24-21

Utah (2-1) defeated #25 BYU (2-1) tonight 24-21 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.  It was one of the craziest finishes to a game I have ever seen.  It was even a little crazy for a Utah-BYU game.  I thought the last minute was a combination of past rivalry games.  You had BYU converting on 4th and long from deep in their own territory.  You had a blocked field goal.  And then after that, you had a field goal bounce off the upright.  It really is amazing that you could have that many things like that happen again.


I think it's fair to say that BYU had a fair shot to win the game and that Utah won it fair and sqaure.  For that I am glad.  I guess that's the main thing at this point.  I am happy for the Utes!

Thoughts on Utah's football opener

I attended the Utah-Northern Colorado game last Thursday evening.  The Utes (1-0) won 41-0. Northern Colorado (0-1) isn't a very good team at all.  Not only are they an FCS (formerly I-AA) team, they went 0-11 last year.  So, there isn't too much that can be gleaned from the game.

That being said, there were a few things that I noticed.  Junior Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn didn't look all that impressive.  Most of the pass patterns looked pretty basic and I'm sure that was largely due to the opponent and not wanting to put too many complex plays on film for future opponents to study.  Wynn made most of those throws, but again they were pretty basic plays.  Wynn's interception on a deep ball was pretty concerning; I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering about his ability to throw it deep. 

For now, though, I think the Utes need to give Wynn the shot to prove he can make the plays necessary to win.  If he can't after a few games, then I think the coaches can re-evaluate.

Senior John White looked solid again at running back and the defense looked stifling.  It's tough to read too much into one game against a very poor opponent.  However, I think White and the defense will again each be very good.  Those will be keys to the season.

The kicker position looks anything but certain at this point.  Senior Coleman Petersen is the returning starter after a shaky finish to last season.  Petersen missed three field goals (including one that would have tied the game with mere seconds to play) in an embarrassing 17-14 home loss to Colorado to end the regular season.  He also barely snuck in the tying extra point late in the 4th quarter against Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl -- a play that nearly gave me a heart attack (thankfully he made it and the Utes went on to win in overtime).

Petersen did not look extremely impressive on Thursday.  He missed an extra point and a chip shot 27 yard field goal.  Right now he simply can't be relied on late in a close game.  I hope he looks better as the season goes on, but at this point I hope the game doesn't come down to his foot.

The competition gets a lot tougher for the Utah this week.  The Utes travel north to Logan to face in-state rival Utah State (1-0) this Friday night.  The start time for that one is 6 p.m. MT.  The game can be seen on ESPN2.  The Utes have won 12 straight over the Aggies, but this appears to be a different Utah State program than in past years.  I expect it will be a competitive game, but the pick here is that the Utes win this one by 7 in what will likely be their last trip to Logan for the foreseeable future.

Utah football takes on Arizona today

Utah (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) football visits Arizona (2-6, 1-5 Pac-12) today at 5 p.m. MDT (Utah time). The game can be seen in Utah on KJZZ. The Utes looked better last week at home against Oregon State (2-6, 2-3 Pac-12), winning 27-8. The key to me was that Utah limited the mistakes on offense, particularly in the turnover department. This and some nice drives in the 2nd quarter allowed Utah to open up a big lead and cruise to victory.

However, I would like to see the offense move the ball more consistently; the second half against the Beavers was certainly nothing to write home about. But, the biggest key will again be to limit turnovers. The defense has played pretty well all year and I expect that to continue today. Arizona is a team Utah probably has more talent than and probably should beat, but that certainly is no guarantee, especially on the road. The offense, and particularly quarterback Jon Hays playing smart and limiting mistakes, will be the key to the game. Follow me on Twitter for in-game updates. Go Utes!

Albert Pujols with a historic night

Pictured: Albert Pujols connects for one of his three home runs in Game 3 Saturday night in Texas.

Well, my Utah Utes (3-4, 0-4 Pac-12) lost 34-10 to Cal (4-3, 1-3 Pac-12) tonight and looked pretty listless. So, I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on that.

The story of the night was Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals hitting 3 home runs in Game 3 of the World Series. Pujols is the 3rd player in the history of Major League Baseball to do this in a World Series game, joining Babe Ruth (who did it twice) and Reggie Jackson. It's just the type of thing you don't exactly expect to see when you tune it to watch because it's such a rarity. I don't know if I have words to describe what an achievement it is. When Pujols hit that 3rd home run in the 9th, I let out a little yelp because I realized I had just seen something improbable and incredible.

