2008 Utah Football Team Celebrates Crimson Club HOF Induction
Sep 25, 2023, 6:53 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – They were the ultimate “David and Goliath” college football story and they have now taken their rightful place in the Crimson Club Hall of Fame. Naturally, we are talking about the 2008 Utah football team.
From gut-check comebacks (TCU) to outright obliterations (BYU), the 2008 Utes checked off every box to become the first repeat “BCS Busters” in a now by-gone era of college football. However, unlike their “Original BCS Busting” brothers in 2004, this team was allowed to prove they were for real, and boy did they.
January 2, 2009, in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Superdome is the day and place the No. 6 Utah Utes were tasked with taking down the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl. Few believed they could do it. The 2008 Utes never got that memo, however, blasting Alabama 21-0 in the first quarter alone before cruising to a 31-17 win to ice a 13-0 perfect season- the second in school history.
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2008 Utah Football Makes History
Utah would be the only undefeated team in the country that season and go on to earn an AP final ranking of No. 2 behind former coach Urban Meyer’s National Champion Florida Gators.
Needless to say, Utah’s win against the Crimson Tide shattered all illusions (and delusions) held in college football at that time.
They were a team that not only changed college football forever, but the trajectory of Utah Athletics as well. Two years later in 2010, the Pac-10 extended an invite to the Utes to join the conference and become the Pac-12.
Utah’s success hasn’t stopped there either. The Utes have made four appearances in the Pac-12 Title Game, winning back-to-back Championships in 2021 and 2022 with the opportunity three-peat this season. While they have yet to win it, Utah has also had the opportunity to play in two Rose Bowls.
If that is not enough for you, gone are the days Utah football had to claw their way into the AP Top 25 by season’s end. These days the Utes are starting their seasons in the poll- this year within the Top 15 and just recently cracking the Top 10 over the weekend.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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