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SALT LAKE CITY — With just over a week to go before No. 11 Utah kicks off its final game of the season in the Alamo Bowl against Texas, the Utah coaching staff sent its players home.
Instead of more practices and obsessing over the upcoming bowl game through the holidays, Utah’s players got to spend Christmas with family at home — a rare opportunity in college football, where bowl games are littered around the holiday season. But with the game being on New Year’s Eve, head coach Kyle Whittingham wanted his team to have a small break.
“Our administration has been so supportive. We were able to fly all our guys home to their respective destinations and then fly them here,” Whittingham said after arriving in San Antonio, Texas, late Christmas night. “We’ve played in several post-Christmas bowl games in the past; and in the ones that we’ve had enough time to have a full week of practice prior to the game, we tend to send them off.”
“Oh, it’s nice,” defensive lineman John Penisini said. “We rarely get breaks, but I’m from Salt Lake, so I go home every now and then. But it’s so nice seeing all the boys get to fly home and see their family.”
On Christmas night, the team flew from their various destinations to meet up in San Antonio, where bowl preparations resume — a week where Utah will have four practices amid a smattering of bowl game festivities.
“The message is: You have to be able to differentiate when it’s time to go to work and when it’s time to have a good time,” Whittingham said about the balance his team must have with preparing for the bowl game and participating in the weeklong activities related to the bowl, such as a day at SeaWorld, a pep rally at a barbecue restaurant, and a service opportunity with kids in the local community.
“Traditionally, our guys have been really good at that, being able to get dialed in when we need to for practice and meetings. And when it’s time to have the bowl events and enjoy the city, then they will do that as well,” he added.
Whittingham-led teams have done better than most in postseason success. In his 15 years as the team’s head coach, Utah has gone 11-2 in bowl games, which makes Whittingham the all-time college football leader in bowl game winning percentage, at 84.6%. It’s not quite a guarantee, but his teams understand the balance between bowl preparation and the fun tied to the game.
@Utah_Football has arrived in San Antonio with full Christmas spirit! 🎄🚌 #GoUtespic.twitter.com/bmnuuE62hW
— Valero Alamo Bowl (@valeroalamobowl) December 26, 2019
“Our coaches do a good job of helping us understand that this is a business trip, at the end of the day, while also allowing us to have a lot of fun and downtime,” senior running back Zack Moss said. “We keep in the back of our minds that this is a business trip.”
“Coach told us to enjoy the experience, but when you have the chance to balance it out, watch film, always keep your opponent back in your mind, and just stay focused,” Penisini added.
Squarely on the team’s mind is finishing the season with a win, an opportunity for their 12th win of the season. And given Utah’s showing in the Pac-12 Championship Game against Oregon, where the Ducks rolled over Utah to claim the conference title, the Alamo Bowl becomes the last opportunity to finish the season on a high note.
And for the seniors on the team, all of whom will be playing except for Julian Blackmon, who suffered a season-ending knee injury, it’s one last opportunity to play together before they each separate either to the NFL or to professional careers.
“The guys want to continue to play for each other,” Moss said. “We get another chance to go out here and do it one more time for our fans. I’m ready and very excited to see what we’re going to do this time.”
For guys like Moss and quarterback Tyler Huntley, who both missed last season’s bowl game loss to Northwestern in the Holiday Bowl, the Alamo Bowl is a place where they can leave their legacy at Utah on the field one last time. Both have cemented their legacies in Utah history, but a win over Texas would add to the season’s overall success in a year where the team was a viable College Football Playoff contender.
Moss still has a few all-time records to chase in his final game: the single-season rushing record and the single-season rushing touchdown record. Moss currently sits at 1,359 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns for the season and needs 161 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to break both single-season records.
📍 San Antonio
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) December 26, 2019
Thank you for the warm welcome, @valeroalamobowl! pic.twitter.com/WTfRXMNrzj
The Florida native also needs just 75 yards — rushing or receiving — to break the school’s career all-purpose yards record, set by Steve Odom from 1971-73.
Other seniors like Huntley and defensive end Bradlee Anae have records or important stats to obtain to add to their legacy. Huntley needs just 44 passing yards to become only the third quarterback in Utah history to pass for over 3,000 yards in a season — Scott Mitchell and Mike McCoy both threw for over 3,000 yards in two seasons.
Anae, a consensus All-American, needs just one sack to break the all-time sack record of 29.5 set by Hunter Dimick from 2013-16. The Hawaii native is currently tied with Dimick at 29.5. Anae also needs six sacks to tie the single-season record set by Nate Orchard in 2014, though that record is much more of a stretch.
“It’s not over yet,” Moss said, seemingly speaking for all the seniors as well. “I’ll sum it up by saying I have a lot more things to do for this team, and we are going to come out here and win.”
Utah begins a weeklong bowl event Thursday before meeting up with Texas in the Alamodome on Dec. 31 at 5:30 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