The Cardinals now lead the World Series 2 games to 1. This means Game 4 tomorrow night is a must-win for the Rangers, especially with Cards ace Chris Carpenter slated to pitch Game 5. The Cardinals have shown that their offense is real and to be reckoned with. Game 4 will show a lot about the character of the Rangers.

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.

Utes throttle BYU

At left: The Utes celebrate their huge win in Provo.

Utah (2-1, 0-1 Pac-12) defeated BYU (1-2) tonight in LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo by a score of 54-10. It was the largest margin of victory the Utes have ever had in Provo. I had the pleasure of being at the game and without providing an exact order, I'd have to say it is easily one of my favorite sporting events I have ever attended.

The whole thing really was a stunner. I actually thought BYU would win this game, being at home as well as looking to avenge last year's 17-16 loss in Salt Lake City. I also didn't think there would be a ton of points from either team. When BYU turned the ball over three times in the first quarter and Utah only managed seven points out of it (on a defensive touchdown), I thought the Utes would have trouble scoring.

In fact, BYU led 10-7 with less than a minute to go in the first half. That is really hard to believe given the final score. The Utes scored before halftime and then turned into a buzzsaw for the second half. It literally was hard to keep track of all the touchdowns, as they kept rolling in at a very high rate.

It suffices me to say that Utah just played very well in all phases of the game (well, except the kicking game -- a missed field goal and extra point, but I'll look past that for now), especially in the second half. I honestly didn't know the Utes had that in them.

It was the first time I have been at a Utah victory in Provo and I was soaking it up. There is just something about beating your biggest rival on their homefield that is just a great thing. It's a great time to be a Ute. As a Utah fan, it was also fun seeing the stadium rapidly empty out starting late in the third quarter. It was just a really good night at the game.

On another note, I liked both teams wearing their home uniforms. The colors contrast enough to make it work. I'm told that is the theme for the 2011-2012 year as part of the Deseret Duel between the two schools. I hope the Utes and Cougars continue to both wear their home uniforms against each other in the future.

It's late, so I'm not going to get into all the details, but tonight was one of those nights where it was really rewarding to be a loyal fan to a team. I love my Utes! Way to go!

Utes top Montana State

Utah (1-0) topped Montana State (0-1) tonight at Rice-Eccles Stadium by a score of 27-10. The Utes raced out to a 24-0 lead in the 2nd quarter before slowing up.

The running game for the Utes was pretty solid, but Jordan Wynn didn't look very impressive. Wynn needs to step it up in a hurry if the Utes are going to be anywhere near the 9-3 I picked them to finish.

I thought the defense played pretty well, despite giving up a couple of big plays. Montana State could move the ball a little here and there, but Utah was able to stop them from having too many sustained drives.

The game seemed a bit underwhelming to be honest. Give Montana State credit for playing hard and sticking around to the extent they did, but Utah needs to figure out how to keep its foot down. Hopefully the Utes will be able to look more sharp when they face tougher opponents later in the season. Sorry again for the lack of tweets during the game, the cell phone reception in the stadium wasn't working too well.

Utah Utes predictions

The Utah Utes open up their season tonight at 6 p.m. MDT against Montana State, an FCS or I-AA opponent. The game will be televised over-the-air in the Salt Lake area on KJZZ. The game really should serve as a walk-over of sorts for the Utes, who are heavily favored. The main thing I will be anxious to see tonight is how quarterback Jordan Wynn looks after having a shoulder injury last season. However, it will be tough to get a good read on this team based solely on tonight's game.

Here's a look at my predictions for the Utes this year:

