Radio sideline reporter Jed Drenning provides periodic commentary on the Mountaineer football program for WVUsports.com. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @TheSignalCaller.
 
It might've been the biggest sack in Utah history.
 
With a few ticks over five minutes remaining in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, Nick Saban's No. 4-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide was thunderstruck. Despite entering the game against unbeaten Mountain West Conference champ Utah as a heavy favorite, Alabama found itself on the business end of a 28-17 deficit and was operating from its own 37-yard line in desperation mode. John Parker Wilson – the leading passer in Tide history at the time – took the snap in the shotgun and immediately directed his attention to the wide side of the field where Alabama was attacking the Utah defense with a three-receiver route combination.
 
Trouble was brewing, however, to Wilson's blind side.
 
On the snap, Utes cornerback Sean Smith had abandoned the Tide's single receiver to the boundary -- Earl Alexander -- leaving him in man coverage against safety Robert Johnson. Smith was barreling downhill, hell bent for leather on a corner blitz. Like most everything else the Utes rolled out against Bama, the call was deceptive and bold. And, also like most everything else that night in the Superdome, the gamble paid off for Utah.
 
Alabama running back Mark Ingram stepped up to Wilson's left in pass protection but missed his key. Smith barreled past him at full speed and Wilson never had a chance. As the Tide signal caller raised the ball behind his ear to throw, Smith reached home, securing the quarterback with his left hand and swatting the ball out with his right.  The football skidded across the carpet and Utah linebacker Stevenson Sylvester pounced on it at the Alabama 27-yard line.
 
The play was Utah's evening in microcosm. Ceding a considerable size advantage to Bama's massive offensive line, the Utes unleashed a laundry list of blitzes and stunts to knock the Crimson Tide off script. Utah controlled the Tide's ground game (31 yards on 33 attempts) and harassed Wilson all night, finishing with eight sacks. Perhaps none was bigger than Smith's. The deceptive, perfectly timed cornerback blitz that cued the Utes' band, ignited their fans, sent thousands of Bama faithful flooding toward Bourbon Street and sealed the biggest victory in Utah football history.
 
Alabama would go on to win 19 consecutive games after the loss to the Utes, including the 2009 BCS title. Utah, which finished the season 13-0 and secured the No. 2 spot in the AP poll, would three years later land an invitation to the Pac-12, in part owing to that historic Sugar Bowl victory -- the crown jewel of Utah's postseason resume.
 
And what a resume it is.
 
Utah has posted 13 wins in 14 bowl appearances since 1999 and at one point, won nine straight, the second longest streak in NCAA history. In fact, the Utes winning percentage in bowl games (.800) ranks No. 1 among all Power 5 Conference programs. One of those victories was over West Virginia in the 1964 Liberty Bowl in Atlantic City's Convention Hall, the first college bowl game ever played indoors and the first ever broadcast on national television.
 
The ring leader behind a substantial portion of this success has been Utes' coach Kyle Whittingham, credited with a 10-1 mark in bowl games, which translates into a winning percentage of .909 – also the best in history. Whittingham's 10 bowl victories are tied for second among active coaches, trailing only the guy he beat in that Sugar Bowl – Nick Saban. Whittingham's bowl wins have showcased standout performances of all varieties, including 300-yard passing efforts (four times by Utah QBs), 100-yard rushers (also four times), one 200-yard rusher and even a 200-yard receiver (Travis LaTentresse with 16 catches for 214 yards in a 2005 Emerald Bowl win over Georgia Tech).
 
The most constant feature behind Whittingham's postseason successes, however, has been sturdy defense. The Utes have allowed an average of just 20 points per contest in Whittingham's 11 bowl games at the helm and only once have they surrendered 30-plus. In those 11 games, the Utes have held six bowl opponents to less than 100 yards rushing while forcing 28 turnovers and racking up 37 sacks. This defensive consistency has allowed the Utes to win despite some uneven bowl efforts on the offensive side, including one victory in which they suffered four turnovers, another that saw them rush for a paltry 13 yards and another in which they managed a mere 197 total yards.   
 
For all the bowl accomplishments Whittingham has helped Utah achieve, however, the Utes matchup against West Virginia on Dec. 26 in Dallas represents uncharted waters. It marks the first time Whittingham will guide a six-loss team into a postseason game.
 
It's worth noting that four of Utah's six losses this fall were heartbreakers to the four best teams in the Pac-12 by a combined 15 points. All four of those teams are currently ranked in the CFP committee's Top 18. Utah traded punches with No. 13 Stanford in a three-point loss. The Utes led No. 8 USC by 14 with 20 minutes left at the Los Angeles Coliseum but couldn't fend off Sam Darnold's fourth quarter hocus pocus. Utah had No. 18 Washington State on upset alert in the fourth quarter despite turning the ball over seven times, and it led No. 11 Washington by a touchdown in the final seconds but couldn't seal the deal.
 
In short, the line dividing marginal and magnificent has been razor thin for the Utes this year. A little luck -- a tipped pass, a missed kick or a freak gust of wind in the red zone – at a critical moment in any of those four games might have changed Utah's narrative.
 
