U vs. Y '12

[Hsaru]

I said this earlier in the thread, but if you take out the awful snap, that was eerily reminiscent to the play that changed the 2011 Holy War games momentum, BYU was taking control of the game and going to win IMO.

The Sellwood thing was even more of a fluke, you can't talk about one being a fluke and not the other.

[USUC]

Doman called a game expecting it being a defensive struggle. And it was that type of game. Riley is a limited passer under the best circumstances. He is who he is and he leaves everything out there on the field. We knew that coming into the game.

Overall I can't fault the gameplan, sure we can argue about playcalling (it wouldn't be a BYU game if there wasn't complaints about it) some of it rightly so. There were two big problems. One was there were too many special teams mistakes, missed field goals and poor coverage on a few of the kicks leading to short fields for Utah. Related were the stupid false starts that had us kicking out of our own end zone. The other was obviously the turnovers on offense leading directly to a touchdown and a short field that resulted in a TD. Clean up one of the two and we win the game IMO.

This is true for everyone of these losses. BYU always makes these "flukey" game killing mistakes. Which means they aren't flukey at all. Either Utah knows how to push BYU in to making them, or there is something about Utah in the heads of BYU players that get them frazzled. Who cares if the play calling was a good enough to win the game, the same back breaking mistakes happen year after year. Stop that from happening coaching staff. I know you love everything about him Bronco, but reign in Riley. Reign in your offensive line. Prepare them for the taunting, the talent and nastiness that comes from Utah. There are plenty of teams on Utah's schedule that aren't intimated by them. And they shouldn't be, its not like they are Alabama. And neither should BYU. I just don't get the it.

Utah fans - I am in no way trying to belittle the Utah program. They are obviously a great program and have won a hell of a lot more games in the series than BYU. The Utes have something I wish BYU could get. There is some discrepancy in talent between the programs but not enough to exclude BYU from winning a couple of these every now and then.

[LA Ute]

I was just thinking that the final BYU series included almost all the iconic rivalry game elements of the last 20 years.

• Failure of Utah to get a crucial first down to put the game away? Check.
  
• 4th and long completion to keep BYU alive? Check.
  
• Blocked kick? Check.
  
• Doinked field goal attempt? Check.

That was the wildest finish I've ever seen or ever hope to see. I still feel that the Utes escaped as much as they won.

[Hsaru]

I was just thinking that the final BYU series included almost all the iconic rivalry game elements of the last 20 years.

• Failure of Utah to get a crucial first down to put the game away? Check.
  
• 4th and long completion to keep BYU alive? Check.
  
• Blocked kick? Check.
  
• Doinked field goal attempt? Check.

That was the wildest finish I've ever seen or ever hope to see. I still feel that the Utes escaped as much as they won.

Both teams are not good, that is clear.

[USUC]

Both teams are not good, that is clear.

Both team are good, just not great. Utah is just a little better. It is clear that Utah will always be a good team year in year out with the coaches they have. They may have games that they lose, but this is a good program. I expect them to have roughly the same record they had last year.

[Hsaru]

Both team are good, just not great. Utah is just a little better. It is clear that Utah will always be a good team year in year out with the coaches they have. They may have games that they lose, but this is a good program. I expect them to have roughly the same record they had last year.

Utah can lose to every team on their sched but WSU/Colo, they won't but they will lose a lot of them. BYU luckily has the dregs of the WAC so Bronco can pretend we are "finishing strong" again.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

The Sellwood thing was even more of a fluke, you can't talk about one being a fluke and not the other.

Did I say that it was a fluke?

[Commando]

The sad part is that BYU didn't have to lose this game. They were clearly out-schemed and it took about the whole first half to catch up. And what's sad is that Utah will lose games this year that they have no business losing based on what they can do and showed in this game, just because they don't care as much. Colorado will always have a way better shot of beating Utah than BYU.

[Coach McGuirk]

Utah can lose to every team on their sched but WSU/Colo, they won't but they will lose a lot of them. BYU luckily has the dregs of the WAC so Bronco can pretend we are "finishing strong" again.

We have Boise state, Utah state, Oregon state, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech in the next six games. Should we go one and five, no one is going to be talking about finishing strong. So you can stop with that.

[Portland Ute]

ESPN lost that game for BYU by forcing that final FG attempt to occur on the sabbath. No way that ball doinks on Saturday.

It actually happened before midnight.

The Lord simply could not let His team play on Sunday.

Tough break.

[BoylenOver]

It's crazy to me that since BYU beat Utah 70-31 in 1991, every home victor has rushed the field: 1994 (Utah), 2001 (BYU), 2002 (Utah), 2004 (Utah), 2007 (BYU), 2008 (Utah), 2009 (BYU), 2010 (Utah), 2012 (Utah). And of course, there were folks who rushed the field during road victories in '93 and '06.

[Portland Ute]

The Sellwood thing was even more of a fluke, you can't talk about one being a fluke and not the other.

Both the muffed punt and the non-punt were HUGE opportunities for BYU and BYU capitalized on both of them to the tune of 14 points.

Both teams made some terrible mistakes.

[Portland Ute]

We have Boise state, Utah state, Oregon state, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech in the next six games. Should we go one and five, no one is going to be talking about finishing strong. So you can stop with that.

I'm curious as to what your take is on those games as far as BYU's record.

What record do you think BYU will have in those games?

I'm think that they beat USU and OrSU and lose at Boise and at ND. (ND looks pretty strong.) Boise and ND are both much, much better football teams than Utah right now and BYU is on the road...tough combo. Plus that Boise game is on such a short turn around after such an emotional loss. That scheduling is brutal.

I think Georgia Tech is the most interesting of those games. I guess USU at home could be interesting, but I think BYU will find a way to win that game.

[jay santos]

random thoughts:

--This was a game between two pretty average teams, maybe #40 vs #50 and #40 won.
--Our offense is pretty lousy.
--I honestly thought Riley would be better.
--I thought Doman would be improved.
--We're not an option team, that's a horrible play.
--Bronco's a defensive genius, but he doesn't have a good offensive coaching staff right now. He appears to have made a huge mistake with Doman. You can't afford to have a three year learning curve with a rookie OC when you're in the heart of your coaching career.
--It really sucks to be in a position to be hoping a freshman RM is going to save our program next year after three years of lousy offense.
--None of this makes me pause much that they handled Heaps in the wrong way. Just because Nelson is a not a great QB doesn't make Heaps any better than he was.
--Williams looks pretty good. Excited about him.
--Dammit I would have loved for Ute fans to have themselves to blame for a loss. Ugh.
--We've basically become New Mexico circa late 90's. Boring as hell, offense sucks, but always have a chance to win due to their D.
--An early loss, a rivalry loss, no conference championship, and a shitty Nov schedule are going to cause the fans to quit on the season and it wouldn't surprise me to see the players follow. Our situation sucks. It's killing the program.
--Utah has out recruited us for a decade. They're BCS. Their fan base is improving. Ours is deteriorating. The programs have flipped and I don't see much in our near future to do anything about it.

[BoylenOver]

--This was a game between two pretty average teams, maybe #40 vs #50 and #40 won.

Even after the excitement of last night's win, I think Utah as the 40th-best team in the nation is gratuitous.