2011 Utah Utes football team
Encyclopedia
The 2011 Utah Utes football team represents the University of Utah
in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season
. The team is coached by seventh year head coach Kyle Whittingham
and plays their home games in Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah
.
This is Utah's first season in the new Pac-12. Utah played the previous 12 seasons in the Mountain West Conference
. They are the first former "BCS Buster" to join a BCS conference.
to finish first, but USC will be ineligible for the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game
due to NCAA sanctions. Arizona State
came in second, and Arizona
, UCLA
, and Colorado
finished fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, in the South Division voting. The media also picked Oregon
to win the North Division with 29 first place votes, and to win the Pac-12 Championship Game and thus be the Pac-12 Champion.
made a few changes to his coaching staff for the 2011 season. Prior to Utah's appearance in the 2010 Maaco Bowl Las Vegas
defensive line coach John Pease
retired from coaching. During the offseason, Whittingham replaced Pease with Chad Kauhaahaa, a second team all-WAC
defensive lineman for Utah in 1996
. The previous two seasons he had been the defensive line coach for Utah State
.
The Utes also hired Norm Chow
to be the Offensive coordinator
and coach the tight end
s. He had been an offensive coordinator at UCLA
the three previous seasons. In 2002
, when he was the offensive coordinator at USC, Norm Chow won the Broyles Award
. Former co-offensive coordinators Aaron Roderick
and Dave Schramm
were reassigned to coach different positions in the offense. They will coach the receivers
and the running back
s, respectively, positions they have both previously coached for the program. Finally, Whittingham hired Tim Davis to coach the offensive line. Davis replaces Blake Miller who left the program to coach the same position with Memphis
. Davis coached the offensive line the previous three seasons at Minnesota
and has had a prior stint as Utah's offensive line coach 1990
–1996
and worked under Chow at USC 2002
–2004
.
, officially joined the Pac-10 on July 1, 2011 to form the Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12). The previous 12 seasons, Utah competed in the Mountain West Conference
.
Utah leads series: 10 – 0
Utah played Montana State for the 10th time on September 1. Entering the game, Utah had beaten Montana State in all of their nine games, all but one of which have been played in Salt Lake City. During those nine contests, the Utes outscored the Bobcats 455–25.
Utah once again beat Montana State in their 2011 meeting. Utah built a 24–0 lead with a little less than 12 minutes remaining in the second quarter, and then scored 3 points the rest of the game to win 27–10. The Utes finished with 101 passing yards on 15-of-23 passing by quarterback
Jordan Wynn. Running back
John White finished with 150 yards rushing to lead the Utes.
Linebacker
Brian Blechen set-up Utah's first touchdown
when he returned an interception 39-yards to the 8-yard line; Montana State quarterback DeNarius McGhee threw the errant pass. Three plays later, Wynn connected with wide receiver
DeVonte Christopher for the touchdown. Montana State punted on their next possession, and Utah's offense had its second scoring drive. This one resulted in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Wynn to White; the drive took nine plays and gained 62 yards.
Utah blocked MSU's next punt. Montana State blockers flipped Utah lineback Matt Martinez into the air, which caused Martinez to block the punt with his feet. The ensuing Utah possession resulted in a field goal; kicker Coleman Petersen successfully booted a 37-yard attempt. Following Montana State's third punt of the game, Utah had a nine-play, 59-yard touchdown drive for their last touchdown of the evening. Montana State scored their only touchdown of the evening with 35 seconds remaining in the first half. McGhee passed to receiver Tanner Bleskin for a 7-yard touchdown reception. Each team only scored a field goal in the second half for the final 27–10 score.
Utah trails series: 3 – 7
Utah leads series: 55 – 34 – 4
Utah trails series: 0 – 7
Utah trails series: 6 – 17
Utah leads series: 3 – 0
Utah trails series: 3 – 5
Utah trails series: 6 – 9 – 1
Utah leads series: 20 – 15 – 2
Utah trails series: 2 – 8
Utah leads series: 6 – 5
Utah trails series: 24 – 30 – 3
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season
2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, play of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level, began on Thursday, September 1, 2011...
. The team is coached by seventh year head coach Kyle Whittingham
Kyle Whittingham
Kyle Whittingham is the head football coach of the University of Utah Utes. Prior to becoming the head coach at Utah, Whittingham served as Utah's defensive coordinator for ten seasons. He was named head coach of Utah after Urban Meyer left for the Florida Gators in 2004...
and plays their home games in Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
This is Utah's first season in the new Pac-12. Utah played the previous 12 seasons in the Mountain West Conference
Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999...
