by Matthew Zemek

Bowl season roundup

Bowl recaps and analysis:

EagleBank: Wake 29, Navy 19 | CFN
New Mexico: Colo. St. 40, Fresno St. 35
St. Petersburg: S. Florida 41, Memphis 14
Las Vegas: Arizona 31, BYU 21 | CFN
New Orleans: SMU 30, Troy 27 (OT) | CFN
Poinsettia: TCU 17, Boise St. 16 | CFN
Hawaii: Notre Dame 49, Hawaii 21 | CFN
Motor City: FAU 24, Cen. Mich. 21 | CFN
Meineke: W. Virginia 31, UNC 30 | CFN
Champs Sports: Fla. St. 42, Wis. 13 | CFN
Emerald: Cal 24, Miami 17 | CFN
Independence: La. Tech 17, NIU 10 | CFN
Papajohns.com: Rutgers 29, N.C. St. 23
Alamo: Mizzou 30, N'west. 23 (OT) | CFN
Humanitarian: Maryland 42, Nevada 35
Texas: Rice 38, W. Michigan 14
Holiday: Oregon 42, Oklahoma St. 31 | CFN
Armed Forces: Houston 34, Air Force 28
Sun: Oregon St. 3, Pittsburgh 0 | CFN
Music City: Vandy 16, BC 14 | CFN
Insight: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
Chick-fil-A: LSU 38, Georgia Tech 3
Outback: Iowa 31, South Carolina 10 | CFN
Capital One: Georgia 24, MSU 12 | CFN
Gator: Nebraska 26, Clemson 21
Rose: USC 38, Penn St. 24 | Analysis
Orange: Va. Tech 20, Cincinnati 7
Cotton: Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 34
Liberty: Kentucky 25, East Carolina 19
Sugar: Utah 31, Alabama 17
International: UConn 38, Buffalo 20
Fiesta: Texas 24, Ohio St. 21 | Analysis
GMAC: Tulsa 45, Ball St. 13
BCS title: Florida 24, Oklahoma 14
Complete bowl schedule

Photo gallery:

• Fiesta Bowl snapshots
• Snapshots from Saturday's bowls
• Best from bowl season's 1st weekend

Shopping:

• Get your '09 BCS bowl gear!

The last time the Utah Utes made a BCS bowl, Kyle Whittingham was Urban Meyer's right-hand man for a program that registered a perfect regular season and strolled to the Fiesta Bowl. Now, Whittingham is in charge of a Utes team that seems destined for a return trip to suburban Phoenix. The only difference between this year's apparent flight to the Fiesta and the 2004 trip is that the outright Mountain West Conference champions — freshly crowned after an authoritative dismissal of in-state rival BYU on Saturday evening — will go to Glendale, Ariz., and not Tempe.

Utah won't care about that, however. The only thing that really matters for the 12-0 Utes, who rule the Rocky Mountain region once again, is that Brian Johnson has become their true leader, in much the same way that the electrifying Alex Smith guided the program to a spotless 2004 season.

The difference in this so-called "Holy War" was really rather simple. While BYU quarterback Max Hall threw four picks and the Cougars imploded with five turnovers overall, Johnson — saving his very best for the final home game of a decorated career — completed 29 of 35 passes for just over 300 yards with no interceptions. BYU stayed close for nearly three full quarters, but the accumulation of turnovers eventually caught up with the defending MWC champions,

Utah — after a year of close-shave wins against the likes of Michigan, Oregon State, New Mexico and TCU — flexed its muscles in the finale to crash the BCS party.

The BYU-Utah rivalry has been marked by close games and thrilling, last-second finishes over the past several years. The fact that the Utes could pull away and crush the Cougars in a 21-0 fourth quarter shows that the sons of Salt Lake can win with authority. This runaway win is just the kind of accomplishment that will give the Utes added credibility as they likely gear up for a big-name opponent in the first week of January.