Ohio State's season finale is approaching quickly.

The Buckeyes will play in its 16th Rose Bowl in school history, and face Utah: a program that will play the Rose Bowl for the first time ever.

For more on the Utes — how they got to Pasadena and what to expect when the game kicks off Saturday — we spoke to Ute Nation publisher Alex Markham and got his perspective on the upcoming matchup.

"Man, a lot of things happened. Utah had Pac-12 Championship and CFP aspirations in fall camp. Truthfully, at that time, it’s of my opinion that that talk didn’t help the team because Utah plays best with a chip on its shoulder. From there, the Utes got knocked on their butts and humbled by their rivals BYU for the first time in over a decade.

A lot of early issues went into all of this, but the biggest issue was fixed when the Utes lost the following week to San Diego State. Former Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer wasn’t the problem for the Utah offense, but he wasn’t the solution either. Once Cam Rising replaced Brewer at the end of the third quarter, energy and emotions shifted. Utah lost that game, but it was clear that the team was far superior with the more mobile and more vocal Rising.

Rising’s play masked early-season offensive deficiencies, brought out the best in his teammates, and allowed Utah to open up their whole playbook. Despite Rising’s play, it was the loss of teammate Aaron Lowe one week later that began to give this team its purpose.

This was the second death Utah had to mourn in a nine-month period. Lowe’s best friend, and 2020 Utah freshman sensation, Ty Jordan, was killed by an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound last December. Lowe would go on to honor Jordan by wearing the no. 22 and he was the first recipient of the Ty Jordan Memorial Scholarship.

Early in the season, it seemed as though the team was struggling to cope with Jordan’s death. When Lowe’s murder happened, his mom spoke to the team and told them it was okay to mourn, but that they had her blessing to play the rest of the season for Lowe and Jordan. It was those words of encouragement and being allowed to mourn as a team — something they weren’t able to do for Jordan — that gave the team its purpose and became a rallying cry of '22% better every day.'

I promise you that’s the short version of that, but there’s so much to discuss. However, from an on-field perspective, after that, the young defense rounded into form, the offensive line got healthy and became a dominant force, and running back Tavion Thomas stopped fumbling the football.

It hasn’t been perfect. Utah’s kicking game has been really bad, and it cost them the Oregon State game, which cost them their final hope of a CFP berth.

But this team isn’t a 'flash in the pan.' They don’t play like a three-loss team and haven’t for a while. They popped Oregon in the mouth not once but twice, which has proven them to be one of the best teams in the country."

"It’s tremendously important. The reality isn’t lost that this is Utah’s first Rose Bowl, while Ohio State has been 16 times. Like Ohio State, the Utah fan base and the football program know that they’re good enough for the CFP, but the football gods let the ball bounce the wrong way for both teams in 2021.

Most importantly though, this cements Utah’s status as a heavyweight in the Pac-12."

When Jordan was dominating last season, the majority of the Utah running back room bailed because it was so apparent he was a star and that Micah Bernard was the obvious option to team up with him. Once tragedy struck, Utah had to rebuild the room on the fly. TJ Pledger was known more as a change of pace back before transferring from Oklahoma. Thomas, had struggled with school, ended up at a junior college, and then the Utah coaches discovered him in the spring.

Honestly, no one knew what to expect. There was a lot of potential, but a lot of unknowns.

Thomas emerged early, but had major fumbling issues. That opened the door for Bernard, who was breaking out before suffering an upper body injury that he played through. Around this time, Pledger emerged as a home run threat, who also showed surprising physicality, and Thomas learned to hold onto the football.

Once Thomas solved his fumbling issues, he turned into a 6-foot-2 and 230-pound nightmare that displayed physicality, patience and a burst. This also coincided with the offensive line getting healthy and finding more of a rhythm.

Thomas is the do-it-all back who set a school record with 20 rushing touchdowns. He totaled 1,041 yards on the ground and did it with two games of one carry each and another game with only seven (during his stretch of fumbling). Pledger is the perfect complimentary piece as a change of pace, who is still physical. Bernard is a complete back that is the best receiver out of the group.

