This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah beat archrival BYU on Saturday afternoon at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The plan for the decisive play in the 17-16 victory, however, was hatched early in the week.
While watching the Cougars on tape, the Utah coaching staff noticed a potential weak link in their field-goal protection.
The Utes thought BYU was vulnerable on its right side, leaving the Cougars susceptible to a rush from Utah's left edge.
Hello, Brandon Burton.
With Utah clinging to a one-point lead, Burton swept in and blocked Mitch Payne's 42-yard attempt to win the game on its final play.
"The last play was just a matter of sheer will," Burton said. "We knew we had to make a play on the field goal. I just came around and made it."
The Utes work on blocking field goals "all the time in practice," according to Burton.
Usually, Burton comes from the right side. This time, the junior cornerback was moved to the left side.
"I just put my head down and laid out," he said. "I felt something sting my hand. I thought it was the cold, at first. But it was the ball."
Utah safety Greg Bird said he thought the Utes had a chance at blocking the kick because "we knew they had a weakness on that side. We had scouted that, and we almost got it on their first field goal."
Payne hit field goals of 43, 37 and 42 yards to put the Cougars in position to win, but his last kick never had a chance.
On the final attempt, Bird said, "The game was on the line, and that's when you need to make a play. Everybody put all they had into trying to block that field goal. And we got it."
Like Bird, linebacker Chaz Walker felt that the Utes could exploit the weakness in BYU's protection.
"We saw you could maybe leak through the left side at the tackle-tight end spot," Walker said.
"We just overloaded on that play and said, 'Go as hard and as fast as you can with those hands in the air, and maybe somebody can block it.' "
Burton did.
"It was a great job by Brandon," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.
"He came through big time," said Bird, who set the stage for Utah's go-ahead score with a fumble recovery with just 61/2 minutes remaining.
BYU owned a 16-10 lead and forced Utah to punt. But Joe Phillips' short kick was touched by an unsuspecting Cougar as it hit the ground.
Bird recovered in front of the Utah bench at the BYU 46, setting up Matt Asiata's go-ahead touchdown with 4:24 left.
"I was just in the right place at the right time," Bird said. "They said it was a shanked punt, so I looked up and saw where it was. I saw it hit their guy. So I dove for it and got it."
Weakness spotted
• Brandon Burton blocks a 42-yard field-goal attempt on the final play to preserve Utah's 17-16 win.
• Burton normally rushes the kicker from the right side. This time, he came off the left edge.
• The Utes detected a weakness in BYU's kick protection while watching video early in the week.