Utes Lose By 7

I usually wait a few days after Utah loses before posting about the game. This allows me to clear my head and get rid of my anger before spouting off and embarrassing myself. This time, I'm going to allow my anger to flow freely...

Neither team played spectacularly. Utah was down 3-0 going into halftime. Utah had major problems stopping Harvey Unga. They always seems to struggle with backs like him. He also dropped a couple balls in the second half that should have been easy catches. In short, Utah was extremely lucky to not be down by 3 touchdowns early in the game. Brian Johnson struggled against the other teams defense. He had a hard time reading the defense and making plays. When he finally began making plays with his legs, the Utes were able to convert on a few key third downs.

The worst part about games like this (including last years game in this generalization) is that you (i.e. Ute fans) think that they've got the game in the bag. This incredible thrill followed a couple minutes later by the realization that your defense choked and the game is actually lost has got to be dangerous on your heart.

Much of the talk after the game centered on two late calls made against the Utes by the officials. While these hurt, the game-winning play was converting on 4th and 18 inside your own 15-yard line on a 49 yard pass play. Why Utah's defense let Austin Collie past them at such a crucial time will never be answered. That should simply never happen.

I will not blame the officials for this loss (I blame the aforementioned play) but I think that "questionable", "iffy" or "game-changing" calls should be made with great care at the end of the game. I thought the officiating wasn't too bad until the last minute. Here's a closer look at the calls in question (you've got to look closely to see my written commentary):


I don't think that Utah would have won even if the officials hadn't made the calls shown above (or lack thereof). However, how can the Utes ever win when the officials are even allowing the other team to run the infamous, yet exclusive, 3-point conversion play?

The Utes were dominated in this game and certainly didn't deserve the win. The fact that they were as close as they were speaks volumes. As Austin Collie said after the game, when you're doing what's right, "The Lord steps in and makes good things happen". I'm not sure how I feel about the Lord meddling in football games, but I'll leave that for another post.

Poinsettia Bowl here we come!

Talking Smack

I'm usually not much of a smack-talker (I can hear the yeah-rights coming from every corner), but today I came across a humorous blog post that all of you BYU fans will probably enjoy. I actually thought that the post was quite clever and everything that I planned on posting here on my blog, I ended up posting in the comments. Without further ado, I present Welcome To My Soapbox's take on Talking Smack (Be sure and read my rebuttal comment, that's where the good information is found...). I love commenting on random blogs. When I grow up I want to be creepy.

At least we know where Ada's heart lies:

Gratitude

I'm thankful for you, my dear readers.

Save the World

Take that Paris.

The Art of the Flop

I took Ada to the second half of the Utes home basketball game yesterday. It was simply awful. The team had no consistency, toughness or heart during the game and they ended up losing by 15 point to Santa Clara. Somethings got to change if they want a winning record at the end of the year.

And now, you decide 2007: Who's a better flopper, Baron Davis or Robert Horry?


Why does it always have to happen against the Jazz?

Not Elementary?

I'm trying to be accessible to all education levels. Looks like I've got to dumb this thing down a bit.

Utah 28, New Mexico 10

Utah needed a bit of help to get by New Mexico on Saturday. Lucky for them, New Mexico began turning the ball over when the Utes needed it most. For the last few years, Utah has struggled against New Mexico's brand of the 3-3-5 defense. New Mexico has always scouted the Utes really well also. The Lobos have consistently played poorly against the Utes in the first half only to come out in the second half and give the Utes a scare (Last year the Lobos erased a large lead by the Utes by throwing short crossing routes the whole second half).

Utah's defense was fantastic. They were lucky that a 50 yard play (the first play of the game) was called back. After that, it took the Lobos a while to get any points. Going into half-time, Utah had gone 12 quarters without letting anybody into the end zone. They had also gone 8 quarters of shutout football. That's some pretty tough defense. New Mexico struggled returning Utah's punts (muffing 2 of them, turning the ball over to Utah). Utah was able to capitalize on these mistakes and put points on the board. Out of the last 6 or 7 games, this was Utah's sloppiest and they should feel pretty lucky to be coming away with a win.

Looking ahead, Utah's got a tough game this week. While BYU has been winning their games during the last month and a half, they didn't look pretty doing it (much like the Utes looked today). Instead, BYU played their best complete game of the year against Wyoming and has to feel pretty good about themselves going into Saturday's match up. This game could easily go either way (home-field advantage means nothing) and your wasting your money if you're betting on either team.

State Championship Football

As you may recall, Layton High played in the State 5A Championship Football game this last weekend. The game was played at the nicest stadium in the state (not the largest) and there was a huge crowd (almost 20,000 people) on hand. While they weren't able to move the ball with any consistency (credit Alta's speedy defense for that one), they did have one highlight which I will share with you here:



While the Lancers gave it a "nice try", props to them for making it as far as they did this year!

An Example to Us All...

Now even Paris Hilton is in on the game. Everybody has a cause they're pulling for and I think that Paris' is the best. She's highlighting the plight of drunk elephants in India. Sometimes I wonder why I'm doing what I'm doing, when it's obvious that my help is needed elsewhere in the world. I think that I could really make a difference with those elephants.

Hilton Tries to Help Drunk Elephants (from MSNBC.com)

Monday Photo - Cool Whip

I love Cool Whip and all the fun things that you can do with it... (Click on the picture to enlarge it).

** This photo was taken from Wired Magazine - one of my favorites.