-- Thurs. Sept. 1st: vs. Montana State -- Win. Just a tune-up.
-- Sat., Sept. 10th: at USC -- Loss. Tough place to play, against a good team. Not a good fit for the first road game.
-- Sat., Sept. 17th: at BYU -- Loss. Another tough road environment, against a team with a good quarterback in Jake Heaps. Plus the Cougars will be motivated to avenge last year's loss. Believe me, this pick is not what I'm rooting for.
--Sat., Oct. 1st: vs. Washington -- Win. UW is a proud program, but they haven't been that strong lately, the Utes should win at home.
--Sat., Oct. 8th: vs. Arizona State -- Win. ASU is down, Utes should handle them.
--Sat., Oct. 15th: at Pittsburgh -- Loss. It's tough to travel across the country for a college team, I think the Utes lose in a close one.
--Sat., Oct. 22nd: at California -- Win. Played at AT&T Park, home of the World Champion San Francisco Giants. Toss-up, really, but I think the Utes will be motivated and pull it out in a close one.
--Sat., Oct. 29th: vs. Oregon State -- Win. Decent opponent, but the home field will help the Utes win close.
--Sat., Nov. 5th: at Arizona -- Win. Could be dicey on the road, but I believe Utah has the better team.
--Sat., Nov. 12th: vs. UCLA -- Win. Utes should handle the Bruins pretty easily at home.
--Sat., Nov. 19th: at Washington State -- Win. This shouldn't be close, Washington State isn't very good.
--Fri., Nov. 25th: vs. Colorado -- Win. Utes by a couple of touchdowns I think.

There you have it, 9-3 overall and 8-1 in the Pac-12. Perhaps a bit optimistic, but if Wynn is healthy I believe this team can do good things, maybe even a berth in the Pac-12 title game if USC stumbles a couple of times.

I'll be on the scene, tweeting updates tonight and I'll be back on here after the game. Go Utes!

Utes hammered in Las Vegas Bowl

My Utah Utes lost to Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl last night by a score of 26-3. It was disappointing, especially after the Utes were in control through the entire first quarter and couldn't get more than a 3-0 lead. In the game, they left at least 13 points on the board with dropped passes and a pair of missed field goals. But Boise State left some points on the board too. The Broncos probably would have won anyway, but it would have been nice not to play as sloppy of a game and to score more than 3 points. You never know, if it was close at the end who knows what could have happened. It was a disappointing end to the season.

In basketball, the Runnin' Utes lost to Butler in Honolulu in the first game of the Diamond Head Classic. Utah faces host Hawaii tonight at 10:30 p.m. MT on ESPNU. Check it out.

Runnin' Utes come from behind to beat Boise State

Pictured: Will Clyburn watches his game winning three-pointer go in against Boise State last night.

The Utah Runnin' Utes (7-3) defeated the Boise State Broncos (6-4) last night in Salt Lake City by a score of 86-84. Will Clyburn hit the winning three-pointer with about 10 seconds left to provide the final margin. Clyburn finished with 22 points and 8 rebounds. All five starters for the Utes were in double figures. Boise State's Daequon Montreal led all scorers with 28.

Utah jumped out to an early 17-8 lead, but the Broncos took control after that. Boise State's lead was as big as 16 at 66-50 with 14:03 left in the game. I thought Utah's defense up to that point was pretty poor as Boise State got a lot of open looks. After that, the Utes tightened up and BSU only scored 18 points the rest of the way. The Broncos got way too many offensive rebounds which led to a lot of second-chance points. That is something that needs to be cleaned up in a hurry before the Utes compete in the Diamond Head Classic beginning next Wednesday.

However, the real story of the game to me is the resiliency the Utes showed by not folding when they fell behind by 16 in the second half. Utah was able to chip away at the lead and made a number of key shots down the stretch. Jason Washburn made a couple of clutch free throws as well as a jump hook to help trim the deficit and the Utes got the stops they needed. Josh Watkins put Utah up for the first time since the first half with a pair of free throws with under 30 seconds left. A Broncos bucket set up Clyburn's heroics off of a pass from Watkins. Both Clyburn and Watkins deserve credit for that play in making the right decisions and getting the shot to go. It really pleased me to see the Utes play so well down the stretch as they seemingly made every play they had to.

Utah next plays Butler (6-4, 1-0 Horizon) at 9 p.m. MT on Wednesday night in the aforementioned Diamond Head Classic. The game will be televised on ESPNU. The Utes will play either Florida State (8-2, 1-0 ACC) or Hawaii (7-2) depending on the results of the previous day's games. Butler looked very impressive in dismantling Stanford (6-3) today by a score of 83-50 in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs look to be finding their groove and reminded me of the National Championship Runner-Up team from a season ago in beating the Cardinal today. They really only have one bad loss (which came without one of their emotional leaders Ronald Nored) and have played a tough schedule. It should be a tough game for the Runnin' Utes, but I'm anxious to see how they do.

