Utah-BYU Week Post #4, Reaction/Rant

I pretty well had the game laid out in my prediction, and nearly even got the final score right.  It was a pretty ugly game for both sides.  Utah looked mediocre.  BYU looked mediocre-r.  And yet, it's still so frustrating to see.  I knew exactly how the game would play out, down to the 75-yard pass by Utah at the end of the first half (called it just before the play), to the missed opportunity after the Falslev punt return, to the "holding" penalty that called back a touchdown, to the lack of interference calls on Utah in spite of much contact throughout the game.  [Honestly, how could there have been ZERO interference or ZERO holding calls and ONE post-play penalty on them?  There were plenty of opportunities to call any of those penalties, and they called ONE.]

Going into the game, I expect pretty much all of the these things.  And then, when they all happen, it still drives me batty.  And then Ute fans get so insufferable.  If you were REALLY that much better than BYU as they claim, then why can't they put the Cougars away and why do the stats nearly always skew towards BYU in every regard but the final score?

Like I said, good riddance to a bad game that brings out even worse in people.  Neither team gets much of anything out of the game.  Utah gets a win and a slew of injuries.  BYU loses the game, and with it, more and more of their "loyal, strong, and true" fan base.  Utah should add a cupcake to get the win without the injuries.  BYU should schedule a different (but still decidedly average) team that they can actually have the mental fortitude to beat.

Seriously, BYU had nothing to lose.  They wanted the game.  They've been talking about the game all offseason.  They had a chance to basically ensure that Utah misses a bowl game again, probably ultimately leading to a coaching change there before the 2016 game (even with that, if Kyle misses bowl games 2 of the next 3 seasons, there may be one anyway).  And they score 13 points?  Van Noy must get tired of having to bail the offense out EVERY SINGLE game!  He can't do it every game, guys.  Taysom completes less than 40% of his passes again?  Perhaps part of that is not throwing a single pass to Cody Hoffman in the red zone until the 4th quarter!  The other part is definitely too many deep bombs, though I get that was part of the strategy against Utah, but BYU just does not have the WRs to do that against man defense.

Maybe the 2 years off will be good.  BYU can cycle through the players exhibiting the mental lapses that have been killing them.  BYU will be amped for that game up in Salt Lake as the young guys are told for 3 years that beating Utah is now a top priority for a change.  Utah will once again be arrogant as hell about eking out 4 wins in a row, but probably will not have much else to look forward to as they miss bowl games in 3 out of 4 seasons heading into 2016.  If that happens, I say play the 3 scheduled games and bag it.  When Utah didn't "need" BYU, they bailed, when their fans "need" us again to try to feel good about something, I say Holmoe should tell them where they can shove it!