For the second time in three years, the Utes will wrap up their season with a trip to San Diego.
Sunday afternoon, it was announced that the Utes accepted a bid to play in the Poinsettia Bowl against the Golden Bears of California. After closing out the season with an overtime loss to BYU in Provo, the Utes finished the season ranked No. 23 in the Bowl Championship Series and will look to stretch the nation’s longest active bowl winning streak to nine games.
“We are looking forward to playing in the Poinsettia Bowl for the second time in three years,” said head coach Kyle Whittingham. “We had a great experience there in 2007, and our players and staff are excited to be going back.”
This year, Utah completed its third straight season with nine wins or more and went undefeated at home for the second straight season. But the Utes struggled to find any consistency on the road in 2009, falling short in big-time road tests against Oregon, TCU and BYU.
“(The BYU game) left a bad taste in our mouth,” said Utah captain Zane Beadles. “It wasn’t the way we wanted to finish the season, but we got one more chance to go out and play together and we’ll make the most of it.”
Cal, which started the season ranked in the Top 10, got off to a quick start in 2009 before running into the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium. When the Utes went into Autzen, the Ducks came out on top, 31-24. The following week, the Ducks hosted Cal, and blew out the then-No. 6 ranked team in the nation, 42-3. The Ducks’ defense smothered the Cal offense, which is led by former Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig, who is in his first year at Cal.
“We get to go against Andy Ludwig,” Stevenson Sylvester said. “So it will be like practice for the last three years. It feels great to be going back to San Diego. They treated us great last time we were there so I’m looking forward to it.”
Cal accumulated a regular season record of 8-4 this season with losses coming to Oregon, USC, Oregon State and Washington, which came in the final game of the season.
Cal’s offense suffered a devastating blow earlier this season when Heisman candidate Jahvid Best left the game against Oregon State with a concussion. Best has yet to return to play since the injury and remains a question mark for the bowl game. With or without Best, Sylvester said he knows Cal’s offense will be ready to go.
“They have a talented offense,” Sylvester said. “We got a big task ahead of us and we have to attack it.”
The Utes, who travel well no matter the destination, will expect a lot of fan support in San Diego, where Utah recruits heavily.
“We have around 25 players on our roster from Southern California, and we hope for a big turnout from our fans, as is typical of any time we play in Qualcomm Stadium,” Whittingham said.
For the Utah seniors, this will be the final time they suit up for the Utes and with a win, will go undefeated in bowl games during their time at Utah.
“This will be my fifth bowl in five years,” Beadles said. “I don’t think a lot of people around the country can say that.”
Thien Sok/The Daily Utah ChronicleQuarterback Jordan Wynn looks to make it past a BYU player looking to tackle him during the Utah-BYU game.
