BYU @ Utah........
- Thread starter Duck Rodgers
- Start date
Sean
Well-Known Member
I'm happy. I think you forget what it's like to win a close, hard-fought game against BYU because the Utes have been on the losing end of these types of games the last three of four.
This game was eerily similar to 2007 in almost every way. The only difference is that the Utes finally got a stop.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
I thought it was pretty entertaining, but cold as hell. It's crazy the kind of inversion over SL county vs Utah county. It felt a good 10 degrees colder.
Entertaining game. I thought BYU got a few calls their way. I'm not sure the catch should have been ruled a catch and I thought one play made by Rich could have easily been ruled a horsecollar take down.
But one thing I can't stand is dumb football. 4th and inches and passing? 55 seconds left with the ball on the 22 and stalling to set up a tough FG, in the cold, and on the road when the passing game was heating up? And extremely predictable/conservative playcalling by both offenses? One thing I noticed, want to know what Ute fans think, the lack of blitzing! Coach Whitt has typically been aggressive defensively. Yet, they hardly ever blitzed against TCU, rarely blitzed against ND, and only maybe 3 times blitzed against BYU. In fact, I can only remember one sack on Heaps.
Part of that goes to BYU's O line, they dominated the line of scrimmage. But the other part is that Utah relied on mostly their front 4 to get pressure. I found that a bit odd....
Wynn not hitting those easy 10 yard outs was pathetic.... Wynn is pathetic. Not mentally tough at all. Not a gamer. Your QB has gotta be a gamer.
I think even Ute homers are coming to realize how bad he is. I don't really fault Cain. The man came cold off the bench in a rivalry game. that's tough.
But BYU couldn't take advantage of the turnovers.
And that's what ultimately killed them.... That and Anae's predictably weak offensive calling. I think even the most ignorant football fan could figure out what play BYU was going to run on 1st down, double tight end, and I-formation. Especially after watching Boise last night, with 55 seconds left with the ball on the 22, why go with a FG? FG should be the last option. With Heaps (by far the best QB on the field today... AS A FRESHMAN!) clicking with those quick outs, keep the chains moving and try and score a TD. Worst case scenario is that Heaps takes BYU down inside the 10 for a chippy.
It was a great game and typical of this rivalry. Not a lot of scoring, with the action heating up in the 4th. I wonder if not being in the same conference anymore will hurt the level of intensity of this rivalry?
I heard that Bronco made some interesting post game comments on tv, anyone else hear about them?
Entertaining game. I thought BYU got a few calls their way. I'm not sure the catch should have been ruled a catch and I thought one play made by Rich could have easily been ruled a horsecollar take down.
But one thing I can't stand is dumb football. 4th and inches and passing? 55 seconds left with the ball on the 22 and stalling to set up a tough FG, in the cold, and on the road when the passing game was heating up? And extremely predictable/conservative playcalling by both offenses? One thing I noticed, want to know what Ute fans think, the lack of blitzing! Coach Whitt has typically been aggressive defensively. Yet, they hardly ever blitzed against TCU, rarely blitzed against ND, and only maybe 3 times blitzed against BYU. In fact, I can only remember one sack on Heaps.
Part of that goes to BYU's O line, they dominated the line of scrimmage. But the other part is that Utah relied on mostly their front 4 to get pressure. I found that a bit odd....
Wynn not hitting those easy 10 yard outs was pathetic.... Wynn is pathetic. Not mentally tough at all. Not a gamer. Your QB has gotta be a gamer.
I think even Ute homers are coming to realize how bad he is. I don't really fault Cain. The man came cold off the bench in a rivalry game. that's tough.
But BYU couldn't take advantage of the turnovers.
And that's what ultimately killed them.... That and Anae's predictably weak offensive calling. I think even the most ignorant football fan could figure out what play BYU was going to run on 1st down, double tight end, and I-formation. Especially after watching Boise last night, with 55 seconds left with the ball on the 22, why go with a FG? FG should be the last option. With Heaps (by far the best QB on the field today... AS A FRESHMAN!) clicking with those quick outs, keep the chains moving and try and score a TD. Worst case scenario is that Heaps takes BYU down inside the 10 for a chippy.
It was a great game and typical of this rivalry. Not a lot of scoring, with the action heating up in the 4th. I wonder if not being in the same conference anymore will hurt the level of intensity of this rivalry?
I heard that Bronco made some interesting post game comments on tv, anyone else hear about them?
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
Wynn under duress?
When?
On multiple occasions he had 10 mins in the pocket and couldn't/wouldn't make the right throw.
I remember twice he rolled out towards the Ute sideline in the 4th only to toss the ball two straight times into the upper deck.
Everytime Utah sent multiple receivers downfield I got nervous.
Luckily, they didn't do it very often. When they did, the result was either a TD or interception. All the rest of those outs, floods, and slants Wynn wiffed.
Completely the opposite with Heaps. Heaps couldn't connect with the deep ball. He either wiffed or his receivers would drop it. In fact, the only deep ball I can remember was that one thrown near the corner SE corner of the endzone which only resulted in a FG to make it 16. Yet he connected with the curls, outs, and slants with ease.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
I definitely had that feeling as well.
It's funny, in 07 I thought Utah completely deserved to win, yet lost off an unbelievably lucky play (Austin 4:18).
