The Reality Of Utah
By Mitch Harper
Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune
Last year’s game against Utah was one of the darkest days of my life. I will never forget that feeling. For the past year, I have had reoccurring nightmares of that game. The interesting thing is I actually went into that game predicting a loss to the Utes (see my column from last year). What I wasn’t expecting was the way we lost that game. I have no problem in saying that the loss BYU experienced against the Utes on September 17th 2011, was without a doubt, THE worst loss in BYU Football program history. I had never felt more humiliated and disgusted. I was delusional that night. It didn’t feel like real life. I refused to leave that game early. As the game ended, I sat in my seat in the south end zone and watched Utah players and fans celebrate and taunt us. I sat and watched the Ute fans proceed to make their way to the “U” of the “BYU” seats in the east stands and watch it slowly fill to the color red.
I sat in my seat for nearly an hour after the game, just staring into space. It wasn’t that I wanted to be there, it was just impossible for me to get up and move. I felt like I had no life. Finally, I was awoken from my trance by the stadium clean-up crew who were attempting to sweep around my feet. I slowly got up and began the walk of shame out of the stadium. Before I left, I walked around the inner concourse of LaVell Edwards Stadium and looked up at the banners which highlighted historic moments in BYU football. “Are the glory days of BYU football over?” I asked myself.
Now before you start feeling sorry for me, please understand that after losing to Utah by 44 points on your home field would make any passionate BYU fan question the meaning of life. Remember, this was only 9 months after the haunting image of Brandon Burton blocking Mitch Payne’s game-winning field goal attempt amidst the pirate flags and red madness at Rice-Eccles Stadium in 2010. All year long, BYU fans had been waiting for this sweet revenge. Are you beginning to comprehend my pain?
As is the case every Holy War, Turnovers will be huge in determining who comes out on top.
Of course there will be those critics that will say “C’mon man, wake up! There are more important things in life than football!” Those critics are soon overshadowed by the true, elite BYU fans that will read this and know exactly how I feel. BYU football is life. Beating Utah means everything as a BYU football fan. If you are a BYU football fan, and you disagree, then you have lost your credibility with me.
Why am I sharing this sad story? People often use trials and setbacks as motivation. A reason I sat in my seat throughout that entire gut-wrenching game was so that I could remember that pain. I want to remember how I felt that night and use it as motivation. The only hope I have is that the BYU football players are doing the same thing. Just how truly motivated is our team in beating Utah this year?
If I were Bronco Mendenhall or any player on the football team, I would have circled and highlighted Utah on my 2012 schedule as soon as it was released. I would have posted newspaper articles of that game to the walls of the workout facilities. I would re-watch that game every night before I went to sleep. I would associate the University of Utah with these certain numbers: “54-10”. I know there are people who will say “No man! Just forget about that game and move on! Put it in the past!” To those I people, I say, “Nay”.
Do NOT forget about that game! Do not forget that pain! Use that pain as motivation. Make a promise to each other as a football team and to us as loyal fans that you will sacrifice everything you have in the mental and physical preparation that it takes to defeat Utah. When you reflect on the gut-wrenching pain of the past two years of losing to Utah, it will only make it more motivating to not let it ever happen again.
As BYU prepares to play Utah this weekend, here are some things that everyone should carefully recognize and prepare for if we want to feel confident about a victory. Here is the reality of Utah:
Atmosphere.
Okay BYU fans, stop trying to deny the fact that Rice-Eccles Stadium isn’t a difficult place to play. This venue will be very scary on Saturday night. Remember that this will be played at night on ESPN2. The bright green turf and solid red end zones will be illuminated under the stadium lights. It will be packed to capacity with a bright red madness. It will be loud, mean, and nasty. There will be pirate flags, beer, and cannons. The “Pride of Utah” marching band will be playing their repetitive “Utah Man” fight song after what may seem like every dang play. I have terrifying visions of Utah making a big play and hearing the disturbing roar of Utah fans erupting in a taunting pandemonium (you know that sound I’m talking about? That scratchy-throat yell like someone is trying to cough up cigarette smoke. Why does almost every Utah fan sound like that? That “AHH! Go Utes! BYU sucks!”—kind of a yell?). If you close your eyes and imagine it, you can almost hear the sound right now as you read this.
Mentality.
When Utah plays BYU, they turn into (what I’d like to call) a “Super-Human” team. This is their Super Bowl. They get up for this game. As much as I hate to admit, the Utes consistently have a mental edge when they play the team down south. On the other hand, they are mentally the most inconsistent team in college football. How is it possible that Utah can play so poorly and lose to less-than-mediocre teams every year but play the game of their life against BYU? Why do Utah quarterbacks play like Joe Montana only when they play BYU? I don’t care how bad we think Jon Hays is, he will probably set his career records against the Cougars. After getting upset by Utah State up in Logan last week, you have to imagine that Utah will be going after our throats. They will be angry, fierce, hungry, bloodthirsty, and mentally prepared. If BYU assumes that they can waltz into Rice-Eccles Stadium and go through the motions, they will LOSE! Period! I have learned that the key to overcoming intimidation is to match it. If BYU goes in prepared to show just as much intensity and desire to win as Utah does, they will have a better chance at winning.
Speed.
