Asked about pass plays the last two years -- heartbreaking, game-changing, memory-making ones in the BYU-Utah rivalry -- and all the Utes did leading up to another huge game was cover their ears.

Basically, they did it with their shoulders.

As in, huge shrugs.

"That was last year," said Brice McCain, coming up with a week-long slogan that could very well serve as a counter to the Cougars' season-long "Quest for Perfection."

Compared to the last three seasons, this time Utah enters as the favorite, even if not by a decided margin.

But the Utes are 11-0, having done the one thing its arch rival could not -- defeat TCU. They are at home, as well, playing a 10-1 team.

That's left coach Kyle Whittingham sounding confident in himself, the program and his team's chances today when the teams kick off at 4 p.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"I don't know if you ever feel like you've arrived, and you've got all the answers; and you've got it," Whittingham said. "But I certainly feel more comfortable and used to the routine, and what needs to be done. You know, just being in touch with the football team's ... I don't know if psyche is the right word. But mindset."

He said that feeling has permeated since about midway through last season.

Whittingham, of course, is in his fourth year, just like BYU's Bronco Mendenhall. The story has been told countless times how Whittingham, the former Cougar player, spurned his alma mater to stick with the program at which he had made a home over 11 seasons.

Remember, Whittingham was twice turned down for coaching jobs at BYU along the way, before the big decision that would mark his career in some fashion.

An agonizing process concluded, and it was an uphill battle on the Hill for the first three seasons. The Utes were coming off a historic BCS bid in the 2004 season when coach Urban Meyer bolted for Florida and quarterback Alex Smith became the No. 1 NFL draft pick.

The gigantic flash of lightning in a bottle shone bright, but very quick.

Neither the BYU or Utah jobs were easy at the time of Whittingham's decision.

Utah started at the top, with nowhere presumably to go but down. Some family wanted him go back to Utah County, where he had strong ties.

BYU was a mess, especially off the field, and needed a tireless and major overhaul.

Mendenhall, statistically, got the quicker start. He's won two of the three Mountain West Conference championships they've competed against each other for (first-year league member TCU got it in 2005, while Utah predictably went down; BYU showed upward promise at 6-6).

But this could be Whittingham's year, an amazing replica with him as the head coach rather than the defensive coordinator.

"We're starting to get to the point where the vast majority of the seniors, I was involved in recruiting them," Whittingham said.

It's been a turbulent ride. Even his mother, Nancy, will say that deep down she wasn't so sure if her son would last beyond the second season.

BYU was climbing back to being a national power and Utah was getting bad breaks, like severe injuries, to go with bad results.

There were games when the Utes would be around the goal line and couldn't punch it in.

Asked what the difference has been, Whittingham gives what is clearly a rehearsed answer by now: "As a football team, we've got a lot of seniors who are very mentally tough. It starts with Brian Johnson."

Johnson is the Utes' fifth-year senior quarterback.

Johnson and his coach have grown together, acclimated to the pressure of a traditional basketball school that has tried to keep pace with its 2004 success in football. Meyer clearly shattered a glass ceiling during his two seasons as Utes coach. He also defeated the Cougars twice, while the "Team Down South," as he called it, was on a historical downslide.

Johnson, maybe most importantly this year, has produced results which have made the Utes feel like they're not the only team capable today of an amazing comeback.

They won against Oregon State -- which beat powerhouse USC and could win the Pac-10 Conference -- and also TCU on late drives that appeared to come out of nowhere.

Those scenarios have helped to shield Utah's memories of John Beck-to-Jonny Harline, the last-gasp play from two years ago at Rice-Eccles.

And, of course, there was Max Hall's pass to Austin Collie on fourth-and-18 last year which set up the Cougars' game-winning touchdown.

All a distant, faded memory to the boys in red.

McCain was the player burned by that last-ditch play a year ago. Even he was all smiles, knowing all week the question was coming.

Knowing that he'll get another shot against Collie.

"I love it. It's a challenge for me, personally, to go out there and stop him," the senior said. "If I get the opportunity to guard him, I will. I'll go out and play my all. It will be a good opportunity for both of us, go out and try to win every battle."

Second-year cornerbacks coach Aaron Alford remembers last year with clarity, has watched it repeatedly -- but hardly looked fretful earlier in the week that he'd re-live it.

"Yeah, yeah, I've seen it. Of course. The quarterback broke the pocket, our guy sat down, took a look back," Alford said. "Next thing you know, Collie did a good job of breaking his route off and going down the football field."

The rest is history, which is just fine with the Utes.

Utah has a good chance to make the good kind for themselves -- a second time for a non-BCS affiliate breaking into the biggest money games.

Alford wouldn't discuss much of the game plan, for obvious reasons, but suggested that Utah would not chase Collie with one player. Whatever side the nation's leading pass-receiving-yardage leader is on, against likely McCain or Sean Smith, that's who will be at task.

Utah feels up to it, on numerous levels besides the Collie factor.

They, too, have learned how to win the close one.

• Jason Franchuk can be reached at jfranchuk@heraldextra.com.