With a defense that's allowed the second-fewest touchdowns in the Pac-12, an offense featuring a 1,000-yard runner (Zach Moss, fresh off a 196-yard effort in the Utes' 34-13 regular season finale win over Colorado) and transition units led by an all-conference punter and the best place kicker in America (Lou Groza Award winner Matt Gay), Utah is a football team with plenty of strengths. But you don't lose six games without also having plenty of flaws.  
 
In the offseason, Utah had a school-record eight players selected in the NFL draft. Four of those players were starters on last year's offensive line, including All-Pac-12 first teamer Garrett Bolles, a first-round pick who has started every game at left tackle for the Denver Broncos as a rookie this year.  
 
Such a substantial hit in the trenches was sure to mean growing pains in Salt Lake City on the offensive side of the football. That was of particular concern considering Utah hired a new coordinator, Troy Taylor, to implement a system that was foreign to the Utes. By and large, those fears proved to be warranted.
 
The spread offense Taylor installed has shown flashes of potential. Moss became the first Utah underclassman in 26 years to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing mark; the Utes finished No. 2 in the league in time of possession and nine different players caught a TD pass (tied for most in the Pac-12).
 
But it's also been an offense marred by inconsistency.
 
The reconstructed line has been a work in progress. Assistant coach Jim Harting has helped this unit forge the continuity needed for a group that entered the season lacking a significant number of snaps together. Four Utah offensive linemen have started every game this year (left guard Salesi Uhatafe, left tackle Jackson Barton, right tackle Darrin Paulo and center Lo Falemaka) and – though they've had their moments – they've also been leaky at the most inopportune times.
 
The Utes have allowed 32 sacks while surrendering the most tackles for loss in the Pac-12 (7.0/game). That's led to a laundry list of adverse down and distance situations, which have in turn resulted in the Utah offense posting the worst third-down success rate in the Pac-12. On the road, things have been even more dire for Utah as its converted less than 27 percent of its third-down tries away from Rice-Eccles Stadium. Only six FBS teams fared worse on third downs on the road – and those six averaged just three wins each this year.
 
Utah's struggles on third down have spilled over into trouble elsewhere – most notably in the red zone.
 
Sure, the Utes lead the nation in field goals (27) but they also lead in field goal attempts (32). Those numbers are the unintended consequence of inefficiency near the opposition's goal line. Utah's 53.5 touchdown percentage in the red zone is the worst mark in the Pac-12, creating plenty of opportunities for Gay to drive that field goal count up so high.
 
Study the Utes on film as I have this holiday season with sugar cookie crumbs on my chest and you'll see these issues surface with more regularity than Whittingham would like. One sequence in particular seemed to illustrate all the angles of Utah's offensive weak points. Grab the clicker and throw in the Utes' Nov. 11 loss to Washington State and you'll see the unholy trinity of Utah's offensive shortcomings – a devastating tackle for loss, an insurmountable third-down situation and a squandered opportunity in the red zone.
 
Trailing 20-10 with 1:22 left on a rolling second quarter clock, the Utes were knocking on the door with a golden first and 10 opportunity at the Cougars' 13-yard line. Utah offered up a split gun look with twin receivers to the left and a single receiver to the boundary on the right.
 
Quarterback Tyler Huntley took the snap and gave to Moss, who broke left behind his fullback who was looking to pave a path to the perimeter. But this was no ordinary sweep. What was unfolding was some would-be trickeration. From the slot, Demari Simpkins (a former high school quarterback) worked his way against the flow as Moss flipped him the football. After completing the initial handoff, meanwhile, Huntley had slid like a thief in the night around right end where – just inside the numbers -- he broke upfield toward the end zone as the target on a quarterback throwback pass.
 
But the play seemed doomed from the outset. Utah slid its protection to the left, hoping to sell the sweep action and dupe the Wazzu defense into over-pursuing toward it. Cougars boundary defensive tackle Hercules Mata'afa didn't take the bait. Mata'afa stayed home. Without resistance, he scooted past the outside shoulder of Utes right tackle Darrin Paulo and diagnosed the reverse action coming his way. Mata'afa pushed upfield and smothered Simpkins for a 15-yard loss.
 
Just like that a perfect red zone scoring chance had devolved into a desperate second down and 25, which poisoned the well on third down and, ultimately, Guy missed a 45-yard field goal. The whole scenario almost reads like a Cliff's Notes version of the 2017 Utes offense. Another Utah red zone opportunity up in smoke after a cascade of events that dressed the stage for another third down failure was set in motion when the Utes allowed yet another crippling tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
 
While there should be opportunities for Mountaineer defenders like David Long Jr. (13 TFLs) and Al-Rasheed Benton (13 TFLs) to get Utah behind the chains, rest assured the Utes' staff will be addressing this during bowl preparation. The 10-1 postseason record next to Whittingham's name, much like that sneaky cornerback blitz against Alabama's giant offensive line in the Sugar Bowl, hasn't happened by accident. 
 
I'll see you at the 50.