Dave Copier, Utah's director of athletic ticket sales, measures success in revenue not attendance.

In that regard, the first advance sellout of a non-BYU game in Ute history left school officials smiling. So, too, will the bottom line. Copier is pretty sure it'll go in the books as the second-highest gross-revenue home game ever played at Rice-Eccles Stadium -— second only to BYU's visit in 2002.

That, however, isn't the story line Copier wanted to discuss.

"I think this is the biggest game in the University of Utah's history," he said. "It's a defining moment."

The atmosphere surrounding Thursday's game featured unparalleled community spirit and popularity. So much so, that when Texas A&M officials unexpectedly returned a couple of hundred tickets Wednesday, they sold quickly on the Internet.

"I don't want to be over complimentary but it's a great tribute to Urban (Meyer), our staff and the community. People have really gotten behind it," Utah athletic director Chris Hill said. "It's given us a chance to see what we can do, and it's a chance to shoot for things. Hopefully we can build on this."

Thursday's attendance was 45,419, the third largest in Utah history. Unlike last year's record crowd against California, when lots of free tickets were circulated and an overflow was permitted, the Utes capped standing-room only tickets at around 500 so every ticket-holder had ample room to enjoy the game.

NATIONAL ATTENTION: ESPN analyst Mike Tirico said the network was psyched to open its Thursday night coverage in Salt Lake City this season.

"We've been in Provo the last couple of years and obviously Utah is in the role that BYU has been in for a long time," he said. "It's great coming out here. It's an awesome place. What the Olympics did to this campus, let alone the city—putting the city on the international map — is phenomenal."

As for the Mountain West Conference's decision to end its ESPN affiliation in two years and sign with fledgling College Sports Television, Tirico, while admitting he's biased, thinks Utah and the league is making a mistake. He pointed out that there is a certain level of acceptance by potential recruits for schools that appear on ESPN rather than a hard-to-find network.

"People stumble across you on ESPN. Anybody that's a sports fan clicks around to ESPN within their rotation of what's on TV. . . . You stop and run onto Utah," Tirico said. "If I were a coach in this league I'd be a little concerned about that."