Whittingham's Peace and Quiet

It was an odd thing, last week, at the Utes’ Tuesday football practice.

There they were, ranked No. 8 in the BCS polls, a tough game coming up against Air Force, and there were exactly three reporters at practice.

Three.

That many showed up for practice back when Chuck Stobart was coaching the Utes.

KEEPING A LOW PROFILE

Why that happened, I don’t know. It’s not like a bigger story was pulling the media away from the Utes. BYU actually had a bye that week. The Jazz were opening the season the next night, but that was a road game, and their practice had been in the morning.

When Kyle Whittingham walked over to talk to two Deseret News writers and a KFAN reporter I kiddingly said to the coach: “Where’s all the media? I thought you guys were ranked 8th in the BCS poll?”

His response: “Flying under the radar. Just flying under the radar. I like it.”

That’s not going to be so easy this week. Seeing how the game against TCU is being previewed on ESPN’s “Game Day,” and seeing it will feature two of the top five-ranked BCS teams, I’m guessing practices will be a lot more crowded this time around.

Looks like his cover has been blown.