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Utah faces Penn State as the sun sets on Rose Bowl era

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Utah faces Penn State as the sun sets on Rose Bowl era


The solar often units behind Arroyo Seco late within the third quarter of the Rose Bowl. The second is usually spectacular, with clouds turning pink and orange whereas the San Gabriel Mountains gentle up in dazzling reds and yellows amid the dying rays.

The solar can be setting on an period of Rose Bowl historical past Monday when No. 7 Utah (10-3, No. 8 CFP) faces No. 9 Penn State (10-2, No. 11 CFP).

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“We’re taking part in within the final, I suppose, conventional Rose Bowl,” Penn State defensive deal with Nick Tarburton mentioned.

The 109th version of the Granddaddy of Them All is the final that’s assured to characteristic the sport’s time-honored pairing of Pac-12 and Huge Ten groups. The sport’s standing as a Faculty Soccer Playoff semifinal subsequent season and the expanded playoff in 2024 has put the long run in flux for the game’s oldest lively bowl sport.

“If certainly this does develop into the final historically slotted Rose Bowl, it’s an amazing honor to be part of that, and we need to do it proud,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham mentioned.

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An aerial view of the 100-year-old Rose Bowl Stadium previous to the Rose Bowl Sport.(Picture by David McNew/Getty Photos) (Getty Photos)

For such a tradition-rich sporting occasion, this uncertainty is uncommon — however not really unprecedented, as identified by Laura Farber, the chair of the Rose Bowl Administration Committee.

Whereas the Rose Bowl is a nationwide New Yr’s Day establishment, kicked off by the famed Rose Parade and persevering with to the two p.m. kickoff that results in these well-known sunsets, the large sport has been performed on days apart from Jan. 1 — together with this 12 months as a result of New Yr’s Day falls on a Sunday — and featured all types of geographical matchups over the many years, notably in its first half-century of existence when Ivy League squads and Southern powers typically made the journey.

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“It’s actually arduous to say what the long run holds, as a result of no person is aware of,” Farber mentioned. “What’s attention-grabbing is studying to stability between custom and innovation, and being versatile and embracing the adjustments, as a result of there’s been hyper-speed adjustments for the previous 12 months in faculty soccer, the previous few years, actually. We’ve needed to be versatile, but remind all people how a lot this sport means to so many individuals.”

BIG FINISH

This Pac-12/Huge Ten matchup has all the pieces essential to exit with a bang.

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Each applications are repeat guests to Pasadena, with constant observe data of success beneath two outstanding, revered coaches who by no means have gained the Rose Bowl. The Utes gained the Pac-12 and reached Pasadena for the second straight 12 months in one other excessive level on their spectacular journey to nationwide prominence, whereas the Nittany Lions misplaced solely to playoff-bound Michigan and Ohio State in one other double-digit win marketing campaign.

The Rose Bowl marks the primary assembly between the colleges. Utah is the one Pac-12 faculty the Nittany Lions have by no means confronted.

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“I believe there’s a whole lot of similarities between our applications and the way they’re constructed,” Penn State coach James Franklin mentioned. “(Utah is a) fundamentalist program, powerful, sound. We’re taking part in rather well on protection and have been all 12 months lengthy. I believe they’ve been constructed along with his (Whittingham) background on the defensive aspect of the ball as effectively. However I believe their quarterback actually makes them go. I’ve bought a ton of respect for him.”

SECOND SHOT

Utah quarterback Cameron Rising might be ending his faculty profession with another sport in his native Southern California, however the Ventura County product isn’t considering forward to the NFL simply but. He handed for profession highs of two,939 yards and 25 touchdowns this season, capped by a stellar three-TD effort within the Utes’ convention title sport win over USC.

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Rising additionally has redemption on his thoughts: He bought injured whereas final season’s Rose Bowl was tied with about 10 minutes to play, and Ohio State rallied for a 48-45 win even after Rising’s backup, Bryson Barnes, led a TD drive.

“We’re completely satisfied to be again, however we have now unfinished enterprise we need to go get accomplished this time,” Rising mentioned. “I bear in mind seeing (Ohio State) have fun and have the ceremony proper after, and seeing that after I walked off the sphere. That’s been engraved in my head ever since, and I need to be on the opposite aspect of it now.”

LAST CHANCE

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Quarterback Sean Clifford is a sixth-year senior taking part in in his 51st sport for Penn State. He’s the varsity’s profession chief in yards passing and TDs, however he’s seeking to cap his profession with what is likely to be his greatest victory.