Update on the Runnin' Utes

The Utah Runnin' Utes (6-3) beat Pepperdine (4-8) in Salt Lake City on Tuesday 67-60 and lost at Michigan (7-2) on Friday night 75-64. The Utes next host Boise State (6-2) on Friday night at 7 p.m. MT. I'm pleased that Utah was able to beat Pepperdine after the Waves led at halftime, but I'm disappointed that they didn't win by more. Pepperdine isn't a very good team and Utah didn't look that impressive in the win, but as they say: a win is a win.

Utah lost the game at Michigan in the first half, committing at least a dozen turnovers before intermission and trailing by 17 at the break. The Wolverines led by as many as 22 before Utah made a run late to lose by 11. The Utes looked bad most of the game and simply dug themselves too big of a hole with poor play. You just have to take care of the basketball or you're not going to be in a lot of games. Michigan played fine and may have won the game anyway, but Utah really hurt themselves. Without so many turnovers and missed free throws (7-13 from the line) I believe it would have been competitive and relatively close throughout. Jay Watkins scored 17 for the Runnin' Utes and Will Clyburn and Chris Hines each had 11.

I'm still cautiously optimistic about Utah's season. I don't consider the Michigan loss a bad loss, so hopefully it doesn't set the guys back. Boise State on Friday is what I consider a winnable game at home. Let's hope the Utes can pull off the basketball-football sweep by adding a win in the Las Vegas Bowl over the Broncos the following break.

Utah tops Bradley, hosts Pepperdine Tuesday

The Utah Runnin' Utes (5-2) won their first road game of the season on Saturday night, beating Bradley (4-4) by a score of 68-60 in Peoria, Illinois. I'm frustrated with bradleybraves.com which said it would have all games it streamed live available on demand as well. This game was scheduled to be streamed live and yet it is curiously unavailable on demand. I was counting on the on demand feature as I was unable to watch live and the website has let me down. In fact, it seems that the only games available on demand are the games that Bradley has won this season.

Anyway, Josh Watkins scored 23 points for the Runnin' Utes and Will Clyburn had 19 as the Utes led throughout. One concerning facet of the game was that Utah went 24-44 from the free throw line. That has to change and I'm pretty confident it will as the Utes normally seem to me to be a pretty good free throw shooting team. I don't have the stats on that on me, but it seems to be the case.

Bradley is one of those teams you should beat, even in their building, so I'm pleased that Utah was able to take care of business. It's the fourth year in a row Utah has played a team from the competitive Missouri Valley Conference and the Utes have compiled a 3-1 record in that span. The Valley always seems to be a fun league, but I don't think Bradley is the class of it this year.

Utah returns home to face Pepperdine (3-6) Tuesday night at the Huntsman Center. Pepperdine is another one of those teams you should beat, but I would have said that last year when the Utes went to Malibu, California and lost to the Waves. Hopefully Utah won't overlook them and will be able to put them away rather early on. I feel confident in predicting a rather comfortable win for the Runnin' Utes. The game won't be televised but will have live audio available on kall700sports.com and on AM 700 here in the Salt Lake City area. As usual, I will be at the game and will be tweeting as well. You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/dpaysports.

Utah's 5-2 record looks nice, but it hasn't come against the greatest of schedules. The toughest game of the year to date was definitely at Utah State (5-2), a loss. I don't consider that a bad loss, it being a road game against a good team. USU's 5-2 record looks better than Utah's as its only two losses were to ranked opponents (although the Aggies don't have any of what I would consider big wins to this point either). What is a bad loss for the Utes, though, is losing at home to Oral Roberts (4-4). I wouldn't necessarily consider Oral Roberts a bad team, but I think they are probably a mediocre team at best and definitely not someone you should lose to at home. However, it looks like the Utes may have put that behind them with wins against Fresno State and the aforementioned Bradley. If they keep up the winning the bad loss may end up looking like a mere blip on the radar. We should know a little more after Friday's game at Michigan (6-2).

Runnin' Utes visit Bradley on Saturday night

The Utah Runnin' Utes (4-2) visit Bradley (4-3) on Saturday night at 6 p.m. MT. The game will not be televised in Utah, but there is a live video stream of the game available on bradleybraves.com. Unfortunately the stream costs money, but hey it's worth watching the game to me. The Utes beat Fresno State (1-4) on Tuesday in Salt Lake City, but I thought it was a rather underwhelming victory against a horrible team.

Now I don't consider Bradley to be a great team, but they are definitely better than Fresno State and the game will be more of a challenge as it is on the road. My hope is that the Utes will win and give me some encouragement as to the potential of this team, but in all honesty I consider the game a toss up. I'll be back on here with my thoughts and analysis at some point following the game.

