It wouldn't necessarily be nice, but maybe Utah fans like Brian and Eric Healy ought to send some big bouquets all the way to Wisconsin.
Not only did the Badgers' big loss to Michigan State last weekend open up room for the Utes in the top six of the BCS rankings, it changed the travel plans for the guys at ESPN's "College GameDay," TV's premiere college football telecast.
"It's just awesome," said Brian Healy of Salt Lake City. " 'College GameDay' is as big as it gets. So we had to come out, no matter how cold it gets," he said as he joined a horde of other fans Friday outside of the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium.
In fact, his brother Eric, also of Salt Lake City, brought along his 5-month-old son, Jack — who was bundled up in his stroller wearing Ute gear. "We wanted to start him out early, kind of get him brainwashed a little bit — show him the right way," Eric Healy said.
On a weekend that features traditional rivalries like Auburn-Alabama, Florida-Florida State, Michigan-Ohio State and Stanford-Cal, the traveling roadshow that is "GameDay" has brought Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso to Salt Lake City — making a makeshift set in the southwest corner of the parking lot outside Rice-Eccles Stadium into College Football Central for millions of fans across the country.
"Chris, Lee and I really don't ever have any say on where we go as a show," Herbstreit said during a telephone interview. "It's our senior coordinating producer and others who make that decision. But, probably since the beginning of November, we've talked about rivalry weekend and what game we'd potentially be going to. And, really, it looked like Wisconsin and Iowa was the game."
That changed, however, when Michigan State crushed Wisconsin 49-14 on Saturday. "When we all left Saturday night from Auburn, I think we all kind of felt the decision-makers would call us on Sunday and say, 'You're going to go out to BYU and Utah,' " Herbstreit said.
On Friday, in addition to live ESPN radio and ESPN.com versions of "GameDay," the team pre-taped portions of the broadcast, which goes out (mostly) live this morning from 8:30-10 a.m. on ESPN. Fowler, Corso and Herbstreit will do updates throughout the day from the set, and Corso and Herbstreit will be in the broadcast booth for the Utah-BYU game itself at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.
And that's only part of the media blitz. Utah Sports Information director Liz Abel had to take so many calls by midweek that she said it hurt to put the phone to her ear.
In addition to upward of 150 ESPN staffers — who have generated between 50 and 60 pages of requests on their own — the press box at Rice-Eccles Stadium will be filled with journalists from USA Today, New York Newsday, the New York Daily News, the Denver Post, the Austin American-Statesman, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe and ESPN: The Magazine, just to name a few.
"It's just been insane around here," Abel said. "It's very safe to say that we've handled an incredible number of requests for interviews and credentials."
"GameDay" takes a wide-ranging overview of the games across the country, but there's always a particular spotlight on the contest that the show visits each week. Which means still more exposure for the Utes. (And the Cougars, of course.)
"I think there's a buzz, more so in the last week or two because of the reality of Utah having a legitimate shot at getting into the BCS," Herbstreit said. "I think enough people have seen Utah this year on ESPN that word has spread pretty quickly.
"It used to be a secret, and now I think the nation has kind of caught on to what Utah has to offer. And this weekend, I think, is going to be a great opportunity for them to showcase their school."
And Herbstreit is expecting a big reception today from Utah fans, particularly given coach Urban Meyer's promise that 20,000 fans would turn out for "GameDay."
"I would assume there's going to be a lot of people pretty excited we're bringing the show out there," Herbstreit said. "I would expect people to be pretty fired up that, nationally, they're going to get a lot of attention — deservedly so."
"This is great," said Brian Healy. "I've been a fan all my life, and it's great to finally see them get some recognition."
The Healy family was not alone in offering an early welcome to the "College GameDay" crew. Lisa and Christian Hansen of Holladay even brought their dog, a white boxer named Keizer. They planned to attend an all-night tailgate party near the stadium. "We couldn't miss it," Lisa Hansen said. Added Christian: "We've waited a very long time for this. . . . We can't get enough."
"We both went to school here and have been season-ticketholders for 16 years," Lisa Hansen said. As for their dog, "Keizer doesn't miss a tailgate, either, so he's a trooper."
Brian Cole of Salt Lake City thinks the attention from ESPN and the nation at large is "great for the Mountain West and all the schools. The question now is whether Utah can finish the deal."
The U.'s undefeated season so far — and the possibility of a BCS bowl game — turns heads nationally as well as locally.
"It's like a savior or somebody making it to the (NCAA basketball tournament) Elite Eight or even the Final Four," ESPN's Herbstreit said. "There's a lot of excitement.
"And a lot of people pull for the underdog in this country," he said.
© 2004 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Using everything from fake punts to flying Fifitas, the No. 5 Utah Utes completed a scintillating run through their regular season on Saturday night by crushing rival Brigham Young 52-21 before a sellout crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium and a national television audience to clinch a historic berth into the Bowl Championship Series.
"It's a dream come true," senior linebacker Corey Dodds said. "We always knew we had the potential to do something great, with a team like this. We felt something different, something I've never felt in my life before. And I guess this is what it meant."
In a word?
Perfection.
The Utes improved to 11-0 this season - they won their 15th straight game, overall - and assured themselves a place in a Bowl Championship Series game in January. That's most likely the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona against Boston College, and the realization of the dream sent thousands of delirious fans pouring onto the field for a frenzied post-game celebration.
"It's just unexplainable," quarterback Alex Smith said.
Players wore sombreros and partied at midfield, while some fans eventually tore down the goalposts and paraded them around the stadium and others mobbed coach Urban Meyer as he accepted the Mountain West Conference championship trophy from league commissioner Craig Thompson.
"I can't put it into words," center Jesse Boone said. "I expected it, I have to say that. I expected it day one, and anything short of this would have been disappointing."
Instead, the Utes were able to relish their biggest victory over the Cougars since 1988, which probably assured that coach Gary Crowton will be fired in the coming days. The Cougars lost their third straight game to the Utes for the first time since 1995, and failed to qualify for a bowl game for the third straight season.
"It was a frustrating season," BYU's Jon Burbidge said. "But the team is moving forward. There's a lot of talent coming up. I still feel it's on the right track."
Not against the Utes, it wasn't.
Unable to run the ball the way running back Curtis Brown bragged they could - just 81 rushing yards - the Cougars were left to try to beat Utah through the air. And that come nowhere close to working, even with Utah's Smith straining to have his usual amazing game.
"We felt they had to run the ball to beat us," Meyer said. "If they got behind us, we would lose, and they didn't get behind us all night."
BYU's Todd Watkins and Austin Collie each caught impressive touchdown passes, but it wasn't nearly enough against the Utah scoring machine.
Running back Quinton Ganther ran for a career-high 122 yards, though he did not share in the team's five rushing touchdowns. Instead, Marty Johnson, Steve Savoy, Smith and 311-pound defensive lineman Steve Fifita all scored as the Utes ran wild on a Cougar defense that had ranked second in the league against the run.
Utah piled up 354 yards on just 48 carries, including Savoy's 92-yard sprint down the right sideline and Fifita's last-minute touchdown plunge - a Spurrier move if ever there was one.
But if Meyer was aiming to impress the Florida Gators amid speculation they want to hire him as their coach, he gave no other indication, declining to answer questions about his future after the game.
"We proved a point ... on the field against a very good opponent," Meyer said.
The Cougars were hanging in the game through the first half, despite being three-touchdown underdogs and a brilliant fake punt by the Utes that led to a touchdown. But a crucial sequence in the third quarter turned the game into a rout.
Nursing a 31-21 lead, Smith threw his second interception of the game, which BYU's Spencer White returned to the Utah 5-yard line. But an illegal block penalty moved the ball back to nearly midfield, and Utah's Eric Weddle intercepted Collie at the Utah 8-yard line one play later, as the Cougs attempted a trick play.
On the next play, Savoy caught an option pitch from Smith on his own goal line, weaved through a tangle of tacklers and dashed down the right sideline for a 92-yard touchdown - the longest by a Ute since 1947.
That gave Utah a 38-21 lead, and the Cougars never threatened again.
"This team was so prepared for this moment," Smith said. "Total team effort. I think we ran for - what, 350 tonight? On a defense like that, to put up those numbers, and put up 52 points, and the defense play the way they played. You know, scored a touchdown, got a couple of turnovers. Total team effort."
Storylines - Utah 52, BYU 21
IN SHORT - The Utes set off a wild post-game celebration with a 52-21 victory over rival Brigham Young - their biggest win over the Cougs since 1988 - that assured them of historically playing in one of the Bowl Championship Series games in January.
KEY MOMENT - One minute after kicking a field goal, Utah's Tommy Hackenbruck knocks the ball loose from BYU's Antwaun Harris, and teammate Bo Nagahi scoops it up and runs 12 yards for a touchdown that gave the Utes a 31-14 lead that was never challenged.
KEY STAT - Challenged to stop the run, the Utes did just that - swamping BYU's Curtis Brown and the rest of the Cougar ground game and holding them to just 84 rushing yards.
© 2004 Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co.