"Am I going to leave? No. No. I love it here," Whittingham told The Daily Utah Chronicle. "... I have a lot of family here. I love this area. My kids love it here. As a football coach in Division-I football, you don't find coaches that have been able to put their kids in the same school system from kindergarten through 12th grade, and that's big for me.

"I'm not all into looking for that next job, I never have been.

"Never will be out looking," he continued. "I'm the guy, wherever you are, be there and enjoy it. I'm that type guy and Utah's a great place."

ALMOST A TD: Defensive end Paul Kruger returned a Max Hall interception 30 yards in the fourth quarter before falling to the ground untouched at the 4-yard line.

"I though I was little more athletic than that," Kruger said.

"I just got a little tripped up and got over my feet."

His teammates, however, completed the quest on the next play on a direct snap to Matt Asiata, who threw a touchdown pass to tight end Chris Joppru.

NO HAKA HERE: Utah players prevented BYU from completing its pregame ritual of doing the Haka dance. A confrontation at midfield led to a premature end of it.

"They can't do that on our field," said Brian Johnson. "That's so disrespectful. We refused to be disrespected at our own field."

BYU coaches, on the other hand, claimed there simply wasn't enough time for the Cougars to do their thing.

SENIOR FINALE : Utah's 19 seniors — Freddie Brown, Brent Casteel, Terrell Cole, Robert Conley, Bradon Godfrey, Dustin Hensel, Brian Johnson, Darrell Mack, Brice McCain, Clint Mower, Greg Newman, John Peel, R.J. Rice, Deshawn Richard, Louie Sakoda, Colt Sampson, Corey Seilui, Ray Stowers and Aaron Tonga — were honored before their final game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

A LOT OF ALUMS: Several prominent Utah football alums attended the game. The list included Mike Anderson, Jamal Anderson, Andre Dyson, Steve Fifita, Marv Fleming, Eddie Johnson, Jason Kaufusi, John Madsen, Filipo Mokofisi, Del "Popcorn" Rodgers, Cliff Russell, Antwoine Sanders, Alex Smith and Kelly Talavou.

EXTRA POINTS: Starting linebacker Nai Fotu sprained his left knee midway through the first quarter and did not return. ... Subway sandwich spokesman Jared Fogle, who was in town for a promotional tour, participated in the Ute Walk and helped honor a Utah SuperFan in the second quarter. ... The attendance was 46,488, the second- largest in Rice-Eccles Stadium history.

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E-mail: dirk@desnews.com