Listen Here!
It was a pretty good weekend around the Utah Sports Cast, as both BYU and Utah posted big wins. While these victories over questionable opponents had significance in several ways, they also served to brighten the rivalry picture as it draws another week closer. Conference races and bowl berths are nice and all that, but what’s really important is my ability to run a little more smack at Zach without feeling like I’m stretching it too much.
To begin with, Utah scored a much-needed victory over UNLV, bringing their recent two game skid to a merciful end. Granted, it was still only their second victory in the past five games, but it’s somewhere to start, anyway. Quarterback Brett Ratliff was named Co-Offensive Player of the Week for the Mountain West Conference, sharing the title with BYU Quarterback John Beck. Ratliff passed for four touchdowns and ran for one, in what was probably his best game since the Emerald Bowl victory over Georgia Tech. Nearly every aspect of the game looked great, which was to be expected when playing the dog of the league at home. But, it was a well-needed victory going into the bye week, where they can now build on something rather than try to pick themselves up again.
BYU traveled to Colorado Springs and took Air Force to the woodshed, reinforcing their claim to the title of best team in the league. The emergent, vaunted running game was slowed a bit as Curtis Brown had the stomach flu and Fui Vakapuna was still rehabilitating his ankle, but John Beck helped make up the difference. The Senior Quarterback was named Co-Offensive Player of the Week with Utah’s Ratliff, due in part to the MWC’s contract with BYU to present him with as many honors as possible (Ha ha! Just kidding! Sort of!). In all honesty, BYU looked fantastic and heads-and-shoulders above Air Force. The defense in particular played very tough – Bryan Kehl was all over the field and the D-Line controlled the line of scrimmage for the entire game. Add that victory to Wyoming’s loss at TCU, and BYU is in a very secure position atop the conference right now.
The 2002-2006 Baseball Season came to a merciful end this last week, with the St. Louis Cardinals stomping all over the Detroit Tigers, 4 games to one. Apparently this was a pretty significant surprise for baseball fans, as the Tigers (coming out of the allegedly superior American League) were slated to demolish the Cardinals. However, this being baseball (the only sport I can think of where the athletes actually appear to be LESS interested than the fans) anything can happen. Congratulations to St. Louis… You managed to lose 78 games in the last six months (an average of three games a week or so) but are still the champion.
This upcoming week is the beginning of the Utah Jazz’s regular season, and we are both excited about the possibilities this season. We will have a more comprehensive preview in the coming few weeks, but I think I can speak for both of us when I say: get your name on the list for playoff tickets.
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