A lot of fans say this, players will hold up one finger after scoring, but most of the time it is not really true. Utah's win makes this a legitimate claim. Okay before I get too much into this I need to discuss the whole power conferences thing. Utah is in the Mountain West Conference which is considered to be a mid major(yea I absolutely hate the term) conference. Which means as the title implies, it is not considered a top conference. There are six conferences that are considered the top conferences and they are called BCS conferences. Meaning Bowl Championship Series Conferences. They are considered the better conferences and hold a monopoly on being allowed to play in the BCS bowl games, which pay out a lot of money and crown an eventual national champ.
The first major problem is the word considered. Notice my use of it in the above paragraph. What this means is it is someone's opinion. The national sports media, especially espn spews this garbage forth on all of us and tells us that the SEC or Big 12 are better than the rest. Granted they might be right, but they also might be wrong. The great thing about sports is opinions are meaningless, you are allowed to show it on the field. Can you imagine voting to see which team should be in the Superbowl? Not letting the teams play each other and determine on the field who should be in the game. It sounds and is preposterous. And that is the BCS. Preposterous.
Utah has gone undefeated for the second time in five years. But really all that matters is this year. They won on the road in Michigan, beat a very good Oregon State team, an even better TCU team, their rivals BYU, and every other team on their schedule. They were allowed to play in a the Sugar Bowl and beat up a seemingly better opponent in Alabama. No offense to Alabama, but they were only the third best team Utah played. TCU was first and OSU was second. But Alabama is from the SEC, a supposed better conference, was ranked No 1 for five weeks, and would have played in the national championship game, if they had beaten Florida. Everyone thought Alabama was a far superior team. Therein lies the problem, 'thought'.
Now let's get to the game. Wow! It couldn't have started better. Three touchdowns in the 1st quarter putting Alabama on their heels. They never knew what hit them. Brian Johnson has matured this year into one of the all time greats. He carved them apart. The receivers; Brown, Godfrey, Reed, and Brooks made play after play. The offensive line gave Johnson time to throw. But perhaps most impressive was the defense. Wow! They sacked John Parker Booty or Wilson or whatever, a season high 8 times. They dominated the line of scrimmage, they held the running game to a season low, they had 2 interceptions, 1 fumble, 3 dropped interceptions, and owned the game. Anyone watching saw who the better team, the more athletic, the better coached team was; UTAH!
Here are my thoughts:
Utah never allowed a sustained drive. One touchdown was a punt return, the other a short field after a fumble.
Stevenson Sylvester was a dominating force at linebacker, 7 tackles, 3 sacks, fumble recovery, knocked the running back out for a while. His best game ever.
David Reed's play was the killer of the game. Bama had just scored and Utah hadn't looked the same since the first quarter, but this third down td run put the dagger in the heart.
I don't know what it is with the middle name guys. John Parker Wilson. When do you go by just John. I mean really I guess its cute when you are little but if you want anyone to give you respect you need to drop the childish middle name mantra. "John Parker, John Parker, where are you?" Sounds ridiculous, if you want respect then drop it.
Nick Saban complaining that he couldn't figure out why his team wasn't ready only needs to look in the mirror. When you disparage your opponent you are telling your team not to think highly of them. He only needs to look in the mirror to see why his team was unprepared. He also ought to give his coach of the year award to Kyle.
Glad we locked up Kyle long term before the game. He has really become a great coach.
Only two starters on the Defense are departing, that means the D will be back next year to terrorize opponents.
Brian Johnson struggled at the start of the season. We were all worried. The line wasn't as good, he wasn't as comfortable, he may have been hurt. After the OSU game he really came into his own and delivered when it mattered. I always have liked him, now I think his name has to be mentioned as one of the all time greats.
Utah's D is truly one of the best in the nation and maybe the best the history of the school.
Finally Utah gave creedence to the notion of a playoff. They not only won for themselves, but for every school out there not 'considered' worthy of the BCS.
That's why they play the game.
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