Utah Utes football: BCS official gets in-person look at late heroics

For the first time since 2004, a Fiesta Bowl representative came to Rice-Eccles Stadium to watch the Utes play.

"I came up to see Utah," said Shawn Schoeffler, vice-president for the Fiesta and Insight bowl games.

"We're at the point where we are going out and seeing teams that we think could be in our picture. And obviously Utah, with the start they've had, they could be in our picture. Oregon State as well, you never know."

What is known, however, is that it'll be a while before the Bowl Championship Series situation is settled.

"College football is crazy and we've seen that this past weekend and we saw it last year. I think we'll see it a lot more in the next couple of months," Schoeffler said. "You just never know what will happen. We're just going out and seeing our friends in the world of college football."

Thursday was Utah's turn. The Utes made quite an impression with the Fiesta Bowl after earning a BCS-busting invitation following an unbeaten campaign in 2004. They went on to defeat Pittsburgh, 35-7, on Jan. 1, 2005 before a capacity crowd at Sun Devil Stadium.

"People are still talking about it. We've been very fortunate to have some great matchups throughout the years," Schoeffler said.

"I think that year nobody really knew what to expect with Utah. I think they really overwhelmed our community and bowl game in a great way."

UTAH-OSU SERIES: Thursday's game capped a home-and-home agreement between Utah and Oregon State, who squared off in Corvallis last season. The 15th all-time meeting between the Utes and Beavers could be the last, at least for a while.

"That's a typical school that we would like to play home and home," said Utah athletics director Chris Hill. "We'll probably try to investigate that and see if they're interested."

The Utes, he added, are already working on their 2013 and 2014 non-conference schedules. Hill is also trying to fill a home-game vacancy in 2010.

Despite Thursday night's loss, Oregon State still holds a 9-5-1 edge in the all-time series. The Utes and Beavers first played in 1931, with Oregon State taking a 12-0 victory. After the Utes won 7-6 in 1947, the two teams tied in 1948 20-20. The Beavers then ran off six straight wins between 1949 and 1968 before the Utes won 7-3 in 1969. Utah's biggest win in the seties was 42-9 in 1992.

THURSDAYS ON TV: In network televised Thursday night games, the Utes are now 5-3 after beating OSU. Utah's other wins came against Cal in 2003, Texas A&M in 2004 and TCU the past two years.