Emerald Bowl: Utah 38, Georgia Tech 10

SAN FRANCISCO — Although a whole new bunch of players and coaches are wearing Utah red, these Utes still can put on a phenomenal postseason show.

Travis LaTendresse caught 16 passes for 214 yards and four touchdowns, Brett Ratliff passed for 381 yards and the Utes rolled up 550 total yards in a 38-10 victory over No. 24 Georgia Tech in the Emerald Bowl on Thursday.

Quinton Ganther ran for 120 yards and added a 41-yard TD romp in the fourth quarter for the Utes (7-5), who finished their follow-up season to their 12-0 run through the Bowl Championship Series in 2004 with an offensive performance more than worthy of former coach Urban Meyer's sublime team.

Ratliff, who went 30-of-41, and LaTendresse, the game's offensive MVP, both set Utah bowl records with a superb afternoon of pitch-and-catch against the Yellow Jackets' bewildered secondary. First-year head coach Kyle Whittingham, Meyer's defensive coordinator, won his bowl debut in style.

LaTendresse, a senior from the Sacramento area who missed three late-season games with an ankle injury, seemed to be open all day while the Utes embarrassed the favored Yellow Jackets (7-5), who practically didn't show up to their ninth straight bowl appearance.

Each of LaTendresse's four TD catches of 14, 23, 25 and 16 yards came on simple post patterns down the middle.

Reggie Ball passed for 258 yards for Georgia Tech, which seemed disappointed to be so far from Atlanta for the postseason — and it showed. The Yellow Jackets' vaunted defense, ranked among the nation's leaders entering the game, was shredded and stomped by a backup quarterback and his speedy receivers for its season-high in yards allowed.

Cornerback Eric Weddle, the Mountain West Conference's top defensive player and the Emerald Bowl's defensive MVP, did a bit of everything for the Utes — running the ball, engineering a fake field goal as a holder, even throwing a terrible interception.

But Weddle was most valuable in his day job, limiting star Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson to two catches for 19 yards.

Despite the injury absences of quarterback Brian Johnson and top receiver John Madsen, the Utah offense was nearly flawless. Ratliff, the backup who led the Utes' overtime win over archrival BYU, made another case for a lively quarterback competition with Johnson and Oklahoma transfer Tommy Grady in spring ball.