Emerald Bowl: Gem dandy

SAN FRANCISCO — Utah's fifth consecutive bowl victory was a lot like the fourth — lopsided.

Wide receiver Travis LaTendresse and defensive back Eric Weddle earned MVP honors as the Utes surprised 24th-ranked Georgia Tech 38-10 in the Emerald Bowl at SBC Park. The margin of victory was equal to last season's 35-7 win over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl.

"We had so many guys make plays today it was unbelievable," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, whose team finished 7-5 in his first season at the helm.

Contributions were plentiful as the Utes quickly and decisively overpowered the favored Yellow Jackets (7-5).

"I guess all of our doubters can shut their mouths now," senior captain Steve Fifita said. "Everybody just let it go."

Utah excelled on both sides of the ball.

On offense, LaTendresse set bowl records with 16 catches for 214 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Brett Ratliff completed 30 of 41 passes for 381 yards in his encore to last month's heroics in Utah's 41-34 overtime win over BYU.

"When the whole offense plays great, it makes me look good," said Ratliff, who executed Utah's game plan to exploit holes in Georgia Tech's cover-three defense.

"Brett Ratliff just did a great job of throwing the ball in the hole," LaTendresse said. "We were just on the same page all night."

The Utes wound up with 550 yards of total offense and 31 first downs, all but 10 via the air.

"I really don't think the ACC has seen a passing attack like we have," LaTendresse said. "We knew if we spread it out it would cause a lot of issues for them."

It did.

Former Georgia Tech redshirt Brian Hernandez caught eight passes for Utah to support LaTendresse's performance.

The Utes also moved the ball on the ground,

Tailback Quinton Ganther rushed for 127 yards and a score against a nationally ranked defense that had allowed an average of just 98 yards on the ground during the season.

"They executed very well I thought. They did a great job of execution," Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said. "We didn't do a good job of getting people in the right spots to defend like we needed to do."

Utah never trailed — scoring the game's first 20 points. It took just one quarter and 30 seconds for Ratliff and LaTendresse to team up on three touchdown passes.