Finebaum's 'the country does not want to see Utah' in the playoff comment gives Utes added motivation


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 — Less than 24 hours after Utah was ranked No. 5 in the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings of the season, the team has found some added motivation to take care of business Friday against No. 13 Oregon and stake their claim for a spot in the playoff.

ESPN commentator and SEC apologist Paul Finebaum took to the airwaves Wednesday to declare his desire to see Oklahoma in the playoff instead of Utah.

“Let’s be honest,” he said on ESPN, “the country does not want to see Utah in the College Football Playoff. I’m sorry; I mean, it’s Utah!”

The comments caused a small stir on Twitter and were noticed by Utah football’s social media team, which tweeted: “Thanks for the bulletin board material, @finebaum. Keep it coming.”

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham prides himself on not getting too worked up about what people outside of the program say, but the players have shown this season they’re aware and will make it their mission to prove the naysayers wrong.

A few weeks ago, a UCLA receiver said the Bruins were going to show Utah they were the more physical team. The seemingly benign comment resonated within the walls of the Utah program and got under the skin of a team that prides itself on being the most physical team on the field.

“Yeah, we watched it on a video right before we came over to the stadium,” running back Zack Moss told media after Utah beat the Bruins 49-3, “so we knew what we wanted to do and come out here and prove today, so I think we did that.”

Defensive end Bradlee Anae said the comment was “in my ear all game” and the Bruins quickly found out “who was the more physical team this game.”

So while Utah doesn’t need any extra motivation this season, after going 11-1 and beating opponents by an average margin of 27.3 points, it’s another opportunity for the team to see that college football hasn’t fully embraced the new player to the scene and that they haven’t arrived — there’s still more to prove.

For those not paying close attention, Utah has been on a continual climb to relevancy since at least 2004 when then-head coach Urban Meyer and Whittingham, the team’s defensive coordinator at the time, went undefeated and beat Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. But it’s hard for a sport steeped in tradition and blue blood mentalities to welcome a newcomer to the field.

Then again, Utah has proven teams wrong before, in 2004 and 2008. The difference now is that Utah is doing it in a Power Five conference and in convincing fashion. This isn’t a flash-in-the-pan moment where the Utes stun a powerhouse program. Utah has the talent to compete and win at a high level.

And the College Football Playoff selection committee has taken note of the team's success this season.

"When we look at Utah, we see a season-long balance of very consistent play on both sides of the ball,” Rob Mullens, selection committee chairman, said Tuesday night. “Very dominant wins. Their only loss is on a Friday night on the road at a No. 22 ranked team when a key player on offense missed the majority of the game.“

So Finebaum’s comments, or any others like it, don’t ultimately mean a lot to Utah.

Last season, Utah was a little caught up in the allure of making their first Pac-12 Championship appearance. This year, the Utes have “more maturity” and a singular focus on winning the Pac-12 title — and they aren’t just satisfied with playing in the game.

“Last year, we were just happy to be there. All the extra stuff was really cool and things like that,” Moss said. “This year we're blocking all that out; we don't worry about any of that type of stuff. We know what it takes to get back here, we've done it again and we know what it takes to win. So we definitely don't want to be on the other side of that win-loss column.”

“That's the biggest thing for us — making history is definitely what we want to do,” Moss added. “The Pac-12 has always been the biggest thing for us so far, and whatever else comes with that is a blessing, and we'll attack that in the right way when it comes.”

Even with the playoff talk reaching a fever pitch, Whittingham remains firm: The team isn’t focused on anything but beating the Oregon Ducks Friday.

“We're not concerned with that. We're just concerned with getting ready for the Ducks.”

Utah will kick off its second consecutive appearance in the Pac-12 Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Friday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ABC, and Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Molly McGrath will be on the call.

Most recent Utah Utes stories

Related topics

Utah UtesSports
Josh is the Sports Director for KSL.com and beat writer covering University of Utah athletics — primarily football, men’s and women's basketball and gymnastics. He is also an Associated Press Top 25 voter for college football.

ARE YOU GAME?

From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast