Utley also became an All-Pacific-10 Conference First-Team selection for the second time in his college football career.Ģ old Cougs, Eric Williams & Mike Utley, on hand for Detroit Lions' alumni day a week ago. Utley became just the second Washington State Cougar to earn consensus First-Team All-American honors. The Associated Press, United Press International, Scripps-Howard, Football News, the Football Writers of America, and the American Football Coaches Association named Utley to their First-Team All-America selections. He played his guts out on the offensive line and earned several accolades. It was a great way to conclude Utley’s final year with the Cougars. ![]() Utley also played in the Senior Bowl, East-West Shrine Game, and the Hula Bowl that season. The 18th-ranked Washington State Cougars beat the 14th-ranked Houston Cougars on Christmas Day, 24-22. The 1988 Aloha Bowl featured two ranked teams nicknamed “Cougars.” He went on to start a then-school record forty-three consecutive games. Utley was at the forefront of a high-octane Cougars total offense that led the Pac-10 and ranked third in the country. They also helped running backs Steve Broussard and Rich Swinton amass a combined 2,298 yards on the ground. Utley and his fellow offensive linemen helped Rosenbach rack up 3,097 passing yards and 24 touchdowns in the 1988 NCAA campaign. It was the Cougars’ first-ever win against a No. With Utley powering their offensive line, they beat the No. It was the Cougars’ best record in fifty-eight seasons. That would all change in the 1988 NCAA campaign – Utley’s last year with the Cougars. Washington State Athletics December 20, 2012 Happy birthday to Cougar great Mike Utley! As a senior, Utley garnered first team All-American honors! #GoCougs /CHO7pCMk Ironically, Errickson duplicated his record in his first year at the helm in 1987.Įven a coaching change couldn’t turn Washington State’s fortunes around. Walden went 3-7-1 in his last year on the job the year before. The Cougars were bad in Utley’s first four years in the collegiate ranks – they averaged just four wins per season during that stretch.ĭennis Errickson replaced nine-year head football coach Jim Walden in the 1987 NCAA season. He was an offensive lineman who played guard and tackle for the Washington State Cougars from 1984 to 1988.ĭuring that span, Utley helped protect quarterbacks Timm Rosenbach and Mark Rypien. Mike Utley earned a scholarship at Washington State University in Pullman, WA. Mike Utley would travel to the other side of the state to suit up for the Washington State Cougars after he had played his last down for the Lancers.Ĭollege Days With The Washington State Cougars According to Freeman, they were in awe of him. He’d talk to them about his experience in the National Football League. Kennedy High School during his playing days with the Washington State Cougars and Detroit Lions to lift weights with the Lancers varsity players. Merrill’s words would ring true when Mike Utley got involved in a life-altering freak accident on the gridiron when he suited up for the Detroit Lions that year. “I mean, he could ride a bike at 154 miles an hour and not get hurt, but then play a game of football and get hurt.” “I kind of look back at that with some weird feelings,” Merrill told The Washington Post in 1991. Merrill asked him if was scared and he replied in the affirmative. Utley told him the fastest he’d ever ridden was 154 miles per hour. One day, Merrill asked Utley what his top speed was on his motorcycle. ![]() Merrill told Freeman he hated Utley’s daredevil ways because he was worried he was going to get hurt. Utley turned on the afterburners and morphed into a speed demon whenever he rode his bike. He rode the motorcycle everywhere he went. When Utley was a senior, he purchased a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Raising money to find a cure for paralysis. Hanging with former Detroit Lion – Mike Utley. He also loved wearing his hair long – an act that prompted Merrill to call it an “ugly haircut” in jest, per Freeman.
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