Utes to Attend MWC Football Media Preview

July 22, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY

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Representing Utah at the 2010 Mountain West Conference Football Preview in Las Vegas, July 26-28, will be Head Coach Kyle Whittingham, junior cornerback Brandon Burton and senior center Zane Taylor. It will be the final MWC media day for the Utes, who will begin membership in the Pac-10 Conference in 2011.

CAMP AROUND THE CORNER

Aug. 5: Camp begins. Aug. 7: Photo/Media Day (3:00-4:30 p.m.) Aug. 11: Two-a-Days begin Aug. 21: Camp concludes with a scrimmage Aug. 23: Classes begin

Brandon Burton will attend the MWC Media Days on July 26-28.

SPOTLIGHT ON Brandon Burton

Cornerback Brandon Burton (6-0, 190), will gun for all-conference and All-America honors as a junior this fall. Burton, who prepares to start for his second season, is the latest in a long line of great Utah defensive backs that includes current NFL players Eric Weddle (San Diego), Sean Smith (Miami), Brice McCain (Houston), Robert Johnson (Tennessee) and R.J. Stanford (Carolina). A great cover corner who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.35-seconds, Burton led Utah and tied for second in the league in pass breakups (10) a year ago. He also had 47 tackles, 4.0 TFL, a sack and an interception as a sophomore.

Zane Taylor will represent the Ute offense at media day.

SPOTLIGHT ON Zane Taylor

Arguably the best center in the league, senior Zane Taylor looks to move up to the all-MWC first team after previously earning second-team (2009) and honorable mention (2008) honors. Taylor has started all 26 games at center over the past two seasons, handling the vast majority of the snaps. He led Utah in cuts (33) and finished second in pancake blocks (16) last year. A three-time academic all-conference honoree, Taylor is the strongest player on the Utah team (bench presses 440 pounds, squats 565 pounds).

HERE AND GONE

The Utes return 14 starters (8 offense, 4 defense, 2 kickers), while losing 11 (4 offense, 7 defense) from last year's 10-3 Poinsettia Bowl champion team. Among the starters lost--a school-record six NFL draft picks: second-rounders Koa Misi (DL/LB, Miami) and Zane Beadles (OL, Denver); fifth-rounders Robert Johnson (DB, Tennessee), David Reed (WR, Baltimore) and Stevenson Sylvester (LB, Pittsburgh); and seventh-rounder R.J. Stanford (DB, Carolina). Utah's six NFL draft picks last April was the most of the non-BCS schools and tied for fourth overall.

BOWL BUSTERS

Utah's nine-game bowl win streak is the longest active bowl win streak in the nation and is tied for the second-longest of all-time. Florida State holds the record with 11 consecutive bowl wins (1985-96), while the Utes are tied for second with USC, which won nine straight postseason games in a period spanning from 1923-45. Five of Utah's wins during the current nine-game win streak have come against BCS foes: USC (2001), Pittsburgh (2005/2004 season), Georgia Tech (2005), Alabama (2009/2008 season) and California (2009). Utah is 12-3 all-time in bowl games and its 80-percent postseason success rate is the best in the nation among teams that have played in at least 10 bowl games.

RIGHT AT HOME

When Utah opens its schedule on Thursday, Sept. 2 vs. Pittsburgh in Rice-Eccles Stadium, the Utes will put a 17-game home win streak on the line. Dating back to a Sept. 15, 2007 victory over then 11th-ranked UCLA, it is the second-longest home win streak in school history and the longest since the Utes won 26-straight home games from 1928-1934. In addition to Pitt, Utah will host UNLV, San Jose State, Colorado State, TCU and Brigham Young this season. Utah's road schedule is highlighted by non-conference trips to Iowa State (Oct. 9) and Notre Dame (Nov. 13).

WINNING WAYS

The Utes have averaged 9.9 wins a season since 2003, including undefeated seasons in 2004 (12-0) and 2008 (13-0). Of Utah's five 10-win seasons in its 115-year history, four have come in the last seven years. Utah won double-digit games in 1994 (10-2), 2003 (10-2), 2004 (12-0), 2008 (13-0) and 2009 (10-3). The Utes have won nine or more games in each of the last three seasons, which is a school first.

BCS SUCCESS

Entering its final year as a member of a non-automatic qualifying conference, Utah has more wins against BCS schools than any other NAQ team. Since the BCS began in 1998, the Utes own 19 wins against BCS opponents and are 19-11 overall. Here are the leaders going into 2010: Utah (19), Navy (18), TCU (17), BYU (15) and Fresno State (14). Utah, the original BCS Buster in 2004, is 2-0 in BCS bowl games with wins over Pitt in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.

PAC-ING UP

The 2010 season will be Utah's last in the Mountain West Conference. On June 17, 2010, the Utes accepted an invitation to join the Pacific-10 Conference and will begin Pac-10 play in 2011. The Utes were charter members of the MWC back in 1999, winning conference titles in 1999 (tie), 2003, 2004 and 2008. The Pac-10 will mark the sixth conference in Utah's history. Utah competed in the Rocky Mountain Conference (1910-37), Big Seven Conference (1938-47), Skyline Conference (1948-61), Western Athletic Conference (1962-98) and MWC (1999-2010).

U-TRIVIA

The fastest player on the 2010 Utah team is junior redshirt cornerback Conroy Black (4.30-second 40). The strongest player is senior offensive lineman Zane Taylor (benches 440 pounds, 41 reps of 225 pounds and 565-pound squat). Right there with Taylor are fellow offensive linemen Tony Bergstrom (405-pound bench), and Tevita Stevens and Walter Watts, who both squat 555 pounds. Senior corner Kameron Yancy has the best vertical jump (39.5"), while Black and senior safety Justin Taplin-Ross both have 39" vertical leaps.

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