More on the Utes' big win

I thought BYU (1-2) played very sloppy the other night and that was a big part of the reason Utah was able to win by so much. I had picked BYU to win this game close at home and I was surprised by their lack of intensity and discipline, particularly in the second half. Utah (2-1, 0-1 Pac-12), though, should be given credit for applying the pressure as well as forcing and recovering them. Their skills and athleticism factoring into the win should also not be understated. Utah won the game big for a reason and forced a lot of those mistakes that BYU made.

It looked like once BYU got down by a few scores that their defense just threw in the towel, so to speak. The Utes appeared to just be trying to run the ball and take some time off the clock in the fourth quarter, but were unable to use a lot of time because they scored on a couple of long runs. It really looked to me like the defense laid down a bit. That's not acceptable from BYU's standpoint, but it is very gratifying to me as a Utah fan to see my team help bring its biggest rival to that point.

I thought Jordan Wynn was still a bit shaky at quarterback, especially for the better part of the first half. Wynn had one pass picked off and by all rights should have had another one intercepted had it not been for a BYU defender dropping a ball thrown right to him. However, I have to give Wynn credit for leading a couple of big touchdown drives late in the first half and early in the second half while the game was still in question. That shows a lot of heart.

On the other hand, I thought BYU quarterback Jake Heaps had a terrible game. I lost track of how many turnovers he had, but I know that there were at least a couple of egregious ones. Of particular note was his fumble on the Cougars' opening drive of the game when the snap went over his head. Instead of just falling on the ball, Heaps attempted to pick it up and when he failed to do so, the Utes pounced on it in the endzone for a quick touchdown. Had Heaps just fallen on the ball, BYU would have just had to punt, instead they were down 7-0.

It wasn't his only instance of poor judgement on the night. On top of that, he missed several open receivers that could have kept a number of BYU drives alive. I don't know if it would have made a difference in the long haul, but it certainly didn't help BYU's cause. I thought Heaps was going to have a great year, especially based on how strongly he finished out last season. His poor play is a bit of a shocker to me.

There is no doubt that Utah is a much better team. The Utes played harder and much more consistently than the Cougars and were able to substantially win the turnover battle. Additionally, it looked like Utah was simply more athletic and more talented than BYU; this especially became apparent in the second half.