. Alabama's offensive line is really what makes their offense go.
BCS vs. Non-BCS: "We don't pay any attention to it. Our track record against BCS schools is very good. In fact I think we have the most wins against BCS teams in the country, going back to 2000 or thereabouts. I know we have faired very well - this year we had Oregon State on the schedule - who had just come off a big win at USC - and we were able to get a victory there. We hear the BCS vs. Non-BCS debate all the time, but we really don't pay attention to it."
(Courtesy the University of Utah)
