6-shooters: U. downs Tulsa, now has a half-dozen consecutive bowl victories

FORT WORTH, Texas — The streak continues.

Utah extended its run of postseason success to six games with a 25-13 victory over Tulsa in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.

"It feels great. They all feel good," Ute coach Kyle Whittingham said. "After the tough way we ended the regular season it's very sweet — a great way to go out for the seniors."

All-American Eric Weddle finished his career with another stellar performance and a 4-0 record in bowl games.

"I was ecstatic with how we played today. We made plays in the end to cap off an average year by our standards," Weddle said. "But it was good to get a bowl win and show what kind of team we are."

The Utes bounced back from a bitter 33-31 loss to BYU on Nov. 25 to finish the year 8-5 and with some momentum.

"We take these bowl games seriously," sophomore Brent Casteel said. "And to take this win into next season is gratifying."

Kicker/punter Louie Sakoda was named the game's most valuable player. He made four field goals and averaged 47.3 yards on three punts.

"It's completely unexpected," Sakoda said of the award. "Hopefully I'll keep getting stronger every year and I can keep helping the team."

Utah used a balance of experience and youth to add a victory in Fort Worth to previous postseason wins in the Las Vegas, Liberty, Fiesta and Emerald bowls. The winning streak dates back to 1999 and now includes a run of four consecutive years.

"The group of people in this country that have played in four bowls and won all four is minute. It's rare," Whittingham said. "Our seniors have done that."

Safety Steve Tate, who led the Utes with 10 tackles, said it was a team effort that got the job done.

"We had some ups and downs in the game," he said. "But we kept steady."

And in bowl games, the junior noted, the team that does the best job doing so ends up winning.

That isn't to say, however, that there weren't a few peaks and valleys along the way.

Just when it appeared Utah had wrapped things up, Tulsa stormed back.

"I thought our team played hard and that's all I ask our team to do. I don't judge our team on results but by the way they play," Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "Our team played extremely hard."