Here are a few names that BYU should be preparing for this week: Reggie Dunn (4.28 seconds in the 40 yard dash), John White (4.38), Dres Anderson (4.4), Kenneth Scott (4.5), Devonte Christopher (4.5), Travis Wilson (4.47)… am I missing anyone else? It doesn’t really matter. The bottom line is that Utah has speed. They are fast on both sides of the ball and you will see the evidence of that on Saturday. I think BYU has the talent on defense to contain this type of speed, but let me tell you, all it takes is one split-second of mental relaxation, and you will see Reggie Dunn’s shiny Under Armour cleats dancing down the bright green turf sidelines into the end zone [queue Utah Man fight song and the waving of pirate flags]. We saw it happen last year, and it could very well happen again. Why not? Both teams are basically returning the same personnel on both offense and defense. This should be a very evenly matched game but unfortunately, Utah has the edge when it comes to having guys with wheels. Speed kills.
Turnovers.
Do I really need to go into this? We all remember Max Hall’s 6 turnovers in 2008. We all remember the 4 turnovers in 2010, including the 3 infamous fumbles. Our minds are still fresh from Jake Heaps and the Cougars gift-wrapping the Utes 34 points off of 7 turnovers last year. The lesson we have learned? Utah LOVES turnovers, and it seems like the ball is always bouncing their way. Whether it is a stripped ball, a deflected interception, a blind-side fumble-causing sack, Utah will thrive off of it. I can’t begin to stress how important it is for Bronco Mendenhall and the BYU Football team to realize this. It will take the most extreme focus and discipline to simply hold on to the freakin’ football. If BYU gets turnover happy on Saturday night, that could be your ballgame.
Luck.
After a surprising loss to Utah State, Utah is expected to be an underdog versus BYU. Don’t expect the same performance from Utah against the state’s premier football program.
I know this is a sensitive subject, and I can already hear the disputes of people trying to debate that there is no such thing as luck and that no team is “destined” to luck. I would respond by saying that obviously you have not watched many games between Utah and BYU in the past. Sure, BYU has had some lucky breaks against the Utes too (1998 off the upright, 2000 4th & 13, 2006 Beck to Harline, 2007 4th & 18, just to name a few), but I would respond by saying that Utah was lucky to even be in those games. If you go back and watch those games from the beginning, they really shouldn’t have even been a contest. I’m going to go out on a limb here: Utah is a very lucky team. How is this possible? I have never seen more bumbling, fumbling, bouncing, flopping footballs magically ricochet into the arms of Utah players like they have some type of magnet attached to their hands. It doesn’t just happen against BYU; it’s just part of the package deal that comes with Utah football. I have visions of this happening on Saturday. The tragic thing is that there is nothing you can do to prevent it. It just happens. If you have watched the last 3 losses to the Utes, you have to prepare yourself for something like this.
I saw a recent poll on cougarfan.com asking fans what their prediction was for the outcome of the BYU/Utah game. I wasn’t surprised when I saw that currently over 90% of BYU fans predict that the Cougars will win, and that 62% of those fans believe that BYU will win by more than two touchdowns. After seeing the way Utah played against the Aggies of Utah State last Friday in Logan, picking BYU to beat Utah this week may seem like the safe bet, right?
Wrong. I would never in my life bet against Utah when they play BYU. The poor performance that Utah displayed against Utah State on Friday night means absolutely nothing to me. Do not be tempted by the thought that this game will be any easier based off of what we saw in Logan. I can guarantee you all that the red-colored team we saw play the Aggies last weekend will be a different red-colored team that we will see play the Cougars this weekend.
The majority of BYU football fans always seem very confident about beating Utah. Don’t get me wrong, confidence is a great thing. We should always have a certain level of confidence in everything we do. Confidence should come from focused preparation, motivation, and discipline. We want our BYU football team to be confident as they prepare to face Utah this Saturday. However, there is a drastic difference between confidence and “over-confidence”. Over-confidence is often demonstrated by lack of preparation, laziness, arrogance, and little focus. At times, over-confident players feel that they can just show up and win the game. I want BYU to be confident that they can beat Utah on Saturday. The biggest tragedy we could experience is if the Cougars show up over-confident and treat the Utes like every other team on our schedule. BYU must get up for this game.
Believe it or not, I am confident that BYU can beat the University of Pac12 on Saturday night. However, I am not “over-confident”. I have very realistic expectations of what could happen at Rice-Eccles Stadium. This column was not designed to diminish hope of the possibility of defeating Utah, but rather to open the eyes of BYU fans and recognize and respect the realistic reality of what we have to face every year when we play the Runnin’ Utes. I can certainly say that this year will be no exception. Utah will be ready for us.
My final plea is to the players and coaches of BYU. I beg them to simply do everything they can to mentally prepare for this game. Don’t be scared of the color red. Don’t turn the ball over. Don’t commit stupid penalties. Don’t shut down in the 4th quarter. And for heaven’s sake, do not enter that game with an over-confident attitude.
Saturday I will be faithfully wearing blue, cheering on the Cougars, sweating profusely, having heart attacks, and trying to limit my profanity. There is nothing I would want more than to see BYU rise up to the occasion, buckle down, and beat the Utes. When all is said and done, both teams are human. Any team could walk out of that game a winner. We as Cougar nation just hope that it will be the “team down south”, and that the red banners, dancing lady, loud cannons, and pirate flags will be put to rest until we meet there again in 2015.
Go Cougars.
Robby Huckvale is a columnist at CougarCenter.net. You can reach him at @robby_huckvale on Twitter.