Clifford has only one bowl win on his resume: a 53-39 win over Memphis within the 2019 Cotton Bowl through which he handed for under 133 yards.

“When the lights are shining the brightest, you’ve bought to carry out at your highest degree,” Clifford mentioned. “It’s simply taking all of it in while you first run out, being on the market for a second or two, after which it’s about profitable the sport.”

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SITTING OUT

Each groups shall be lacking key gamers who skipped Pasadena to organize for the NFL draft.

Penn State shall be with out cornerback Joey Porter Jr., a second-team All-American and shutdown defender on the perimeter, whereas Utah gained’t have its first-team All-American cornerback, Clark Phillips III. The Utes are also with out tight finish Dalton Kincaid, who had a whopping 70 catches for a team-leading 890 yards and eight TDs, and main rusher Tavion Thomas.

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Utah

Utah Hockey Club loses 5th straight

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Utah Hockey Club loses 5th straight


The frustration in the Utah Hockey Club locker room is rising.

Utah is now on a five-game losing streak after Sunday night’s 2-1 setback to the St. Louis Blues, with the last three losses coming at home.

Nothing Utah HC doing seems to be working, and the players are starting to recognize it.

“We’ve had a lot of meetings about this,” said veteran defenseman Ian Cole after the game. “I think that everyone’s really said just about all that could be said. At some point, it needs to get put in practice on the ice.”

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Head coach André Tourigny agreed.

“You want to win,” he said after the game. “You want to find a way to cross the finish line and stuff like that. I don’t think we played that well today.”

The team is left looking for answers to more questions than just what it should be called next season. They have one game left in their current home stand, and its importance is not lost on Tourigny.

“It’s an extremely huge game for us (Tuesday) against Philly,” he said. “We need the two points; We need to finish the home stand at least at .500, hit the road and have a hell of a road trip before the break. There’s no doubt about it.”

Here’s a rundown of Sunday’s game.

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How this works

This is a three-part article geared toward three different audiences.

  • First, we’ll have “Utah hockey for dummies” for all you new hockey fans. Welcome, by the way — we’re glad you’ve taken an interest in the greatest sport in the world.
  • Next, we’ll have a section titled “Utah hockey for casual fans,” aimed at those who have a basic understanding of the sport.
  • Finally, we’ll have “Utah hockey for nerds.” That will be for those of you who, like me, think about nothing but hockey all day, every day.

Feedback is welcome, so let me know what you think in the comments of this article or the comments section on “X.”

Utah Hockey for dummies

As mentioned in the pregame article, a number of Utah players have had great success in against the Blues in their respective careers.

Defenseman Michael Kesselring continued his offensive streak against St. Louis with Utah’s only goal of the game. He now has goals in all three games against the Blues this season and he has points in all four games he’s ever played against them.

“(I’m) a little lucky, I guess,” Kesselring said of his scoring tendency against the Blues. “It was nice to get one there.”

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On the other hand, two point streaks came to an end. Nick Schmaltz had scored points in each of his previous 11 games against the Blues, while St. Louis-area native Clayton Keller had done so in each of his previous eight contests versus his hometown team.

It was not for a lack of effort. Keller and Schmaltz, who play on the same line, seemed to be feeding off each other all night. They were responsible for more than their fair share of Utah’s scoring chances, but they just couldn’t get anything past Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington.

It culminated in Keller’s third-period bomb on the power play. Upon receiving a perfect pass from Mikhail Sergachev, Keller let it fly and drilled the crossbar.

The puck went so high that the fans on the left side of the net thought it might fly above the netting and into their section of the stands.

Utah Hockey for casual fans

Since Connor Ingram’s return to the lineup, he has given his team a chance to win every time he’s tended the net. Utah has struggled to score though, which means he’s gotten credit for a few more losses than he’s deserved.

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In his six games since returning, he has a .910 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. He’s not the most technically sound goaltender, but he’s finds ways to make saves — and that’s what ultimately matters.

For example, nearing the halfway mark of the first period Sunday with Utah killing a penalty, Ingram made an excellent save in tight on Oskar Sundqvist.

Ingram was down and out, but he managed to get his stick in position to block Sundqvist’s next bid and keep the game knotted at zero. Ingram has given his team all the support in the world. The team needs to start returning the favor by scoring enough goals to win.

