This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

BYU did everything right on its final drive Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Cougars just didn't finish.

After Utah had taken a 17-16 lead with 4:24 remaining, freshman quarterback Jake Heaps deftly guided BYU from its own 21 to the Ute 25.

On the final play, however, Utah's Brandon Burton blocked Mitch Payne's 42-yard field-goal attempt.

"We had an opportunity to win," said Heaps, referring to the Cougars' 10-play, 54-yard drive.

"It came down to the last play — execution — and their execution was just a little better than ours on that last play."

Said coach Bronco Mendenhall, "We fought all the way to the end, but we just couldn't get that last field goal."

BYU's final drive didn't start well. J.J. Di Luigi lost one yard on first down and Bryan Kariya gained only two on second down.

Facing third-and-9 at the BYU 21, however, Heaps hit tight end Devin Mahina over the middle for 22 yards.

"It was an opportunity for me," Heaps said. "I had to step up and make a play. Devin made a great catch and ran a great route. … I think the guys thought, 'There's no stopping us now.' "

Mahina got between Utah linebacker Chaz Walker and the safeties to make the catch that moved the ball to the BYU 44.

"I re-routed the guy," Walker said. "He just bent in behind me and the quarterback made a great throw. He stuck it into a really small, tiny window and the guy made a great catch."

Safety Greg Bird knew Utah had missed a chance to stop BYU, but said, "You can't dwell on that. You've got to keep playing ball and get the next one."

Heaps kept the drive going with an 8-yard pass to McKay Jacobson, a 7-yard pass to Kariya and another pass to Jacobson for 12 yards. Watching from the sideline, BYU senior defensive back Andrew Rich had a good feeling.

"I'm thinking, 'Man, I love those guys,' " he said. "I was proud of them. I was proud they put our team in a situation to win the game. It was awesome."

Heaps' second completion to Jacobson gave BYU a first down at the Utah 24 with just over a minute to play.

From there, Mendenhall decided to seek the best possible position for a field goal.

Kariya gained one yard on first down but lost three yards on his next two carries, setting up Payne's kick.

"I thought it was the thing to do," said Heaps, who was outstanding in his first Utah-BYU game.

"You guys witnessed a great player play today," Rich said. "He's young, but he's a phenomenal, phenomenal player."