In other news this week, junior guard and captain Jace Tavita has left the program. Tavita didn't play at all Tuesday night against Fresno State despite being healthy and has seen his playing time diminished of late. The word is that Tavita is looking to transfer to a program in which he can get more playing time. Tavita was a good team guy and a good defender, but he was a serious liability on the offensive end of the floor. I won't miss him on the offensive end of the court and I don't think his absence will hurt the team too much. However, he was a likable guy that I always rooted for and I hope he lands on his feet and is successful somewhere.

For sports fans in the state of Utah it is also worth noting that Utah State (5-1) is at #16 Georgetown (7-0) at 10 a.m. MT on ESPNU. I think it's a game well worth checking out. I've thought the Aggies' basketball schedule has been far too weak in recent years and that scheduling a game like this is a step in the right direction regardless of the outcome.

Utah tops Fresno State

Utah (4-2) defeated Fresno State (1-4) last night by a score of 76-63. Utah led by as many as 24 in the second half. A lot of guys got into the act including Chris Kupets, Josh Watkins, Will Clyburn and Jason Washburn. I liked the balanced scoring from the Runnin' Utes last night. I didn't like how slow of a start they got off to, but they really started the second half strong and took control of the game.

Fresno State looks like a really bad team. They missed many open shots, often by wide margins. I thought Utah's defense was okay, but they still gave up a lot of open looks that the Bulldogs just weren't able to knock down. Hopefully they can ratchet up the defense a little bit more in the future. Utah next plays at Bradley (4-3) on Saturday night at 6 p.m. MT.

Runnin' Utes back in action tonight

After a disappointing home loss to Oral Roberts (2-3), the Utah basketball team (3-2) gets back in action tonight at 7 p.m. MT against Fresno State (1-3). Fresno State is another team the Runnin' Utes should beat, but I said the same thing about Oral Roberts. I think the Utes will take out their frustrations on them and win by at least ten. The game is not on TV but can be heard via kall700sports.com and on AM 700 in the Salt Lake City area. I'll be at the game and you can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/dpaysports for updates. Go Utes!

Utah 17 BYU 16

Pictured: Brandon Burton dives to block Mitch Payne's field goal attempt on the final play of the game and give the Utes a 17-16 win.

#23 Utah (10-2, 7-1 MWC) defeated BYU (6-6, 5-3 MWC) today at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City by a score of 17-16! The game was in question until the final play, when Brandon Burton blocked a Mitch Payne 42-yard field goal attempt to give the Utes the victory! This game had just about everything you could ask for in a college football game. I'm still reveling about the whole thing, it's just awesome to get a win like that against your rival!

I was among the many euphoric Utah fans who stormed the field after the game. When the kick was blocked my friends and I just started shaking each other with happy, amazed and euphoric expressions on our faces. My girlfriend even said "Derek, we're rushing the field!" It didn't take us long to get down there and soak it all up with the team and many, many other fans. What a way to end the regular season.

The special teams were great for the Utes. Not only was there the block to end the game, but also a key recovery of a punt that bounced off a BYU player to help set up Utah with a chance to take the lead. I also thought the Utah defense was just strong enough to get the win. BYU was in position to score a number of touchdowns, but the Utes were able to hold them to four field goal attempts (only three made of course) and a key turnover on downs in the third quarter.

The Cougars led 6-0 at halftime and had moved that lead to 13-0 at the end of the third quarter. Utah kicked a field goal and then recovered a fumble on BYU's next possession. A long touchdown pass on the next play made it 13-10. BYU led 16-10 when the Utes recovered punt return that took a bounce off of a BYU player. Jordan Wynn threw an interception, but the ball was fumbled on the return and recovered by Utah. BYU fans will claim that it wasn't a fumble, but I didn't think it was completely incontrovertible evidence to overrule the call on the field of a fumble. BYU still had their chances to win the game and didn't get the job done. Utah did. And give Utah credit for capitalizing on the fumble recoveries with a long pass that set up a Matt Asiata run to put Utah ahead 17-16.

True freshman quarterback Jake Heaps looked solid for the Cougars pretty much all day and appeared to have led the game-winning drive as BYU moved the ball to the Utah 25 yard line with 4 seconds left to set up a potential game winning field goal. Burton came in with little more than a small touch to get what may just be referred to as "The Block" and give the Utes the victory. What a relief for me. The Utes have been involved in a number of close losses to BYU the last few years and it feels great to come out on top at the end of a close rivalry game.

