The BYU-Utah Rivalry Game + Jimmertime
Remember when I used to post about Mormon theology a lot? No I can’t remember that far back either…
Anyway, this Saturday the BYU Cougars football team will head up I-15 to play the Utah Utes in the annual rivalry game. In recent years fans on both sides of this rivalry have gotten pretty nasty. Hopefully the meanness will recede over the next few years with the teams leaving the Mountain West Conference to go their separate ways. But this year should be pretty intense still. BYU has rebounded from an atrocious first half of the season and has won four in a row in convincing fashion to become bowl eligible again. More importantly, the BYU offense and defense both appear to have found their stride (even if it was against weak teams). Utah is trying to steady the (pirate?) ship again after rising all the way to #5 in the country and then being beaten soundly two weeks in a row. But the Utes did manage to hang on against a solid SDSU team this weekend so perhaps the Utes are back.
The real surprise is that BYU has a legitimate chance in the rivalry game this season. Five weeks ago it looked like BYU was going to be terrible all year and that Utah was practically a juggernaut. Utah will still be favored this weekend but as “Holy Wars” go this one looks more evenly matched than anyone would have thought a few weeks ago.
Jimmertime
In the meantime the NCAA basketball season has begun. BYU is led this season by its first preseason AP All-American player since Danny Ainge in senior point guard Jimmer Fredette. The Cougs are currently 3-0 and ranked in the top 25. It is hard to tell how good this BYU team will be but I think they have a decent chance of being even better than the BYU team last year that won 30 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The biggest win of the season so far was a victory over a solid Utah State squad last Wednesday. BYU didn’t look great but a win over a good team is always a good thing. I expect to see BYU hoops in the top 20 soon.
Anyhow, sound off about the football season or hoops season in the comments. Oh, and Go Cougs!
As the only mormon (at least non-drinking mormon) Utah fan at the tailgating lot, please do everyone a favor BYU fans and not walk through or near the tailgating lot. I know there are many who will anyways so they can try and justify their smug, moralisticaly intolerant, superiority complex, but for all others I thank you for not provoking the inebriated.
I look forward (with worry) to what is now looking like a good game.
Go Utes!!!
(Silent prayer: please let Brandon Burton’s lack of talent go unnoticed by the BYU’s scouting team.)
Comment by Riley — November 21, 2010 @ 10:01 pm
Brandon’s ok, he’s just too small to play that position. He did get a pick this weekend, so lay off.
I’m glad BYU fans think they’ve got a chance. Most rivalry games are pretty close, so I expect a close one, but the Utes will prevail.
Comment by Don Johnson — November 21, 2010 @ 10:27 pm
I hear they Utes are favored by 10 early on. It will take some real doing for BYU to pull off an upset but it is certainly not impossible.
Comment by Geoff J — November 21, 2010 @ 10:33 pm
No, don’t kid yourself, it is impossible.
Comment by Don Johnson — November 21, 2010 @ 11:11 pm
Actually, it’s beyond impossible. It’s possimpible.
Comment by Don Johnson — November 21, 2010 @ 11:16 pm
Yes well let’s hope that the Utes have that sort of bravado too and come as prepared for this game as they were for TCU and Notre Dame.
Comment by Geoff J — November 21, 2010 @ 11:21 pm
SI is high on Jackson Emery.
And Fredette has received the DC Comics treatment:
http://www.ksl.com/emedia/slc/2488/248851/24885193.jpg
http://thebiglead.fantasysportsven.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/jimmer-fredette-cartoon.jpg
Comment by Justin — November 22, 2010 @ 8:12 am
Yeah that was pretty cool huh Justin? The good news for the superstitious among us is that while it looks like an SI cover it was really a special section inside the magazine so the famous SI Curse does not apply. So far so good.
Comment by Geoff J — November 22, 2010 @ 8:52 am
I think it will be close. November has been a crappy month, I could use a Ute win.
Comment by Chris H. — November 22, 2010 @ 3:54 pm
Now I just need to find a way to get invited over for the game.
Comment by Chris H. — November 22, 2010 @ 3:55 pm
BYU has finally been connecting but let’s be honest – it hasn’t been playing terribly good teams. I’m really curious as to how BYU does against Utah. I’m not sure the comparisons to TCU fit. (Although at least I have hope for next season while last month I thought next year might not be better than this year) I still suspect Utah will win, but as you say we have a strong chance of winning. There have been years where I didn’t think Utah stood a chance and yet they won. This is not your typical game and I think we really could take it!