Utah Hockey for nerds

To the Blues’ credit, Utah HC’s biggest problem was something the Blues did well rather than something UHC did poorly: congest the offensive zone.

In the first two periods especially, Utah couldn’t get anything to the inner slot without five white sweaters blocking every lane. That forced them to either shoot from the outside or cough the puck up.

“We made some tactical adjustments after the second to build more speed through the neutral zone,” Tourigny said after the game. “We’re happy about the result and it’s something we’ll try to duplicate.”

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According to Natural Stat Trick’s data, Utah controlled just 23.08% of the high-danger scoring chances in the first period and 33.33% of those chances in the second.

Statistically speaking, Tourigny’s adjustments worked in the third period: Utah HC had 83.33% of the high-danger chances in the third period.

What’s next?

Utah closes out its home stand on Tuesday as it hosts the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers are in second-to-last place in the Eastern Conference standings, but there’s so much parity in the east that they’re only seven points out of the playoffs.

They made a big trade last week to acquire Jakob Pelletier and Andrei Kuzmenko, the latter of whom is due for a bounce-back season. He scored 39 goals and 74 points as a member of the Vancouver Canucks in 2022-23, but he hasn’t come close to that since.

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Neither player has suited up for the Flyers yet. It’s unclear why Pelletier hasn’t played, but Kuzmenko is experiencing visa issues, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall.

Being the last game of the home stand, it’s the last day to vote on the team name and branding.



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Heavy snow continues for Utah’s northern mountains

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Heavy snow continues for Utah’s northern mountains


SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Happy Sunday, Utah! It has been a soggy weekend so far for the valleys with heavy mountain snowfall.

The wet weather will continue Sunday with mainly heavy mountain snow and some valley rain. An atmospheric river has been pumping moisture into northern Utah, keeping steady snow for portions of northern Utah, mainly north of Ogden, and bursts of rain and snow south to Utah County. Throughout the day, the moisture will start shifting into Idaho, and snowfall south of Ogden will wind down.

By the time it’s all said and done, Tony Grove and Logan Summit are looking at about 1 to 3 feet of snow, with some spots possibly seeing over 4 feet. The Cottonwoods and Provo Canyon should get between 1 and 2 feet, with a few areas hitting 3 feet. Snow levels will be between 7,500 and 8,000 feet by Sunday morning, meaning mountain valleys will see rain.

Looking ahead, Monday and Tuesday will feel more like April than early February, with warm, windy conditions pushing highs into the 60s along the Wasatch Front and even the 70s in parts of southern Utah. A weak system on Wednesday will bring cooler temperatures, some mountain snow, and possibly a mix of rain and snow in the valleys. By Friday and Saturday, a stronger storm could bring a big cold front and heavy mountain snow, but the details still need time to be worked out. Stay tuned!

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We’ll keep you posted on the latest developments in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah!



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Utah Lacrosse stuns No. 19 Ohio State in season opener

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Utah Lacrosse stuns No. 19 Ohio State in season opener


The University of Utah lacrosse team opened its 2025 season with a statement victory, upsetting No. 19 Ohio State 19-13 at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday afternoon. This marks the first time in program history that the Utes have defeated a ranked opponent in their season opener.

Utah wasted no time setting the tone, scoring the game’s first goal at the 9:34 mark in the first quarter through sophomore Cade Faulkner. While the Buckeyes quickly responded to tie the game, that would be the last time the score was level. The Utes surged ahead with a dominant 5-1 run to close out the first quarter and maintained control throughout the contest. By halftime, Utah had built a comfortable lead, which they extended with ten second-half goals.

The Utes outshot Ohio State 43-39, with 34 of their attempts on target. Dominance at the face off also played a crucial role in their victory, as Utah won 23 of the game’s 34 drops.

Utah’s offensive firepower was led by freshman Luke McNamara, who delivered a career-high five goals on 12 shots. Senior Cody Hart also had a career day, netting four goals and totaling five points. Junior Ryan Stines contributed significantly, scoring twice and assisting on three other goals.

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Defensively, juniors Nikko DiPonio and Tyler Kloeckl were pivotal, each securing nine groundballs. Kloeckl also dominated at the faceoff X, winning 21-of-29 attempts. In goal, sophomore Colin Lenskold provided a steady presence, recording 12 saves.

The Utes’ 44 groundballs rank ninth in program history, and their 23 faceoff wins tie for sixth all-time.

Utah will look to continue its momentum when it hosts Delaware at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 2 p.m. ET.



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