This year, I thought BYU completely outplayed Utah. Special teams (other than that punt) shut down Shakey.
Defense did their job.
Heaps won the QB battle.
Yet, Utah lucked out with Anae (4th and inches and passing.... Ball on the 22 with 55 ticks and setting up a 40+ yard FG). And came away with a W.
I wish Utah the best of luck in their bowl game and next season. I think they'll do fine in the Pac-10. Their defense and special teams are fine. But, they must fix their offense (too conservative and the QBs are barf), if they want any roses.
I wonder if Bronco will finally have the guts to fire Anae? I wonder if BYU going independent will effect much in their decision making (coaches, strategies, recruiting, etc)? I wonder who could even replace Anae?
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
Not sure why Utes are making such a big deal out of the block. I highly doubt Payne would have even made it anyway. Lets face it, Payne isn't exactly King Louie/Adam Vinateri. He probably would have shanked it. The dude missed more PATs last year than made FGs.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
Springville?
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
I liked the idea of benching Wynn....
Unfortunately, I think this comes several games too late.
An unsettled QB situation is the worst situation you could have for an offense. Just ask BYU. Had they committed themselves to Heaps in Spring, how much better could that kid have been?
Or had the Utes stuck w/Cain all this time, could they be looking at Brian Johnson II?
Sean
Well-Known Member
Totally opposite feelin'! haha
When Utah went up 10-9 in 2007, I was just happy with the idea of getting out of Provo with a win because I did not think they outplayed BYU at all.
Today it was different. Both teams were statistically very similar. I also think Utah coming back like they did and not wilting gave me a far better feeling than I ever had at any point in 2007.
When they went down 13-0, I thought it was over. But Utes never say die.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
I dunno. I remember BYU having a better statistical game. But I also remember that Ute defense holding a loaded BYU offense under control. Didn't that team have Collie, Pitta, George, Vakapuna, Hall, and Unga?
I remember a beaten down Ute team (half their offense down with injury as I remember) keeping the game close only to basically win it at the very end. Even though BYU had a solid defense coming back, Jorgansen and Kehl....
I remember feeling that Utah had come in and did exactly what road teams needed to do, keep it close. They had BYU dead, 4th and 18, and then magic or idiocy happened...
This game, I thought BYU did exactly that. They controlled the clock, had the crowd out of the game most of the time, and kept the chains moving. Heaps had no problem collecting first downs. Even when Anae did his best to screw him over. Seriously, two runs in a row to start that last drive? WTF?????!!!
Heaps conversation on 3rd and 11 showed why he's going to be a money player for years to come.
In 07 I felt bad for the Utes losing. They had the game in the bag. Tonight, I feel bad for BYU. They had this game, and let it go.
But that's how this rivalry goes.
Sean
Well-Known Member
Utah's offense was better than they showed in 2007. Yes, the defense played lights out, but I think the same could be said about today's game. Let's not forget that BYU's lone touchdown came on a short field. The defense bent a lot and gave up field goals, but they never really broke.
I guess I'm going by what I felt like in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, I believe the Utes totally outplayed BYU. The fact they were in that game, with how well the Cougars were clicking and how much the Utes had struggled, is still something of a mystery. That game Utah left it all on the field and still lost. In 2007, the offensive play calling was putrid and it cost them the game (the defense picked off Hall when BYU was stuck in their own territory at one point and the offense failed to get anything out of it).
In this game, the offense was pretty awful, but they stepped it up when it was needed the most. 17 points in the fourth quarter bests the 10 we saw in the entire 2007 game.
I guess I'm going by what I felt like in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, I believe the Utes totally outplayed BYU. The fact they were in that game, with how well the Cougars were clicking and how much the Utes had struggled, is still something of a mystery. That game Utah left it all on the field and still lost. In 2007, the offensive play calling was putrid and it cost them the game (the defense picked off Hall when BYU was stuck in their own territory at one point and the offense failed to get anything out of it).
In this game, the offense was pretty awful, but they stepped it up when it was needed the most. 17 points in the fourth quarter bests the 10 we saw in the entire 2007 game.
freakazoid
Well-Known Member
CONAN
Well-Known Member
There are other types of duress besides pocket pressure, Coach.
Gyp Rosetti
Banned
Dude, you're being very undude.
Sorry. Just don't like to be around Debbie Downers after my team pulls out a big win off of a blocked FG. Luv u, bro.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
I guess I didn't feel Wynn was under pressure.
I did think that BYU dropped a lot of guys into coverage because they felt that Wynn would throw it to them... Which he did.
One of my big issues with Wynn is that he panics fairly easy if he doesn't see an open man when he's ready to throw. And in this situation he is likely to either force something into good coverage, send the ball into the first row, or run for a couple of yards before falling into the fetal position on a completely open stretch of turf.
I think CONAN commented that Wynn is a QB that needs to throw in rhythm. Right now, I'd agree with that. But he's not a lost cause - the mistakes he makes are correctable through teaching and practice - but he has got to want it.
The Thriller
Well-Known Member
What do Ute fans think about the possibility of playing ND again in the Vegas bowl?
Personally, I'd relish the opportunity for revenge - I still think that Utah is a better team than ND - but I am doubtful it happens. If LVB can get Notre Dame, they would likely pursue some other team, rather than stage a rematch.