After so much speculation on the Pac-12’s bowl scenarios and the Utes’ possible bowl locations, Utah fans will have to take a quick drive down I-15 South to watch their Utes go bowling for the first time since 2011.
After missing out on a bowl game the previous two seasons, the 8-4 Utes accepted an invitation to play in the 2014 Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl on December 20 against former Mountain West Conference foe Colorado State.
“Its good timing for our fans, it won’t interfere with the Christmas holiday, and it’s accessible travel-wise, so we’re excited about that,” said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. “Colorado State is a good football team this year. They have three terrific weapons on offense … it’s an explosive offense, so it will be a big challenge for us, but we’re excited.”
The primary objective for the Utes this season was to return to the college football postseason, and they will now reap the rewards from their hard-fought 2014 season by making the trip players and coaches have been striving for since the end of the 2011 Sun Bowl.
“We’ve been out of the bowl picture for a couple of years, and it’s great to be back and playing again in the postseason,” Whittingham said. “One of the real big benefits that I talk about every year we go to a bowl game is the extra development time for the younger players … it’s almost like another spring ball for them.”
As for the seniors, Whittingham said he was “elated” for them to be able to return to a bowl game after a frustrating two-year break.
“That’s why you want to get to a bowl game — at least that’s why I want to get to a bowl game — is for the seniors,” Whittingham said. “It’s all about the players, and for the seniors to have that experience in their final season is a big deal for me, and it’s a big deal for them.”
One of those seniors who will be looking to leave the program going out on top is tight end Westlee Tonga. He said Sunday that returning to the postseason after the kind of season the Utes have had is the most rewarding part of the entire experience.
“Its great,” Tonga said. “It’s been an uphill battle for the past couple years, and finally getting over the hump, getting to a bowl game, being able to go to Vegas, it’s really a pleasure.”
Tonga will be making his second trip to the Las Vegas Bowl after the Utes traveled there during his freshman season in 2010. That game ended in a rare bowl game loss for the Utes as Boise State rode out of the Nevada desert with the victory, but the entire experience left an imprint on Tonga’s memory.
“It’s really fun,” Tonga said of the bowl itself. “The Vegas bowl was a great memory for me, so to be able to get to go back with this group of guys means a lot to me because I know the fun that we have, I know how well they treat us there and there’s a lot of stuff to do. The attractions on the strip that you get to take a part in are second to none.”
Tonga also noted that it’s important to him and to all of the seniors to have a large amount of traveling support from Salt Lake City down to Las Vegas.
“We want all of the fans to be out there, and I’m sure they will,” Tonga said. “I’m sure the MUSS will be out there to show their support as always. We have a strong fan presence wherever we go, whether it’s Michigan or Stanford or wherever … I’m sure it will be the same that week.”
Another senior who will be making his final appearance in a Utah uniform in Las Vegas is defensive end and team captain Nate Orchard. He’s gone through all of the ecstatic highs and depressing lows throughout his time at the U, and he said that to end it like this is a great accomplishment.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Orchard said. “We’ve worked so hard, and to not be able to go to a bowl game the last few years was frustrating, but to go out with a bang my senior year, be able to go to Vegas, have ourselves a good time and play a really good opponent is exciting.”
Orchard added that he’s focusing on his teammates, as well as Colorado State, but that leaving the field at Sam Boyd Stadium after the game could be a tough time.
“Once I leave here it’s going to hit home. I might even get a little emotional in front of my wife,” Orchard said. “But the time I spent here was awesome, and I wouldn’t take back a second of it.”
 
[email protected]
@TalonChappell