Break Before the Bowl

New Orleans may be a long ways from Salt Lake, but it’s not entirely unfamiliar territory for some Utah players.
Several have been there before. For instance, wide receiver Jereme Brooks says his parents are from Louisiana. He has spent considerable time there. Quarterback Brian Johnson is from Houston, a few hours away by car, and says he has been to the Big Easy four or five times.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Johnson.
Whether that means either player will be leading tours through the French Quarter is debatable. As far as players were concerned when they broke practice, this week, they expected to mostly be preparing for the Sugar Bowl. The one scheduled field trip so far is the Dec. 28 New Orleans-Carolina NFL game at the Superdome.

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One of the perks of Utah’s deal with Under Armour is that there’s plenty gear to go around.
Thus, scout team players were wearing Alabama crimson-colored jerseys, this week, to make practice more realistic.
Another trick was piping in crowd noise over the loudspeakers at the Ute practice facility.
‘I’m sure it’s going to be much louder when we get there to New Orleans, but we’ll just try to harness it and win the game,’ said Brooks.

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After the final practice before Christmas break, most of the players were available for the media.
One notable exception was receiver Brent Casteel. As he jogged off the field, he told reporters he couldn’t talk.
‘I’ve got a final to take,’ he said.
On the whole, the Utes appeared relaxed and happy about their bowl prospects.
‘We’ve got a really big challenge ahead of us, but our guys have been working hard,’ said coach Kyle Whittingham.