OPINION: The view from schools down south
The Utah Statesman solicited the opinions of sports editors from The Daily Utah Chronicle and The BYU Universe to present opposing takes on the Holy War
Jake Bullinger, What ‘U’ don’t know:
I’m far from a jaded sportswriter, but I’ve been watching college football my entire life. I’ve seen some wild plays, some crazy finishes and things that left me scratching my head. But after Saturday’s Utah-BYU game, there was just one thing I could say:
What the hell just happened?
Football games aren’t supposed to happen like the one that took place on Saturday. If you take away the final quarter – scratch that, the final minute – the game was just plain awful. BYU had only 312 yards of offense and Utah posted just 245. Neither team could run the ball – there were a total of 155 rushing yards. BYU certainly didn’t look like a Top-25 team and Utah sure didn’t look like a contender in the Pac-12 South.
The game was long and boring. But after the last possession, does that even matter?
Just wrap your mind around the last few plays. It’s BYU’s ball, fourth-and-12 on their own 19, score is 24-21 Utah, game should be over. Then Riley Nelson hits Cody Hoffman for a 47-yard gain.
This is where things get interesting.
Two plays later, Nelson throws an incomplete pass. Game clock reads zeroes, the fans rush the field. But Nelson had spiked the ball on the previous play, yet the clock started before he snapped the ball. So in reality, there was one second left on the clock.
So the fans are backed up on the sideline. Everyone has a front-row seat and they’re excited. Justin Sorensen trots out to try a 51-yarder for the Cougars. It gets blocked.
This is where things get really interesting.
Utah’s student section – the 12th man, the MUSS, the “greatest fans in the world,” as every player calls them – storms the field again, as any self-respecting student section would do in this instance. There’s just one problem – the fans are too close to the field to begin with, so they rush the field before the game is actually over. Thus, Utah’s amazing fans really do act as a 12th man – they are penalized.
Now BYU is 15 yards closer and will try another field goal. Riley Stephenson comes out and you just know he’s going to drill this field goal. But remember, this is a game in which nothing makes sense, including BYU sending out a new kicker. Stephenson’s kick bounces off the left upright.
Utah, despite the best efforts of their fans, despite a terrible offense, wins.
What the hell just happened?
One could wax poetic about the Holy War, saying the game was bound to end this way. One could cite the law of averages – the first 59 minutes were terrible, so the last minute had to be one that will be remembered forever.
Whatever your logic, that last statement rings true. This ending will be remembered forever. It was a four-hour game filled with 22 penalties and not enough offense – ESPN2’s ratings surely plummeted – yet it will go down as one of the best endings to a football game ever.
Utah is fortunate to have come out on top. It’
s hard to say it played better than BYU in any measurable area. But on some nights, that doesn’t matter. All that counts is that the final field goal bounces off the upright and your fans are able to correctly celebrate the third time around.
– Jake Bullinger is the sports and outdoors editor at The Daily Utah Chronicle at the University of Utah. He is a senior in mass communication and spends his time hiking, skiing and watching sports. Send any comments to j.bullinger@chronicle.utah.edu.
Daniel Lewis, Words from the ‘Y’se
Burton’s Block. The Heap’s mistake. What will this game be referred to by BYU students? The Boink Game?
In a boring, mistake-filled game that dragged on until the midnight hour, BYU managed to lose not once, not twice, but three times Saturday evening against the school up North when Riley Stephenson pushed a 36-yard field goal into the left upright – “boink” – and the MUSS was finally able to rush the field to celebrate the win.
Opinions on campus have been subdued. The talk on campus prior to Saturday was one of confidence – Utah had just lost to Utah State in a thrilling game, BYU was rolling over teams like Washington State and Weber State and Utah would be without starting quarterback Jordan Wynn, running back John White, as well as safety Eric Rowe. This was a game that BYU should have won, right?
Wrong. We missed the warning signs from the first two games – excessive penalties, inability to throw downfield, an inexperienced offensive line and a not-yet-healthy kicking unit.
All those things were exposed by former BYU linebacker and current Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. The offensive line jumped offside seven times, Utah blocked two field goals and our longest pass completion came on a play that Riley Nelson described as, “Something we drew up in the sand.”
Utah wasn’t much better. Their longest drive of the game ended in a blocked field goal attempt. An awful snap on a punt attempt gave BYU a short field that led to an easy touchdown. A personal foul in the end zone wiped out a safety and the Utes committed four more personal fouls for 75 yards in penalty yards. While the defense forced five fumbles, they only recovered one. Finally, the whole mess with the Mighty Utah Student Section rushing the field.
Instead of talking about how we were finally able to overcome our inability to beat Utah, BYU is left talking about how “classless” the Utah fans were for rushing the field early or trash talking members of the BYU football team. What would they expect? BYU fans rushed the field when we beat Utah State last season and the Aggies were 1-3 that season. No offense, but if any school beats a team that is 1-3, the fans should just go home and celebrate instead of taking the field like they had just won the national championship.
Is it disappointing to lose to Utah? Absolutely. Is it anything to lose sleep over? Not really. BYU wasn’t really a National Championship contender, and as an independent, we can’t look forward to a conference championship. As long as BYU becomes bowl-eligible, they’ll receive an invite to the Poinsettia Bowl, take their sponsorship money and come back next year to try again.
I would feel different if BYU had won, but this game does serve as a reminder of all the good about sports. It’s great to still feel drowsy after arriving home early in the morning after the game. It’s great to see two teams who have a legitimate rivalry face of against each other. I’m excited for the careers of Jamaal Williams and Taysom Hill. I want to see if Kyle Van Noy makes it to the NFL and how he performs on the biggest stage in football.
Finally, I’m excited for Oct. 5, when BYU will host Utah State in a battle for the Beehive Boot. Hopefully BYU students stay off of the field after we win.
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– Daniel Lewis is a sports editor at the BYU Universe. He is a senior studying multimedia journalism. He calls Littleton, Colo., home, and enjoys riding his bicycle. Send any comments to lewis.byu@gmail.com.