Ohio State ends its season in Pasadena, California Saturday.

And with it comes a matchup with a team that's never played in the Rose Bowl: Utah.

Here's what you need to know about the Utes heading into Saturday's season finale.

When Utah won in 2021, it dominated.

The Utes recorded their third double-digit win season since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, winning nine of its 10 games in conference play.

In Utah's 10 wins, it scored an average of 37.9 points, beating opponents by an average of 21.2 points, with only one game decided by less than 10 points: a 38-29 win at Arizona.

But in each of the Utes' three losses this season, they were always in the game.

After trailing BYU, 23-7, in the third quarter of Week 2, Utah stormed back with a touchdown and a field goal in the final 15 minutes, but could not slow down BYU's offense late, allowing a field goal to secure the nine-point loss.

One week later, a Philly Special from San Diego State handed the Utes its second straight loss in triple-overtime after they stormed back with 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

And after three straight wins against Washington State, USC and Arizona State, Utah lost a 10-point first-half lead against Oregon State, falling to the Beavers by eight.

However, after three losses in its first seven games of the 2021 season, Utah became close to unstoppable, outscoring Pac-12 opponents in the final six games of its schedule, 238-90.

Since Urban Meyer took over for a two-year span in 2003-04, Utah has been a bowl mainstay.

The Utes have played in 15 bowl games in the past 18 seasons, winning 12 of those 15 contests, including a Fiesta Bowl win against Pitt to cap off an undefeated season led by Meyer, who left for Florida before the bowl game, leaving coaching duties to Kyle Whittingham, who's been with the Utes ever since.

However, since Utah joined the Pac-12, it had never played in The Grandaddy of Them All, something it will do for the first time Jan. 1 against Ohio State.

Utah's last two bowl appearances have not gone so well.

The Utes ended a four-game bowl win streak to cap off the 2018 season with an 11-point loss to Northwestern in the Holiday Bowl, while following up in 2019 with a 28-point loss to Texas in the Alamo Bowl.

There wasn't a team in the Pac-12 that put more pressure in an opposing backfield than Utah in 2021.

The Utes led the conference with 96 tackles for loss and 42 sacks — 16 more sacks than any other team in the conference — with two different players — junior linebacker Devin Lloyd and junior defensive end Mika Tafua — each recording double-digit tackles-for-loss totals.

What Lloyd did at outside linebacker was actually unprecedented.

The junior was one of two players in FBS to record more than 20 tackles-for-loss in a season — along with Alabama sophomore linebacker Will Anderson Jr. — along with being one of six in the country to average at least 1.5 tackles-for-loss per game.

With the pressure, Utah has one of the more stout defenses in the Pac-12, allowing 20.6 points per game and 317.4 yards per game: both No. 1 in the Pac-12.

Opponents have averaged only 122.1 rushing yards per game and 195.3 passing yards per gam against Utah.

After a season filled with opposing offenses torching Ohio State's pass defense in soft spots in the middle of its zone, Utah's likely not going to do anything different.

Junior tight ends Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid have been both of the Utes' main scoring threats through the pass game, combining for 13 of the team's 21 total passing touchdowns.

Kuithe is second on the team with 44 catches for a team-high 534 passing yards.The junior out of Katy, Texas has recorded four games this season with at least 50 receiving yards.

Kincaid, Utah's scoring leader in the passing game with seven touchdown receptions, has recorded two touchdown catches in his past two games against Colorado and Oregon, bringing in eight catches for 116 receiving yards.

From a defense that's shut down many of the offenses it has played to an offense defined by the run game, this is a team that looks remarkably similar to the last team Ohio State played: Michigan.

Offensively, it comes down to the play of redshirt sophomore running back Tavion Thomas.

The Dayton native was a former four-star Cincinnati commit, and considered Ohio State, visiting Columbus in February 2018. After playing 10 games at Cincinnati as a freahman, Thomas then went to Independence Community College after playing four games for the Bearcats as a sophomore.

Thomas has been worth the investment in Salt Lake City, leading the team with 1,041 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns, even with two games against San Diego State and Washington State in which he recorded a combined two carries.

The rushing attack is how Utah wins games, leading the Pac-12 with 216 yards per game and 5.6 yards per carry, scoring 35 touchdowns: tied with Oregon for the best in the conference.

Add a top-tier rushing attack to a stifling defense and you have a familiar matchup for the Buckeyes come Saturday.