I thought Utah had blown any chance of winning when they had to use their final timeout to prevent a too many men on the field penalty before BYU's final third down of the game. There still would have been at least 35 seconds left and at least a faint Utah chance to win if BYU had made the field goal. But the lack of timeout allowed the Cougars to run down the clock to four seconds before the fateful kick that was blocked.

Jordan Wynn struggled some, especially in the first half where the Utes did not score, although he didn't look nearly as bad to me as he did in the TCU game (thankfully). I don't blame Coach Kyle Whittingham for trying Terrance Cain at quarterback to try and jump start things. I thought he should have tried that against TCU, frankly. Cain looked terrible, though, and threw two interceptions in the two drives he was in the game. Both gave the Cougars great field position, but fortunately they were only able to get points out of one of their ensuing drives with a Heaps touchdown pass. Wynn didn't play great by any stretch of the imagination, but he was better than Cain and played better in the second half than he did in the first. He made enough throws to put the Utes in position to win.

I think BYU regrets going for it on fourth down when they were in field goal range early in the third quarter and leading 6-0. If you take the points you're ahead 9-0 at that point and then 16-0 after the ensuing touchdown set up by Cain's second interception in as many drives. And by that measure it could have been 19-10 instead of 16-10 late in the game. Of course who knows if the game would have played out differently with a field goal attempt there instead of going for it, but BYU Coach Bronco Mendenhall has to deal with a lot of difficult what-ifs right now. I can't say I feel bad for him at all because I've never really liked the guy and it always makes me happy when he has to suffer a loss.

Again the theme for me is Utah made enough plays to win and that's the bottom line. You can point to the coaching decision mentioned above or the controversial fumble call, but the point is Utah made the plays they had to in order to come out on top. The scoreboard says it all and it read Utah 17 BYU 16 when the game was over. A favorite quote of mine for sports is from former Ohio State football Coach Woody Hayes who said "The best team always wins: everything else is excuses." I cannot write down my feelings better than that.

Runnin' Utes suffer bad home loss

The Utah Runnin' Utes (3-2) lost at home tonight to Oral Roberts (2-3) by a score of 78-70. The Utes trailed 34-18 late in the first half, before going on an 11-0 run bridging the halves to cut the deficit to five. I thought they were going to take over and win, but that's not what happened. Utah actually took the lead at 52-50 with about 11 minutes to go, but couldn't hold it and the Golden Eagles prevailed. It's a bad loss for the Runnin' Utes, just a real bad loss. I could mope about it more right now, but I'm not going to let anything dampen my enthusiasm after a big win in football today that I'm going to discuss here shortly. I'll have more thoughts on the basketball team at a later time because I don't want to bring myself down right now. The Runnin' Utes host Fresno State (1-3) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT.

Utah-BYU

Well the day has arrived. It's BYU (6-5, 5-2 MWC) at #23 Utah (9-2, 6-1 MWC). The game kicks off at 1:30 p.m. MT and can be seen on the Mtn. as well as CBS College Sports. As for me, I'll be there and you can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/dpaysports for updates and so forth during the game. I'll also be back blogging sometime tomorrow night with my thoughts and analysis of the game.

There's nothing quite like Utah vs. BYU. You remember for the next year who won this game. So for my sake I hope that the Utes pull it off so I don't have to be subject to ridicule, teasing and reminders from family and friends for the next year about the result. I think Utah has the better team and should win being at home. I'll pick the Utes by 10. That being said, it's a rivalry game and who knows what will happen. It was big for Utah to pick up that win last week at San Diego State so that they have some form of momentum heading into the big game. BYU looks much improved from earlier this season and I think they will give a competitive effort. I'm looking forward to it and I need some sleep so that I can be ready. Go Utes!

Runnin' Utes lose to Utah State; host Oral Roberts tonight

The Utah Runnin' Utes (3-1) lost at Utah State (3-1) by a score of 79-62 on Wednesday night. Don't be too deceived by the score as that was the Aggies' biggest lead of the night and came when Tai Wesley made a 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to go in the game. The Utes trailed throughout, but stayed within striking distance for most of the game. I was particularly impressed with an early second half run that cut the Aggies' lead to one. This run, however, was short-lived and Utah State was able to push the lead back up. The Utes looked competitive, but I wasn't really surprised that they dropped this game on the road to a good Utah State team. I was encouraged that Utah showed some heart and managed to stay in the game, however.

