Coach Kyle Whittingham acknowledged a different atmosphere existed in Utah's 2011 recruiting season.

As the Utes leave the friendly confines of the Mountain West Conference to step up to Bowl Championship Series competition in the Pac-12, the battles for recruits become more intense. And the Utes lost out on a couple of players, which was a rarity in the Mountain West.

"First thing I'll say is recruiting in the Pac-12 is a very competitive situation," Whittingham told the Deseret News. "It's what we expected it to be -- but much different as far as years past."

For example, the Utes lost cornerback Ryan Henderson, who originally verbally committed to them, to Southern California at the 11th hour. Nor could Utah sway Michael Eubank, rated the No. 13 quarterback prospect in the country by Rivals.com, to change his commitment from Arizona State.

Still, the Utes did win some battles against their new conference mates. Defensive back/wide receiver Quinton Pedroza signed with the Utes after originally committing to Arizona State. Fellow wide receiver Anthony Denham had an offer from Washington, among a handful of other BCS schools, but was swayed Utah's way because of new offensive coordinator Norm Chow, the Deseret News reported.

Now, the Utes will begin to find out an answer to the argument that BCS apologists have been backing since non-BCS schools started competing and winning games consistently against the big boys.

Can a program such as Utah handle the week-in, week-out pounding of a Pac-12 schedule?

The Utes will learn whether they have the depth to compete but will spend spring practice getting as many players ready as they can -- otherwise known as business as usual.

TOP OF THE CLASS

RB Harvey Langi (Bingham High, South Jordan, Utah) -- He is a four-star Rivals.com recruit who enrolled in January so he could participate in spring practice and compete for playing time at a position that lost its top three players in 2010 -- Matt Asiata and Eddie Wide due to graduation and Sausan Shakerin due to a medical issue. Langi ran for 4,289 yards and 55 TDs during his prep career.

DB Keith McGill (Cerritos College, Calif.) -- He is Utah's other four-star Rivals recruit, a junior college transfer who was a first-team all-America safety last season. He had 37 tackles, seven interceptions, five pass breakups and two blocked kicks for Cerritos last season. He'll come in right away and compete for a starting position as well.

WR Anthony Denham (East Los Angeles College) -- He had offers from LSU, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Nebraska and Washington, but chose the Utes. He had 475 receiving yards and seven TDs as a sophomore after a whopping freshman campaign that included 1,189 receiving yards and 16 TDs. He was an all-state receiver at East L.A.

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