Utah Utes football | |||
---|---|---|---|
|
|||
First season | 1892 | ||
Athletic director | Chris Hill | ||
Head coach |
Kyle Whittingham 12th year, 104–50 (.675) |
||
Stadium | Rice–Eccles Stadium | ||
Seating capacity | 45,807 | ||
Field surface | FieldTurf | ||
Location | Salt Lake City, Utah | ||
NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
Conference | Pac-12 Conference | ||
Division | South | ||
Past conferences | Independent (1892, 1894–1909) RMAC (1910–1917, 1919–1937) Big Seven (1938–1947) Skyline (1948–1961) WAC (1962–1998) MWC (1999–2010) |
||
All-time record | 661–453–31 (.591) | ||
Bowl record | 16–4 (.800) | ||
Conference titles | 24 | ||
Division titles | 1 | ||
Consensus All-Americans | 5 | ||
Current uniform | |||
Colors | Red and White |
||
Fight song | Utah Man | ||
Mascot | Swoop | ||
Marching band | Pride of Utah | ||
Rivals |
BYU Cougars Colorado Buffaloes Utah State Aggies |
||
Website | UtahUtes.com |
The Utah Utes football program is a college football team that currently competes in the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at the current site of Rice–Eccles Stadium since 1927. They have won twenty-four conference championships in five conferences during their history, and, as of the end of the 2016 season, they have a cumulative record of 661 wins, 453 losses, and 31 ties.
The Utes have a record of 16–4 (.800) in bowl games. Among Utah's bowl appearances are two games from the Bowl Championship Series (BCS): the Fiesta Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. In the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, Utah defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers 35–7, and in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, they defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 31–17. During those seasons, Utah was a member of the Mountain West Conference, whose champion does not receive an automatic invitation to a BCS bowl. The Utes were the first team from a conference without an automatic bid to play in a BCS bowl game—colloquially known as being a BCS Buster—and the first BCS Buster to play in a second BCS Bowl.
During Utah's first year in 1892, the Utes won one game and lost two, including a loss to future rival Utah State. The first two games were against the local YMCA, but no one knows when these contests took place. Utah's first game against another college, Utah Agricultural College (now called "Utah State"), was scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, but was postponed one day due to a snow storm. Utah A.C. won 12–0.