It was fun to be at The Spectrum in person to see an in-state rivalry like this, even though my team lost. I think it would be a shame if this rivalry were to be discontinued, as is the rumor. I know Utah is moving to the Pac-10, but this rivalry goes way back and I think they should find a way to keep it going. The Spectrum is a very hostile environment to play in, but I had fun being there even so and would love to be at a game there someday when the Utes beat the Aggies. Who knows when I might have that chance again. I think rivalries are good for college basketball and hope the two schools find a way to continue this one.

Utah hosts Oral Roberts (1-3) tonight at 7 p.m. MT at the Huntsman Center. The game will not be televised, but can heard via the internet at kall700sports.com and in Utah on AM 700. The Golden Eagles don't appear to be a very good team and the Utes should handle them. I'd like to see them bounce back from the loss Wednesday with a comfortable win.

Utes win in football and basketball

The Utah Utes (9-2, 6-1 MWC) defeated the San Diego State Aztecs (7-4, 4-3 MWC) in football Saturday night by a score of 38-34. The Utes badly needed this win after getting embarrassed the past two weeks with the eyes of the nation on them. Jordan Wynn played quite a bit better tonight and I'm glad for him. I'll cheer for him when he's in there even though I did think Terrance Cain should have been given more of a look the past two weeks. But anyway, Wynn and the Utes came back to get this win after trailing 20-3 early in the second quarter. Wynn threw a 47-yard touchdown pass on a hail mary to Kendrick Moeai on a tipped ball on the last play of the half to put the Utes in the locker room trailing just 27-24.

San Diego State got a lucky touchdown on a pass that was deflected, caught and run in for a score on a ridiculous play that Utah should never have allowed to happen, but Utah responded with a score. The key play was a blocked punt that Utah recovered inside the five yard line early in the fourth quarter with the Aztecs leading 34-31. Utah was able to score a touchdown on an Eddie Wide run on fourth down that gave them their first lead of the night and also ended up being the final score at 38-34. I would have just kicked the field goal there and taken the tie, but Coach Kyle Whittingham always seems to go for it in those close type of situations and it often works out as it did tonight. And I'm not going to complain about the win.

SDSU quarterback Ryan Lindley threw for over 500 yards, but also threw 3 interceptions on the night, all three in Utah territory (two in the fourth quarter) that ended scoring chances. I credit the Utes with making some adjustments for the second half after looking completely helpless against the pass in the first half. It's never good when the opposing quarterback throws for over 500 yards, but the Utes were able to get some timely interceptions and stiffen up enough on defense in the second half.

This win showed to me that Utah has not given up on their season as they showed a lot of fight when they could have just folded the tent after falling behind by 17 early. I'm glad the offense showed up tonight. This gives me encouragement heading into the big rivalry game against BYU (6-5, 5-2 MWC) next Saturday in Salt Lake City.

As for basketball, the Runnin' Utes (3-0) defeated in-state foe Weber State (1-2) in Salt Lake City by a score of 90-75. Will Clyburn once again led Utah in scoring, pouring in 27 points. There were a lot of guys who got into the scoring act today and I was really encouraged by that. The Utes were playing from ahead the entire game and started both halves on 7-0 runs that just made things that much more comfortable. It just seemed like a good overall team effort today. One thing that I didn't like was that there were so many foul calls on both sides. It just felt like someone was shooting free throws the entire game from one team or the other, just let them play basketball, a little contact is a part of the game. I don't think that Utah would have lost or anything, it's just more fun to watch basketball when the game isn't being officiated too strictly. I usually don't like to say anything about the referees, but I thought they were just very whistle happy today, which is in stark contrast to last year's Utah-Weber State game in Ogden where there wasn't a stoppage of play for at least the first 8 or 9 minutes of the game (which I don't remember having a problem with). Fortunately, most referees don't seem to have this extreme of a problem of being too strict.

A really cool thing happened to me today. Utah forward Jay Watkins made eye contact with me during warm-ups, well before the game tipped off when there weren't very many fans there and then came over and stuck his fist up to the guard rail where I gave him a fist bump. It was really cool. Jay Wat is really cool and he had a pretty good game himself, as did a lot of guys today for the Runnin' Utes who next play at in-state rival Utah State (2-1) on Wednesday night.