U vs. Y '12

[Flystripper]

I don't think conference affiliation just for affiliation sakes is terribly worthwhile. Bcs conference? Yes. Mwc? No thanks. I'm fine being independent if the other option is the mwc and don't feel like we really have anything more or less to play for now than we did in that conference.

I enjoyed our seasons in the MWC and WAC much more than Independence.

[il Padrino Ute]

So that was partly his fault. Not falling on the ball was definitely his fault. Alisa too. WTF was Alisa doing trying to pick it up? Just fall on the ball and wrap it up.

On the bad snap, I was expecting Riley to jump on it. From my seats, the muss of players - yes, I mean to use muss here - blocked my view of where the ball was on the field after the snap. I only knew it was past Riley because I saw him start to run south, when he should have been running north. When I saw Lee with the ball heading to the endzone, I thought he had just outrun Riley to the ball.

It wasn't until I watched the replay that I saw Alisa try to pick up the ball and I was curious as to why he wouldn't just take the loss of yardage like everyone who has ever played Pop Warner is taught to do.

[il Padrino Ute]

2010 was a really cold day. I think that made a difference. It's easier to be loud at a night game in September.

I think it's just Utah's turn to have the crazy games go their way.

Discounting the more lopsided scores, you guys have Doman-to-Staley, Lance Rice's pick, "Harline's still open," Magic Happens, Kanesheiro's doink. The Utes have 2010's Block and 2012's "WTF?"

(I'm not counting 2003's awful contest.)

I don't think byu fans should get too worked up. There were plenty of positives for the byu to take away from this game. Hell, Utah had only 3 first downs in the 2nd half (and two of those were 10+ yd. gains on first down, making for 4-and-out instead of 3-and-outs).

As for the Utes, I'm just glad Hays didn't throw any interceptions, and that he is committed to putting his head down and getting that extra yard (something Wynn never seemed to do). BJ learned something (I hope) about throttling down too early, and the Utes will be glad to get some starters back from injury/suspension as the PAC schedule begins.

All in all, that game last night felt like a McBride game. Uneasy about the clock, the kicking game, personal fouls, and predictable ineffective offense. Not a good feeling.

The difference being that the Utes ended up with the win.

[Sleeping in EQ]

It was a fun game. Congratulations, Utes, and be ready for a tough fight next year.

[The_Douger]

We lost because of Riley and the special teams.

I wonder when Bronco is going to take the kicking game and coverage seriously.

[All-American]

We lost because of Riley and the special teams.

I wonder when Bronco is going to take the kicking game and coverage seriously.

I don't know that he hasn't taken kicking seriously. Justin Sorensen simply didn't turn out to be what we thought a kid who kicked a 60-yarder in a high school game would be.

[Portland Ute]

On a night ruled by defense, they had no major defensive gaffes and theyhad no turnovers. We had both.

Utah had major gaffes. The muffed punt and the non-punt were the equivalents of INTs or fumbles and gave BYU very short fields that BYU converted in TDs. Both of those were effectively turnovers. I don't know if it's true or not, but KW says, IIRC, that 80% of teams that have a punt blocked lose the game. That non-punt was the equivalent of a block.

Utah was more sound on offense with less gaffes and turnovers. Same goes for defense.

But to ignore special teams is myopic. Utah gave BYU a couple of huge gifts and BYU took advantage.

It's not as if Utah had to play a perfect game to beat BYU. BYU didn't "give" this game away. Utah was very sloppy in special teams and, really, it was the disastrous special teams play that kept BYU in this game.

[Portland Ute]

We lost because of Riley and the special teams.

I wonder when Bronco is going to take the kicking game and coverage seriously.

I'd argue that the special teams was a wash.

Utah had the blocked FG attempt, the non-punt and the 15 yard muffed punt along with giving up some big returns.

BYU had the final shot which ended in either a block or a ball hitting the upright. That's really just one drive with a special teams error, not two. BYU also gave up the long punt return.

I'd argue that the FG misses/blocks cancel each other out. Beyond that, the special teams were a bigger problem for Utah, IMO. Utah got points off the long punt return, but BYU got points immediately following the non-punt and the botched punt.

I'm a Utah fan so I'm biased, but I think Utah's special teams hurt them more than BYU's.

[Portland Ute]

With JW3 out, I really thought BYU had a slight edge on talent on the field.

I'd like to see this discussion play out. Not a fight. A discussion.

I actually think BYU's coaches do more with less.

Watching that game, I would really only give BYU the edge in talent at RB and outside LB.

I think Utah's O-line held up better than BYU's. I think Utah's D-line is superior to BYU's. Utah has more impressive athletes at receivers, overall, but I would take Hoffman on the U's squad. QB? Well, you guys tell me. Would you rather have Riley or Hays? I'd take Hays at this point. D-backfield. I'd give Utah the edge (with both starters out at safety), but I'd be fine calling it a wash. BYU had better RBs last night.

Special teams? I'd call it a wash in talent.

I actually think BYU's coaches got more out of their talent last night than Utah did.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Covered 3 time zones, 3 flights, and 9 total hours in the car over the last 36 hours. Got home about 5 am, but all worth it. This one is fitting of the rivalry.


1. Jon Freaking Hays!. No turnovers. His stats don't show how good he played. He had 5 passes hit receivers in two hands that were dropped. 3 of them would have converted 3rd downs and another may have been a TD. He only forced one pass to Ken Scott down the middle, and if Scott doesn't jump a half step too early, he would have caught that pass at the highest spot, instead of down where he had to fight Sampson for it. I hate that we throttled the offense in the second. Hays was 6-7 86 yards after the break. His efficiency was the reason we won.