These guys don’t really do anything fancy. They just pop you in the mouth. Add Rising and his running ability from the quarterback position to the mix and the Utes have a multitude of dangerous options.

Utah running backs coach Kiel McDonald is fast becoming one of the elite coaches for that position in the country. His development track record speaks for itself. What he was able to do by rebuilding that room and overcoming adversity, is one of the best coaching jobs in the 2021 college football season."

"Before I dive into the roots of Utah’s defense, the biggest reason for their success this season is All-American linebacker Devin Lloyd: a former two-star safety recruit that has molded himself into one of the greatest defensive players in school history. His partner in crime, Nephi Sewell, is an elite defender, too. Both have declared for the NFL Draft and Lloyd is a likely top- 15 pick.

Defense has been the trademark of Utah football since before any of the current players were even born, thanks to head coach Kyle Whittingham and his father: his protege, Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley is one the best defensive coordinators around and has a bright future ahead as a potential head coach. His defenses show a lot of stunts and blitzes, really keeping the offensive line and quarterbacks guessing.

Utah mostly runs a 4-2-5 defense and can often disguise a safety as a linebacker. It’s a physical group. They start only four upperclassmen and the rest are freshmen and sophomores. As mentioned, the Utes have always been known for their defensive line play. A lot of that stems from their Polynesian pipeline and understanding how to recruit those guys and project their physical growth and future position. They often recruit Polynesian linebackers who pack on weight, maintain their athleticism, and move to defensive line. Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year Junior Tafuna is a perfect example.

The reason for Utah’s high amount of sacks and low number of interceptions is because Lloyd and defensive ends Mika Tafua and Van Fillinger are relentless attackers with non-stop motors. Their production has been a blessing to Utah’s defense because the depth at cornerback has been extremely tested. Utah lost their ballhawk JaTravis Broughton, who was a 2020 All-Pac-12 cornerback to injury early in the season. They then lost Broughton’s two backups late in the season, Faybian Marks against Arizona and Zemaiah Vaughn in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Despite their injuries and youth, the cornerbacks have held their own, led by one-time Ohio State commit, Clark Phillips III, who is developing into Utah’s next great cornerback."

"A quick list of them: Offensively it would be Rising, Thomas, wide receiver Britain Covey, tight end Brant Kuithe and tight end Dalton Kincaid. Defensively, look at the depth chart and take your pick, but I’ll say Lloyd without a doubt, and true freshman Cole Bishop has come on like a freight train the last few games of the season.

The reason for those offensive guys is simple: their elite talents that bring the skill set that can exploit the Buckeyes’ weakness over the middle. Additionally, no one has really been able to stop Thomas.

The reason for the defensive guys is because Lloyd has always made his presence felt, even if he’s been heavily schemed against. From there, it’s a group effort that any given guy can have an impactful game"

"Offensively, Utah lacks quality depth at wide receiver. The only two I would say they’re completely comfortable with is Covey and Devaughn Vele. Solomon Enis has potential, but he can disappear for long stretches, while still being effective as a downfield blocker. Theo Howard is also someone who has disappeared for long stretches, but with three weeks to scheme, I can see him with a bigger role in this game. Still, receivers are absolutely the weak point on offense.

Defensively, it’s the depth at cornerback. I trust Utah cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah to have his group ready. C.J. Stroud will be a huge test for them and they can’t afford anymore injuries."

"Utah is not your average three-loss team. They’re dangerous. Ultimately, I see Utah being able to exploit the Buckeyes’ weakness in the middle of the field and the second layer of their defense. The Buckeyes’ weakness just happens to line up directly with Utah’s offensive strengths. Stroud will have success and take advantage of Utah’s depth issues at cornerback. However, Utah’s pass rush should help mitigate that by a fair amount and Utah will win 'The Granddaddy of them All.'"

Utah 38 Ohio State 31