. They are the first former "BCS Buster" to join a BCS conference.
Schedule
Before the season
The Pac-12 media picked Utah to finish third in the South Division. Four media members (out of 42 total) voted Utah first in the division. The media picked USC2011 USC Trojans football team
The 2011 USC Trojans football team represents the University of Southern California in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS college football season. The Trojans are led by head coach Lane Kiffin in his 2nd season...
to finish first, but USC will be ineligible for the inaugural Pac-12 Championship Game
2011 Pacific-12 Football Championship Game
The 2011 Pacific-12 Football Championship Game will be played on Friday, December 2, 2011 to determine the 2011 football champion of the Pacific-12 Conference . The game will feature UCLA, champion of the South Division, playing against the North Division champion Oregon...
due to NCAA sanctions. Arizona State
2011 Arizona State Sun Devils football team
The 2011 Sun Devils football team represents Arizona State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team is coached by fifth year head coach Dennis Erickson and plays their home games in Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.-Schedule:...
came in second, and Arizona
2011 Arizona Wildcats football team
The 2011 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team plays their home games in Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona...
, UCLA
2011 UCLA Bruins football team
The 2011 UCLA Bruins football team represents the University of California, Los Angeles in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team is coached by fourth year head coach Rick Neuheisel and plays their home games in Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California...
, and Colorado
2011 Colorado Buffaloes football team
The 2011 Colorado Buffaloes football team represents the University of Colorado at Boulder in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team is coached by first year head coach Jon Embree, plays their home games in Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado, and are members of the Pacific 12...
finished fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, in the South Division voting. The media also picked Oregon
2011 Oregon Ducks football team
The 2011 Oregon Ducks football team represents the University of Oregon in the 2011 college football season. The team is led by Chip Kelly in his third season as a head coach. The Ducks play their home games at Autzen Stadium for the 45th straight year...
to win the North Division with 29 first place votes, and to win the Pac-12 Championship Game and thus be the Pac-12 Champion.
Coaching changes
Kyle WhittinghamKyle Whittingham
Kyle Whittingham is the head football coach of the University of Utah Utes. Prior to becoming the head coach at Utah, Whittingham served as Utah's defensive coordinator for ten seasons. He was named head coach of Utah after Urban Meyer left for the Florida Gators in 2004...
made a few changes to his coaching staff for the 2011 season. Prior to Utah's appearance in the 2010 Maaco Bowl Las Vegas
2010 Maaco Bowl Las Vegas
The 2010 Maaco Bowl Las Vegas was an NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS post-season college football bowl game. The game was played Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 5 p.m. PST at 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium near Las Vegas and the broadcast was on ESPN. The game featured Utah against Boise State. -Utah...
defensive line coach John Pease
John Pease (American football)
John Pease is a retired football coach. He was the defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2002. Prior to his promotion with the Jags, he served as their defensive line coach from the team's inception in 1995 through 2002. He served two stints with the New Orleans Saints as their...
retired from coaching. During the offseason, Whittingham replaced Pease with Chad Kauhaahaa, a second team all-WAC
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...
defensive lineman for Utah in 1996
1996 Utah Utes football team
The 1996 season started with a loss at , but the team quickly turned things around, winning the next 7 games and climbing to a #20 ranking in the AP Poll. This run came to a crashing halt when the Utes suffered their worst loss in six years to the , giving up 496 yards rushing...
. The previous two seasons he had been the defensive line coach for Utah State
Utah State Aggies football
The Utah State Aggies are a college football team that competes in the Western Athletic Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision of NCAA Division I, representing Utah State University. The Utah State college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at Romney Stadium since 1968...
.
The Utes also hired Norm Chow
Norm Chow
Norman Chow is the offensive coordinator for the Utah Utes, a position he started on January 22, 2011. He previously held the same position with UCLA, the NFL's Tennessee Titans, USC, North Carolina State, and Brigham Young University....
to be the Offensive coordinator
Offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
and coach the tight end
Tight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
s. He had been an offensive coordinator at UCLA
UCLA Bruins Football
The UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles in college football as members of the Pacific-12 Conference at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The Bruins have enjoyed several periods of success in their history, having been ranked in the top ten of the AP Poll...
the three previous seasons. In 2002
2002 USC Trojans football team
The 2002 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 2002-2003 NCAA Division I-A college football season....
, when he was the offensive coordinator at USC, Norm Chow won the Broyles Award
Broyles Award
The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles...
