Cal vs Utah pregame hype

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY SportsLet's go.

All the world's merely a stage, and on Saturday at Rice-Eccles, all the men are merely football players; the moving, helmeted pieces of a four-quarter drama. Watching will be the curious, hungry eyes of a nation, still doubtful that the team in blue is worthy of a number beside their name, let alone the zero that follows their record.

That skepticism is not without reason.

Not when ESPN's FPI metric rates our chances at 27%. Not when Vegas sees us a touchdown underdog; frisky, but not ultimately talented enough to win.

Then there's the most damning stat of all: the fact that nearly a lifetime has passed since we have beat an opponent of Utah's caliber, and…