2. Johnson called a much better game. I had quibbles with some calls at key times. If we go play action bootleg on 3rd down on the last drive, instead of dive up the middle, the game is over as Hays would have hit the Fullback...again....or run for the first down. We were also still taking tooo much time to get plays in, especially in the 4th. I would like us to pick up the tempo a little, and drop the hockey line changes that we do every play.

3. I hope KL feels a little sheepish about dissing Star after the USU game. He absolutely lived in BYU's back field all. game. long. He deserves all the accolades that are heaped upon him. I feel sad that he won't have the chance to play on the biggest stage, simply because of our offensive woes.

4. I understand the angst about Riley Nelson, but I came away impressed with how difficult he made things for our DLine. He turned at least 5 sure sacks into positive plays. Lark is sacked 9 times, Heaps? I don't even want to guess. I don't know enough about Hill to know how he would have handled the game. Nelson is not a good quarterback, but he is the best that you have right now.

5. We have BCS depth on defense. Our back up safeties did not show much of a drop off. Both of them were assignment sound and made all the right plays. I hope that they will continue to see significant field time after the return of Blechen and Rowe. Everyone wants to blame the 47 yarder to Hoffman on Morris-Edwards, but that play was on Moe Lee. Lee admit as much in the post game. He said he slowed his backpedal when he thought Nelson was going to be sacked. No need for him to even be looking into the backfield in that situation.

6. We were exploited on the edge by the run again. And most if it was at Fakahafua. He has a hard time holding the edge. He get upfield to quickly and teams are simply running under him. BYU ran the same play over and over, handing the ball out of the shotgun and pulling the off guard to lead. Nate would come upfield and the guard was able to get to the second level because of it. The linebackers were slow to fill the hole and I think some of that was because they had to respect Nelson keeping the ball and taking it the other way.

7. The OLine was much improved as compared to last week. Poutasi played very well considering he is a true freshman and his first start is in the rivalry game. He is going to be a special player before he leaves the U. Our line still struggles to get to the second level in the run game, and that above everything else is why our running game is stick in neutral.

8. I understand why Sellwood pulled down that punt at the end. By all appearances it was going to get blocked, but I wish he would have tried. He might have snuck it through and drawn a roughing call. I don't understand why we didn't have a max protect on that play. BYU had to make something happen on that play. We had to know that the house was coming.

9. Charles Henderson had an excellent game and deserves a handful of game MVP votes(behind Hays and Star). He is shifty and deceptively fast. I really liked him last year and I am happy to see that he looks fully recovered. We need to have stellar kick coverage and kick returns, because we are going to have to depend on field position to win games, and convert short fields for scores.

10. I hate to see this game take a hiatus, but I have a feeling after last night the gap in 2014-15 will be the last interruption. Hopefully the PAC-12 will stop being so assbackward drop the 9 game schedule by the time the next contract will be signed.

11. I think we are a 6-3 to 4-5 team in conference. The OLine will continue to improve as this group plays/practices more together. The return of our starting safeties, and the improved play calling by Johnson will make us a better team down the stretch.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how poorly the Line Judge was at spotting the ball. It was like he was spotting where the knee went down, instead of where the ball was when the knee was down. Every spot was an adventure. The head linesman was much better overall.

Did the announcers make any comment on this?

[Coach McGuirk]

I'd like to see this discussion play out. Not a fight. A discussion.

I actually think BYU's coaches do more with less.

Watching that game, I would really only give BYU the edge in talent at RB and outside LB.

I think Utah's O-line held up better than BYU's. I think Utah's D-line is superior to BYU's. Utah has more impressive athletes at receivers, overall, but I would take Hoffman on the U's squad. QB? Well, you guys tell me. Would you rather have Riley or Hays? I'd take Hays at this point. D-backfield. I'd give Utah the edge (with both starters out at safety), but I'd be fine calling it a wash. BYU had better RBs last night.

Special teams? I'd call it a wash in talent.

I actually think BYU's coaches got more out of their talent last night than Utah did.

I'd take kaveinga over your middle linebacker. Easy. I Thought the ute OL was bad, so I am taking neither, or sticking with the devil I know. Ute front four gets all the hype and mostly deserved but I like BYUs line and I can't, on principle, have a Kruger on my team.

[Portland Ute]

I'd take kaveinga over your middle linebacker. Easy. I Thought the ute OL was bad, so I am taking neither, or sticking with the devil I know. Ute front four gets all the hype and mostly deserved but I like BYUs line and I can't, on principle, have a Kruger on my team.

All that being said, Utah has a slight edge in talent. Better D-line. Better D backfield. Better QB. Better TEs. Better receivers.

O line is a wash.

BYU has the nod at RB and LB.

IMO, at best, it's even talent-wise. I just don't see a justification that BYU has an edge talent-wise across the board. Individual position groups? Sure. But not across the board.

[Coach McGuirk]

All that being said, Utah has a slight edge in talent. Better D-line. Better D backfield. Better QB. Better TEs. Better receivers.

O line is a wash.

BYU has the nod at RB and LB.

IMO, at best, it's even talent-wise. I just don't see a justification that BYU has an edge talent-wise across the board. Individual position groups? Sure. But not across the board.

I'd agree with that.

[CardiacCoug]

Just checking to see what my avatar is.

A ton of Ute ties at church today -- ugh. What a bad game