It was weird. There was that domination by the Utes in the first quarter, followed by the Alabama's domination in the second and early third quarters.

At that moment the Utes realized: Wait a minute; we're not done.

They followed up with a touchdown to put the game out of reach.

The Utes' hot-and-cold behavior was a continuation of the regular season. The dizzying highs. Not many lows, though there were some pauses — usually all in the same game. Throughout the year, there was always the suspicion the odds were going to catch them. They won by some big scores, but there were the close calls against Michigan, Air Force, New Mexico, Oregon State and TCU.

They scratched, gouged and grunted. One win became two, then three. Suddenly it was November, and the realization began to dawn that this team, too, might go undefeated. It was like discovering the girl next door. One day she's just a kid with cooties, next thing you know, she's a green-eyed beauty.

While the national championship is out of the picture, the remaining question is which was the better team, this year's or the 2004-05 Utes.

"We are," said Casteel. "We're better than '04. We beat a No. 1 team. We beat a team that nobody thought could be beat."

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E-mail: rock@desnews.com