Utah Utes football: Team aims to extend bowl win streak to 9

SAN DIEGO — It's been a while since Utah coach Kyle Whittingham lost a bowl game. His run of success, which includes stints as head coach, co-head coach and defensive coordinator, began after a 38-10 setback to Wisconsin in the 1996 Copper Bowl.

Since then, Whittingham and the Utes have reeled off eight straight bowl victories. They'll try to extend the nation's longest active streak tonight in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl against California.

"The real key, in my estimation, is just our players' approach to the bowl situation and their mentality," Whittingham said. "We don't have a way to practice that's much different than anyone else or a format that's much different. It's just the mindset of our players."

Streak is the word at Utah.

"It's something they're very proud of," Whittingham said. "I've been telling them all week, we are representing a lot of guys that have worked hard to get that streak to where it's at. It's on our shoulders to keep it going."

Even a true freshman like starting quarterback Jordan Wynn feels obligated to preserve it.

"I don't want to go down as the QB that loses it," he said. "So it's definitely huge."

Extending the streak, Whittingham noted, becomes a little more important each year. He said bowl experiences are etched in your mind.

They certainly are for Whittingham. He mentioned — in exact order — all of Utah's outings in the current bowl roll.

The run began with Las Vegas Bowl wins in 1999 (Fresno State, 17-16) and 2001 (USC, 10-6). Then came the 2003 Liberty Bowl (Southern Miss, 17-0) and the BCS-busting Fiesta Bowl (Pittsburgh, 35-7) in 2005.

As head coach, Whittingham's teams have prevailed in the 2005 Emerald Bowl (Georgia Tech, 38-10), 2006 Armed Forces Bowl (Tulsa, 25-13), 2007 Poinsettia Bowl (Navy, 35-32) and 2009 Sugar Bowl (Alabama, 31-17).

"We know how to handle our business," linebacker Stevenson Sylvester said before turning his attention to Cal. "I think we'll go out there and have a good game."

The Bears (8-4) pose a great challenge to the Utes' streak. They've won four straight bowl games.

Whittingham considers them an upper echelon Pac-10 team with an explosive offense and athletic defense.

"So we've got our work cut out for us," he said. "But our guys are excited about the challenge."