What a weekend it was in the state of Utah. The Jazz beat the Lakers and the Clippers (the former being much more impressive than the latter). The final Conference (Un) Holy War was an exciting hard fought game that once again came down to the wire (12 out of last 14 have been decided by 7 or less). And finally the storm of the year that was supposed to be on Tuesday actually came on Sunday, blasting the wasatch front with snow (if you are travelling today, do so safely). Oh yeah and BYU's basketball team won a preseason tournament in San Padre Island (6-0 on the year). Here are some of my thoughts after one of the best weekends of the sports year.
College Football:
First off how about the shockers we had on Friday? Auburn comes back from 24 down to win 27-24!! Oregon beats Arizona in a shoot out. And Boise St. can't hit a field goal and loses to Nevada in OT to end their hopes at the BCS title!! Wow. But lets get to what we really care about, the BYU/Utah game. I must admit that when the 4th quarter started I was trying to contain my excitement as BYU had a 13-0 lead and Utah had looked more than awful all day. BYU's defense looked dominant and Jake Heaps was completely out playing the Jordan Wynn/Terrance Cain combo. Then all hell broke loose. The Utes kick a routine FG to get the 4th started, then BYU starts a drive getting a first down in 2 plays, business as usual. Heaps then throws a bomb to Luke Ashworth. The ball was perfect, but Ashworth dropped it. The very next play the freshman RB Quezada gets confused on the play and knocks the ball out of Heaps hand, fumble, Utes recover. The next play, Christopher makes an absolutely spectacular catch over Brian Logan who is playing excellent defense, for a TD. 13-10, crap. BYU takes the next drive down the field for a FG. 16-10 ok I can breath a little. Utah's offense doesn't go anywhere and has to punt. The punt is so freaking bad that it hits a BYU player that is trying to run away from the ball, Utes recover. 3 plays later, Jordan Wynn throws the Utes 3rd interception of the night to Brandon Bradley. Bradley then loses the ball in the process of getting tackled. Replay clearly showed his knee was down, but the play was ruled a fumble recovered by Utah (ask any objective person and they will tell you that he was down). 2 plays later, Asiata TD. 17-16 Utah, 4 minutes left. Jake Heaps leads the Cougars down the field with poise and precision. They get to the Utah 22, then Anae and Bronco play for the FG. They end up settling for a 42 yd FG attempt. The kick was blocked on an outstanding play by starting corner Brandon Burton. Game over. Utah 17 BYU 16. I was sick to my stomach. I couldn't believe what had happened. Now BYU was an underdog in this game, 10 point underdog for that matter. I should feel good about the close game. But I don't. The problem is that I know that BYU should have won that game. I am not blaming it on the blown fumble call or the lucky bounce off the horrible punt. But I am putting it on Bronco for two critical decisions that lost the game. In the 3rd quarter Bronco and Anae went for a play action pass on 4th and 1 from the Utes 12 yard line, leaving points on the board. If they kick that FG, in all likely hood I am giddy right now. Next, on the final drive, Heaps was masterful, so let him win the game, play to win, don't play not to lose. But with all that said, looking forward there is a lot to be excited about for BYU. They played several key freshman who played very well in this game. Heaps, Quezada, Vanoy, Hoffman, and Stout all have bright futures and have steadily improved this season. Conversely, for Utah, I am worried. Jordan Wynn is clearly not the guy going forward. And entering the PAC-12 without a QB is not a good idea. The defense will be good, but they lose both RB's as well. A lot of question marks for the Utes.
One last prediction... BYU will win the next 3 rivalry games, Heaps is too freaking good.
NBA:
How about them Utah Jazz?!?! A huge win on Saturday night over the hated Lakers. The Jazz continue to fight and scrap in every game, regardless of the deficit or the opponent. Sure the Jazz were down by 19 to the Lakers in the 1st half, that didn't stop them from fighting back and winning the final 3 quarters to win by 6. Deron Williams is unreal. He is the best PG in the World, period. There is no argument. On Wednesday, last week, he dominated Chris Paul. Argument over. There is no PG with his combo of shooting, play making ability and strength. The Jazz should win the next two games before another tough test from the Dallas Maveriks, who are playing great right now.
That is all I have for today. Keep enjoying the View from the Upper Bowl
Pretty much on point about the big rivalry game. I will add one stat that no one seems to give much attention: BYU came within scoring distance 6 times. The obvious goal there would be to come away with 42 points, but some solid Ute D held the Cougars to 16.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could argue a case for Wynn, like the fact that in 2010 hes thrown for over 2300 yds, 17 TDs, and a 139 passer rating. He put up those numbers all WITHOUT playing vs. UNLV or New Mexico, and only playing in the first half of the other cream puff games.......but.........its tough......he just isn't consistent when it comes to crunch time. He always shows flashes of excellence, like those few accurate passes vs BYU that turned into points, but again, it just isn't consistent. Heaps, on the other hand, was a 5-star for a reason, and he is starting to show it. As for Wynn's future, I guarantee he is nervous about this QB coming to Utah next year: http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1013280.html
I think you got maybe just a bit over-zealous in the end there, predicting the next 3 rivalry wins for BYU. First, Heaps isn't in it to stay for 4 years. From what I've heard, he has decided to skip serving a mission, with the goal of getting to the NFL asap. Second, half of those other freshman studs will leave for missions before next season. Third, maybe you haven't heard, that the week after Utah announced they were going to form the Pac-12, they had 6 or 7 recruits commit that they didn't even think they were going to get. Recruiting will continue to get better for the Utes just because they will play a game in Southern Cal every single year for the foreseeable future (either at USC or at UCLA). If Utah is able to compete in the Pac-12 South next year, then watch out, recruiting could really take off for the Utes, especially when you consider the reduction in scholarships and Bowl games for USC lasting through the 2012-2013 season.
Lastly, about the 2011 Cougars, Mr. Holmoe has certainly loaded that schedule up! Seriously, if the cougs come through September with a winning record, it will be quite an accomplishment.