NEW ORLEANS (AP) -Utah quarterback Brian Johnson tuned into the Sugar Bowl last year. He didn’t watch it for very long.
There were better things on TV than the 41-10 trouncing that BCS busters Hawaii endured at the hands of a Georgia team that was among the best in the Southeastern Conference last season.
As fate would have it, Johnson’s Utes are preparing to play in the Louisiana Superdome one year later, testing their 12-0 record against one of this season’s SEC powerhouses.
“It would be huge for our school to beat someone as well known as Alabama,” Johnson said. “We’ve just got to go out there and play our game and not let the magnitude of the game get to us – go out there and realize once we’re on the field, we’re playing football and everything’s going to take care of itself.”
veraged a gaudy 529.2 yards and 45 points per game during their unbeaten regular season, could do against the Bulldogs.
It wasn’t pretty for those wearing leis.
Warriors quarterback Colt Brennan was sacked eight times and left the game early. Hawaii turned the ball over six times, four on interceptions (three by Brennan) and twice on fumbles.
This Friday, Johnson must deal with an opponent coached by a renowned defensive strategist in Nick Saban.
Yet Utah’s senior quarterback simply cannot envision the Utes getting rolled by the Crimson Tide like Hawaii was a year ago by Georgia.
“If you look at it, it’s clear that we’re a much better team than Hawaii was last year and I think us (and Hawaii) being two non-BCS teams, that’s where the comparison starts and that’s where it ends,” Johnson said. “You look at their strength of schedule last year and you look at the teams they played to get there and look at what we did – I think it’s completely different. … We deserve to be here and hopefully after (the game) there won’t be any more questions about that.”
Contrary to what it says on T-shirts seen in New Orleans referring to Utah as a member of the WAC, the Utes in fact play in the Mountain West Conference, a league that has held its own against BCS conferences this season.
Ten and won at home against Oregon State of the Pac-10. The victory over the Beavers was one of five against bowl teams, the others being over Air Force, Colorado State, TCU and BYU.
Johnson said he heard about the T-shirts advertising Utah as a member of the WAC and said it wasn’t the first time something like that happened this year. Following the Michigan game, someone asked him what that win meant for the WAC.
“It’s a national perception and that’s what we’re here to change, hopefully,” Johnson said. “That’s just a stigma that goes along with the territory. We’re down here in SEC country, so I mean, I’m sure a lot of people aren’t interested in what the University of Utah’s doing in September, October and November. So it’s a situation where we’ve got to go out and control what we can control and hopefully everybody will know what conference we’re in after this game.”
Alabama has been to 12 previous Sugar Bowls, winning eight. This is Utah’s first Sugar Bowl, but not its first BCS bowl. The Alex Smith-led Utes soundly beat Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl following the 2003 season. Johnson even got a few snaps at the end of that game because it was so well in hand.
f respect.
“For some reason, people think that there are no good players in non-BCS schools,” Utah cornerback Sean Smith said. “We have guys that run 4.2s and have 40-inch verticals like everybody else. We have great athletes, and most important of all, we’ve got good coaches who do a great job of making sure that we’re prepared for every game.”
Of course, it would be hard for anyone to discount a victory over Alabama (12-1), which spent more than a month at No. 1 and didn’t lose until it played Florida in the SEC championship.
“Without question this is the best opponent and the best matchup that Utah’s had in over 100 years of college football,” Johnson said. “This is everything you dream for. Everything is right there in front of you for a chance to put yourself in the history books.”
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