Comment by Clark — November 23, 2010 @ 9:37 pm
Wow. Egregiously bad officiating. All that said, BYU lost this with their turnovers. They’d been pretty lucky all things considered up to that blocked kick.
Comment by Clark — November 27, 2010 @ 6:21 pm
Wow, quite the game, all in all.
Comment by Stephen M (Ethesis) — November 27, 2010 @ 7:43 pm
Bradley’s knee was clearly down.
But to use a Broncoism, Utah made one more play than BYU in the end.
On a happier note: Jimmer is a stone cold hoops killer. With BYU down to St. Mary’s by one point and about 20 seconds left on the court Jimmer dribble down to drilled a three-pointer with a man in his grill. Dude is as good as advertised. BYU hoops remains undefeated and won the South Padre Island Invitational with the win tonight.
Comment by Geoff J — November 27, 2010 @ 8:28 pm
One thing’s for sure, Brandon Burton redeemed himself. No one should bad-mouth his talent again.
As far as Bradley’s knee, I watched the same replays Todd Christensen did and I saw no ball in Bradley’s hands when his knee was down. You just couldn’t see it there. That means either he didn’t have it at that time or the camera was obstructed. Either way, the play stands as called on the field, which was fumble.
Comment by Don Johnson — November 29, 2010 @ 2:36 pm
BTW, what’s with Todd Christensen and the draw play? He kept saying that they should run the draw play, then BYU scored their touchdown and he still questioned the play call. Weird.
Comment by Don Johnson — November 29, 2010 @ 2:41 pm
Yeah TC is kinda hard to listen to. Bates is good though.
I’m going on record and predicting Jake Heaps will never lose the Utah again. Bookmark it folks.
Comment by Geoff J — November 29, 2010 @ 3:15 pm
So what you’re saying is that he’s going to get cut from the team? Or are you predicting an injury? Come on, he’s a pretty good little player, give the guy a chance!
Comment by Don Johnson — December 2, 2010 @ 10:48 am
Huh?
Comment by Geoff J — December 2, 2010 @ 11:32 am
Ah, allow me to translate because I’m intellectually impaired: If you’re predicting that Heaps will never lose to Utah again, you must be predicting he will be cut from the BYU football team or get injured in some fashion. So which is it?
Comment by Don Johnson — December 2, 2010 @ 6:04 pm
Oh gotcha.
(And no need to be so hard on yourself Don (says the guy with editing power))
Comment by Geoff J — December 2, 2010 @ 6:20 pm
Just because Burton can block a field goal doesn’t mean he is so talented in defending the pass that he gets a free pass as well (no pun intended). If he allows the yards he has thus far then I feel fine commenting on it during a game analysis.
And I think Geoff is on to something when it comes to Heaps. I think he’ll be a sore spot for the Utes for sure. Not sure if I’d go as far that he’ll never lose to the Utes.
Comment by Riley — December 2, 2010 @ 8:30 pm
Go back and look at the game stats. Burton did much more than just block a field goal. If you don’t think he was a major factor for the Utes in that game, you just weren’t paying attention.
Whether Heaps loses to the Utes or not in the future depends on thousands of variables, many of which have nothing to do with Heaps. He’s a very good player. Leave it at that.
Comment by Don Johnson — December 3, 2010 @ 11:04 am
You mean Burton’s stats against a high octane passing team lead by a freshman quarterback and lightning fast white receivers? Yeah your probably right, I probably wasn’t paying very close attention.
Look, I will cheer for my Utes but I’m not going to be blindingly apologetic and not call a spade a spade out of some sense of loyalty.
Comment by Riley — December 3, 2010 @ 10:54 pm
Burton did well considering, but against the teams with real talent he is exposed that’s all I’m saying.
Comment by Riley — December 3, 2010 @ 10:58 pm
Hmm, still no post about the bowl game. They did well.
Comment by Stephen M (Ethesis) — December 23, 2010 @ 9:14 pm
Here is a nice article about BYU’s victory over UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl. I can’t say I have ever heard of the New Mexico Bowl, but I am glad BYU has its act together again.
Comment by Mark D. — December 24, 2010 @ 5:51 am