This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Not sure how to put that Utah-BYU game into words. I've been a part of plenty of wild rivalry games and that one has to go down as one of the most memorable. A field goal attempt hits the upright and nearly the whole stadium goes up in cheers, I'll admit, some of the cheers were coming from the press box. If that game had gone into overtime virtually every newspaper in the state would have missed the deadline. As it were, the missed field goal preserved one of the Utes' hardest-fought wins over the Cougars in recent memory. The Utes had a new starting quarterback (Jon Hays), no veteran running back (John White, ankle) and a key missing defender (Eric Rowe, hamstring) and still managed to beat the Cougars. That is three in a row now for Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. Suffice it to say it looks like he has Bronco Mendenhall's number. Praise really goes to new offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who was creative and daring enough to put enough points on the board to win the game. I liked how Hays looked down field, I liked how Hays took some shots but stayed strong in the pocket and I liked how receiver Reggie Dunn, who had several drops against Utah State, redeemed himself with six catches for 56 yards. The Utes used him on the outer edges with some effectiveness, although the other receivers lapsed in their blocks at times. On the ground, the Utes managed just 49 rushing yards on 35 carries. Jarrell Oliver led with 24 yards on 11 carries but didn't play at the end. Defensively, kudos to Star Lotulelei for making big plays at the end, including the blocked field goal. Big time players make big plays when they matter the most and Lotulelei delivered. As for White, the Utes said they didn't know White wouldn't play until 20 minutes before kickoff when trainers decided White's ankle wasn't well enough. He should be available for Arizona State. Ok, for some quick grades: Offense - B+ The run game suffered in White's absence but the Utes still managed 17 points from the offense, not bad although there were some missed opportunities including a missed field goal and a failure to take advantage of good field position at the end of the first half. Defense - B- The Utes let BYU score two touchdowns in the final quarter and nearly gave the game away. Utah gave up 312 yards total. Special teams - D - Utah's special teams continues to be inconsistent. It was one of the reasons they lost last week and nearly cost them the game Saturday. Coaching - A - Said it before and we'll say it again, Whittingham has the upper hand on Mendenhall, even when the Cougars seem to have the upper hand in talent. Couple quotes from the Utah locker room: Jon Hays"I can't describe that. I'm going to remember that until I'm 85 years old with Alzheimer's." Kyle Whittingham: "We won that thing three times. We should be 4-1.""Couldn't be more proud of the group of guys.""I guess the clock thing, OK. The blocked kick, in all my experience in football that's a no call, the game's over. But we lined up and we did it again. The result was what we wanted."It could have gone into overtime. I've got a policy, I never complain about the refs."On the quarterbacks:It played out. It was close, but Jon ultimately had the better week in practice. Also the experience factor, the rivalry game. If it would have been game one of the season it might have been a 50-50 split and let them each play one half and see how they did.""It might have been a little unfair to Travis to throw him into this situation." - Lya Wodraska