Estimated read time: 5-6 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
SALT LAKE CITY — When Cam Rising lines up under center on Jan. 1, with running back Tavion Thomas in the backfield as part of the 108th Rose Bowl, the two players on offense will approach the "Granddaddy of Them All" with different motivating factors.
The two have shared the same goal to make it to the Rose Bowl, but the game itself means different things for each player.
Rising grew up with the Rose Bowl in his backyard — less than 50 miles away — and dreamed of one day playing in the iconic bowl game. His earliest memory of the game is in 2006, which is arguably the greatest one ever played in the venue and featured quarterbacks Matt Leinart of USC and Vince Young of Texas.
USC entered the game as the two-time defending champions with a 34-game win streak against a Texas team that had won 19 straight games of their own. In a game that featured six lead changes and a national championship on the line, Young orchestrated a comeback that was capped off with an 8-yard rushing touchdown on fourth-and-5 with 26 seconds left to upset USC 41-38.
Not a bad first memory of the Rose Bowl.
"I mean, it is the Granddaddy of all bowl games," Rising said Monday. "It doesn't really get much bigger than it, and I'm excited for it. It's something I've always dreamed of playing in.
"You you always want to go to that game. You're always watching it each and every year, just trying to see it because usually great games are being played. I'm glad we get to play in it."
Thomas, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio, watched Utah's opponent Ohio State with regularity with the campus being about 75 miles away. It's a home town team and one of the most storied program's in college football history with eight claimed national championships. But watching on the TV and playing against the Buckeyes is a different experience.
The single-season rushing touchdown leader at Utah emphatically wants a win over Ohio State, especially with his city "pumped up for it."
"Everybody is gonna watch it, so we're gonna put on the show for them and we're going to be ready to work," Thomas said.
"It's gonna be a great game for us, especially being from Ohio. So this is like one of the games I want. I want this one, so I'm just looking forward to this one."
Every player on the roster will have a similar story about the Rose Bowl and what motivates them to play in the game. The Rose Bowl is the bowl game.
But in the words of Thomas, the players "can't lose focus" now that Utah's name is paired with Ohio State's in the matchup for the Rose Bowl. The season-long pursuit — for many others its been a lifelong pursuit — doesn't end by qualifying for the bowl game.
One doesn't just walk into Pasadena happy to be there and call it a day.
"We're just focusing on that it's still a football game at the end of the day and you have to go out there and try and win the game, just like any other game, so no real difference there," Rising said.
It's still a football game — an iconic one at that — but it's now Utah's turn to cement itself in the storied history of the Rose Bowl. And with the Pac-12 championship game serving as a backdrop, the Utes are happy to not have a postseason hangover entering a bowl this season.
After back-to-back seasons where Utah came off a loss in the championship game before entering its bowl game, the Utes have a lot more smiles in the locker room this time.
"A lot better — everyone's happier," receiver Britain Covey said. "Coach Whitt is actually smiling in the locker room, so I would just say it's — you don't want to move on so fast from the Pac-12 championship and say, 'All right, we can't focus on that,' because that was what we set out to do. I'm going to carry that with me forever. We're going to use that as positive motivation. Everyone smiles."
Head coach Kyle Whittingham, who owns an 11-3 bowl record, said the team has already had its "congratulatory days," but it's now "full on preparation mode for the Rose Bowl." Whittingham can still smile, but the task at hand — beating a talented Ohio State team — is what's on his mind.
And though the players have dreamed about playing in the Rose Bowl, Whittingham believes his squad won't be overwhelmed by the moment, especially with a crowd that's expected to be pro-Utah. Mark Harlan, Utah's athletic director, told 1280 The Zone Monday that he expected 60,000 or more Utes fans will be in attendance.
Utah announced Monday that it obtained an additional 5,200 tickets to increase its allotment to 33,000 — they'd already sold 29,000 through their ticket office.
"I don't think it will overwhelm," Whittingham said. "We've been in some big games this year — national broadcasts on games that were very important and they handled themselves perfectly, I guess you could say. The championship game was a huge national stage and they handled themselves well there, so my guess is that we'll react and not be overwhelmed by the the magnitude of the game."
For TJ Pledger, who has played in a College Football Playoff game in his time with Oklahoma, it's about "understanding the moment is not too big."
"We've been here before, it's a regular game," Pledger said. "Yes, it's a really good opponent, but we believe in ourselves and we're confident in ourselves. We came this far and we're ready to play at the end of the day."
