5 items among Utes' to-do list for bowl

There are a couple of things Utah coach Kyle Whittingham would like to see happen as the Utes prepare to face Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl, Dec. 23 in Fort Worth, Texas.

For starters, Whittingham wants the offense to continue to be as efficient as it has been over the last five games. He'd also like to see his team continue playing with the passion and emotion it has in recent weeks.

In addition, Whittingham is eager to see the Utes prepare like they always do for bowl games and not lose their edge.

There's no shortage, obviously, of story lines concerning the game:

1. TAKING ON TULSA

The Golden Hurricane sport a solid offense and one of the nation's top pass defenses.

Junior quarterback Paul Smith, the 2005 Liberty Bowl MVP, has completed 65.9 percent of his throws and has 15 career touchdown passes. Tulsa's defense has held seven opponents to less than 300 yards of offense this season. Junior linebacker Kendrick Alexander, who has 267 tackles in his career, headlines a defense thanks ranked sixth nationally against the pass.

2. SHOOTING FOR SIX:

The Utes enter the Armed Forces Bowl on a roll. They've won five consecutive bowl games. The streak began with a pair of victories in the Las Vegas Bowl — 17-16 over Fresno State in 1999 and 10-6 over Southern California two years later.

Then came the current run of appearances. Since 2003, Utah has defeated Southern Mississippi in the Liberty Bowl 17-0; Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl 35-0; and Georgia Tech in the Emerald Bowl 38-10.

The run of victories has upped the Utes' overall bowl record to 8-4.

3. CAN THE UTES BOUNCE BACK?

Though it remains to be seen what kind of toll, if any, Utah's emotional 33-31 loss to BYU will take, Whittingham thinks the calendar is beneficial. Playing the Cougars after Thanksgiving and Tulsa before Christmas leaves little time to dwell on things.

"It does compact our practice schedule a bit, however, so we won't take a week off of practice the way

we normally do when the bowl is after Christmas," Whittingham said. "Getting back on the field is probably the best therapy right now anyway, after that heartbreaker last week."

4. INCREASED EXPOSURE