. Former co-offensive coordinators Aaron Roderick
Aaron Roderick
Aaron Roderick is from Bountiful, Utah and is currently the wide receivers coach for the University of Utah Utes football team. He played college football, as a receiver, at Ricks College and BYU.-Coaching career:...
and Dave Schramm
Dave Schramm (American football)
Dave Schramm is from San Diego, California and is currently the running backs coach for the University of Utah Utes football team...
were reassigned to coach different positions in the offense. They will coach the receivers
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
and the running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
s, respectively, positions they have both previously coached for the program. Finally, Whittingham hired Tim Davis to coach the offensive line. Davis replaces Blake Miller who left the program to coach the same position with Memphis
Memphis Tigers football
The Memphis Tigers football team represents the University of Memphis in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Tigers compete in Conference USA...
. Davis coached the offensive line the previous three seasons at Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers football
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as...
and has had a prior stint as Utah's offensive line coach 1990
1990 Utah Utes football team
The 1990 season was the first season for Ron McBride as head coach of the Utes. The team went 4–7 this year, a slight improvement over last season's 4–8 record. The McBride era started with a shutout of Utah State...
–1996
1996 Utah Utes football team
The 1996 season started with a loss at , but the team quickly turned things around, winning the next 7 games and climbing to a #20 ranking in the AP Poll. This run came to a crashing halt when the Utes suffered their worst loss in six years to the , giving up 496 yards rushing...
and worked under Chow at USC 2002
2002 USC Trojans football team
The 2002 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 2002-2003 NCAA Division I-A college football season....
–2004
2004 USC Trojans football team
The 2004 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 2004-2005 NCAA Division I-A college football season. Although now vacated for breaking NCAA rules, the team won the 2004 BCS National Championship by winning the 2005 Orange Bowl, that year's BCS National...
.
Move to the Pac-12
During the 2010 offseason, Utah successfully negotiated to join the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) for all sports, including football. Utah, along with ColoradoColorado Buffaloes football
The Colorado Buffaloes football program represents the University of Colorado at Boulder in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The team is currently a member of the Pacific-12 Conference, having previously been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference. Before joining the Big 12,...
, officially joined the Pac-10 on July 1, 2011 to form the Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12). The previous 12 seasons, Utah competed in the Mountain West Conference
Mountain West Conference
The Mountain West Conference , popularly known as the Mountain West, is the youngest of the college athletic conferences affiliated with the NCAA’s Division I FBS . The MWC officially began operations in July 1999...
.
Montana State
Sources:Utah leads series: 10 – 0
Utah played Montana State for the 10th time on September 1. Entering the game, Utah had beaten Montana State in all of their nine games, all but one of which have been played in Salt Lake City. During those nine contests, the Utes outscored the Bobcats 455–25.
Utah once again beat Montana State in their 2011 meeting. Utah built a 24–0 lead with a little less than 12 minutes remaining in the second quarter, and then scored 3 points the rest of the game to win 27–10. The Utes finished with 101 passing yards on 15-of-23 passing by quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Jordan Wynn. Running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
John White finished with 150 yards rushing to lead the Utes.
Linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
Brian Blechen set-up Utah's first touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
when he returned an interception 39-yards to the 8-yard line; Montana State quarterback DeNarius McGhee threw the errant pass. Three plays later, Wynn connected with wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
DeVonte Christopher for the touchdown. Montana State punted on their next possession, and Utah's offense had its second scoring drive. This one resulted in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Wynn to White; the drive took nine plays and gained 62 yards.
Utah blocked MSU's next punt. Montana State blockers flipped Utah lineback Matt Martinez into the air, which caused Martinez to block the punt with his feet. The ensuing Utah possession resulted in a field goal; kicker Coleman Petersen successfully booted a 37-yard attempt. Following Montana State's third punt of the game, Utah had a nine-play, 59-yard touchdown drive for their last touchdown of the evening. Montana State scored their only touchdown of the evening with 35 seconds remaining in the first half. McGhee passed to receiver Tanner Bleskin for a 7-yard touchdown reception. Each team only scored a field goal in the second half for the final 27–10 score.
USC
Sources:Utah trails series: 3 – 7
BYU
Sources:Utah leads series: 55 – 34 – 4
Washington
Sources:Utah trails series: 0 – 7
Arizona State
Sources:Utah trails series: 6 – 17
Pittsburgh
Sources:Utah leads series: 3 – 0
California
Sources:Utah trails series: 3 – 5
Oregon State
Sources:Utah trails series: 6 – 9 – 1
Arizona
Sources:Utah leads series: 20 – 15 – 2
UCLA
Sources:Utah trails series: 2 – 8
Washington State
Sources:Utah leads series: 6 – 5
Colorado
Sources:Utah trails series: 24 – 30 – 3