Episode 14 – BYU’s dramatic last second win against Utah, the Jazz keep winning

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Well, I can’t pretend to be overly happy about the outcome of the Holy War, but I think it was one of the most exciting games I have watched in a very long time. Certainly the most thrilling game of the season for either team, I believe. To begin with, I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to BYU for their nail-biting win. I am a genuine fan of both programs (although I do side with Utah when the teams play), so I won’t pretend to do a post-game Cougar bandwagon jump, but it was a nice win for the program and there were a lot of exorcised demons left on the battlefield of Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The play of the game, of course, was John Beck’s scrambling, out-of-time heave across the field and into the end zone, where Johnny Harline was waiting to do a double-knee, rock-and-roll guitarist victory slide. It was one of those plays where all the coaching and practice go out the window and it comes down to improvisation and playmaking. I was very impressed, to say the least, and that came even as I was having my still-beating heart ripped out of my chest. John Beck was 28 for 43 for 375 yards and 4 touchdowns, and was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week for his contribution.

The Cougars now have the Las Vegas Bowl and a still-unknown opponent to prepare for. In a season like this it really is a tragedy there isn’t some sort of fair system in place for the college football postseason. I don’t think BYU would have a shot at winning a championship, but whey shouldn’t they have a shot at playing for one? This is one of those subjects we go on and on about here at the Utah Sports Cast, so I won’t belabor it now (I will probably do sometime later, however). In that vein, however, Zach has come up with a pretty stupendous playoff bracket that would benefit just about everyone – not that it does any good, but it made him feel better about things.

Next year for the Cougars might be a bit more challenging in certain aspects, as they are losing quite a few key, significant players on both sides of the ball. When the heart-and-soul of both your offense (John Beck) and your defense (Cameron Jensen) are leaving, and lots of the predominant supporting cast is going with them, you will have some work to do. BYU certainly has some talent in their depth chart, although with a completely unproven, untested quarterback the offense might be interesting next year. I suspect the offense will probably be a bit like the Utah team from this year: flashes of brilliance and a few regrettable, forgettable games.

I think there were some encouraging things for Utah’s program that could be taken from the game. A close loss, particularly when the team had a very real shot at winning, will never sit well. However, Utah played the best team in the conference to a virtual draw, and in some cases even outplayed the Cougars. Without question (in my mind, anyway) the Utah football team deserved to be on the same field, in the same breath as the conference champs. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a bunch of questions left, such as: where was this all season? There were flashes of this sort of great offense/powerful defense team at times in the year (against TCU, for example), but a team playing with the same potency of last Saturday probably doesn’t lose to New Mexico, and certainly puts up a better fight against Wyoming. Even the UCLA and Boise State games would have been more palatable, if not potential victories.

Utah now has a presumed bowl game to look forward to (my current guess is the Poinsettia Bowl) but until the invitation comes through that’s not a sure thing. In addition, they can start gearing up for next year, which should be a bit better than this year, if anything. Utah had a pretty young team this year, which could explain some of the inconsistency, and they will have some experience back at some key positions. Significant losses in the defensive backfield (Eric Weddle, Eric Shyne, Casey Evans) and on the defensive line (Paul Soliai, Kelly Talavou, Soli Lefiti) will be difficult to fill, but the 2007 Utah team has some great prospects.

I would also like to give a little well-deserved love to the most vilified player on the team: Brett Ratliff. He is 9-5 as a starter and did everything he could to win the game against BYU (his numbers were eerily similar to Beck’s: 25 of 41 for 376 yards and 4 touchdowns). Yes, he has played a significant role in some of the losses, but he has also played some great football during the past 14 games. Utah should have some decent options to step into his shoes (Brian Johnson, Tommy Grady), and with very few outgoing seniors on offense, it could make next year’s team very interesting, indeed.

Finally, the Jazz have continued to roll, and improved their overall record to 12-3. They finally dropped the second game of a back-to-back series last Saturday (every Friday and Saturday in November have been game days for the Jazz) and to be honest, they didn’t look very good in doing it. It was just one of those weird, flukey games that all teams have from time to time. Don Nelson did what he does best and called an unusual, unexpected defense (which should have been illegal many times over) the Jazz were not prepared for, and they finally showed how young they are.

It didn't help things when the Jazz couldn't get a whistle inside to save their lives, but that’s a typical evening full of horrible NBA officiating. Incidentally, I am not blaming this loss (or any other) on officials, because they absolutely, completely suck on both sides of the ball. Sometimes the suckiness benefits your team, and other times the suckiness goes against them; but all teams in the league have to learn to work around the ridiculous, egotistical officials. Here’s a question for a thoughtful reader: would the NBA be just as good and probably have fewer player vs. player confrontations if they played pick-up basketball rules and called their own fouls? I say yes.

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posted by Nate and Zach @ 10:04 AM