Rice–Eccles Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium located on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the home field of the Utah Utes of the Big 12 Conference. It was built to serve as the stadium for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of 2002 Winter Olympics, a role it is expected to reprise for the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Kyle David Whittingham is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Utah, a position he has held since 2005, and is the all-time leader in wins at Utah. Prior to becoming the head coach at Utah, Whittingham served as Utah's defensive coordinator for ten seasons. He was named head coach of Utah after Urban Meyer left for the University of Florida in 2004. He won AFCA Coach of the Year and the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award in 2008 after leading the 2008 Utah Utes football team to an undefeated season and a win in the 2009 Sugar Bowl over the 2008 Alabama Crimson Tide football team. He and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy are the second longest tenured FBS coaches, trailing only Kirk Ferentz.
The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' Utes; the women's gymnastics team is known as the Red Rocks.
The Utah Utes football program is a college football team that competes in the Big 12 Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at the current site of Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City since 1927. They have won 28 conference championships in five conferences during their history, and, as of the end of the 2022 season, they have a cumulative record of 711 wins, 476 losses, and 31 ties (.596).
Chris Hill is an American college athletics administrator and former basketball player and coach. He was the athletic director at the University of Utah from 1987 to 2018. His responsibilities included overseeing the athletic department and supervising all the coaches. During his thirty-one years in his position, he has hired several coaches, secured funding for facilities upgrades, and negotiated the University of Utah's entrance into the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2010 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by sixth year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their homes game in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were members of the Mountain West Conference. 2010 was the Utes' final year in the Mountain West, as they began play in the Pac-12 in 2011.
The 2011 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by seventh year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. After playing the previous 12 seasons in the Mountain West Conference, this was Utah's first season in the new Pac-12 Conference in the South Division. They are the first former "BCS Buster" to join a BCS conference. They finished the season 8–5, 4–5 to finish in a tie for third place in the South Division. They were invited to the Sun Bowl where they defeated Georgia Tech 30–27 in overtime.
The 2011 Hyundai Sun Bowl, the 78th edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on December 31, 2011 at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season.
The 2012 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by eighth year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were a member of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 5–7, 3–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in fifth place in the South Division.
The 2013 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was headed by ninth year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. The team finished with a 5–7 record.
The 2014 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by tenth year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 5–4 in Pac-12 play to finish in fifth place in the South Division. They were invited to the Las Vegas Bowl where they defeated Colorado State.
The 2015 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by eleventh year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 6–3 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie for the South Division title. Due to their head-to-head loss to USC, they did not represent the South Division in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game. They were invited to the Las Vegas Bowl where they defeated rival BYU.
The 2016 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by twelfth year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 5–4 in Pac-12 play to finish in third place in the South Division. They were invited to the Foster Farms where they defeated Indiana.
The 2018 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Utes were led by 14th-year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, UT. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2019 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Utes were led by 15th-year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games at Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. They competed as members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2020 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Utes were led by 16th-year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games at Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, as members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference.
The 2021 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Utes were led by 17th-year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games at Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City as members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. Despite a rough start to the season and the death of players Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, the Utes rallied and won their first Pac-12 championship since joining the conference in 2011, defeating the tenth-ranked Oregon Ducks, 38–10, in the conference championship game. The Utes completed their season with their first ever appearance in the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Ohio State.
The 2022 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Pac-12 Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by 18th-year head coach Kyle Whittingham the Utes played their home games at Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The Utes finished the season 10–4, 7–2 in Pac-12 play to finish in a three-way tie for second place. Due to tiebreaking rules, Utah received the bid to the Pac 12 Championship Game. There they defeated No. 4-ranked USC for the second time on the season to win the conference championship. As a result, for the second consecutive year they received a bid to the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Penn State.
The 2023 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Pac-12 Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Utes were led by Kyle Whittingham in his 19th year as Utah's head coach. They played their home games at Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
