Utah Utes Football 2011: The Annual University of Utah Fan Day

The date was Aug. 27, 2011, and the University of Utah threw a party for their fans. The new PAC-12 member had their fan day where fans, students, alumni and anyone who was interested could come and enjoy some games and meet the players.

There were of course the infernal booths, the items for sale, the cheerleaders, the mascot and everything you could imagine. The University of Utah does have one of the best gymnastics teams in the nation. While meeting the gymnasts was fun, and coach Greg Marsden was a very amiable guy, it wasn't football.

And I wanted to know what was happening with football. Coach Whitt kept the players late in practice even though literally thousands of adoring fans were waiting.

The dad in me was annoyed because my 12-year-old son was melting in the heat...but the alumnus in me was glad. It was apparent that nothing was going to stop him from preparing for the game. That was good enough for me.

When the team finally came out, I asked Reggie Dunn how he felt. He assured me that they were ready on offense. Boo Anderson asserted that the defense was more than ready to hit somebody.

Coach Kyle Whittingham and Jordan Wynn were in high spirits, and I wished them both luck on their inaugural PAC-12 season. Standout linebacker Chaz Walker seemed about to jump out of his skin; the readiness to build on his outrageous 113 tackles from last season was obvious.

Jordan Wynn assured me he was good to go and seemed all smiles and positivity. Yeah, it was annoying to wait. But as a fan...I was glad to see the Utes were in die-hard practice mode and they will be ready for Montana State.