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This is not a troll. I've been meaning to write this but you guys keep pissing me off.
3D the other day described how BYU's 1996 season was a break through in that a mid-major played and won a New Year's bowl (which I know used to be the major bowls, though at that time the Cotton, which had hosted some "NC" and other great games, was in decline, displaced by the Fiesta). His post was well stated and I agree with him.
But I think Utah owes BYU a more prfound debt. We see Lavelle's legacy all over college football, at Texas Tech, up at Washington, even all over the NFL. It goes on and on. He has left an impressive mark of inovation and legacy. Utah, being so close, maybe has benefited more than anyone. In the 1980's Utah concsiously began trying to develop a passing attack mimicking BYU's. Yes, Utah had no history to speak of until 1994. And of course, Kyle Whittingham himself is of the Lavelle tree.
But even beyond this, I think BYU's success drove Utah to try to achieve excellence with a comitment that would have not been possible in the BYU academy days. There really must be adversity, opposits in all things, especially in sports. I can honestly say I will be rooting for BYU against Oklahoma and I wouldn't have thought that possible until probably this year.
I think those BYU fans who wanted Utah to lose the Sugar Bowl really were short sighted. I think the overall benefit to the conference from the 2009 Sugar Bowl outcome is palpable. The MWC carries its head high as never before. Utah has brought a rising tide that is lifting all boats as BYU once did. We should see the results in recruiting across the conference in the next few years. I think you see a fire in Bronco's public statements and even the rumors quoting him we haven't seen before.
A take away from the thread on BYU's big games is that BYU had a remarkable golden age from 1976 through the 1990's, but it has a ways to go to achieve those heights it experienced. If it ever does, maybe 2008 will have been the kick in the ass BYU and its coach needed.
3D the other day described how BYU's 1996 season was a break through in that a mid-major played and won a New Year's bowl (which I know used to be the major bowls, though at that time the Cotton, which had hosted some "NC" and other great games, was in decline, displaced by the Fiesta). His post was well stated and I agree with him.
But I think Utah owes BYU a more prfound debt. We see Lavelle's legacy all over college football, at Texas Tech, up at Washington, even all over the NFL. It goes on and on. He has left an impressive mark of inovation and legacy. Utah, being so close, maybe has benefited more than anyone. In the 1980's Utah concsiously began trying to develop a passing attack mimicking BYU's. Yes, Utah had no history to speak of until 1994. And of course, Kyle Whittingham himself is of the Lavelle tree.
But even beyond this, I think BYU's success drove Utah to try to achieve excellence with a comitment that would have not been possible in the BYU academy days. There really must be adversity, opposits in all things, especially in sports. I can honestly say I will be rooting for BYU against Oklahoma and I wouldn't have thought that possible until probably this year.
I think those BYU fans who wanted Utah to lose the Sugar Bowl really were short sighted. I think the overall benefit to the conference from the 2009 Sugar Bowl outcome is palpable. The MWC carries its head high as never before. Utah has brought a rising tide that is lifting all boats as BYU once did. We should see the results in recruiting across the conference in the next few years. I think you see a fire in Bronco's public statements and even the rumors quoting him we haven't seen before.
A take away from the thread on BYU's big games is that BYU had a remarkable golden age from 1976 through the 1990's, but it has a ways to go to achieve those heights it experienced. If it ever does, maybe 2008 will have been the kick in the ass BYU and its coach needed.
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