Ahh the Holy War. It was a bit of a sloppy game, with tempers flaring on both sides. It had hard hits, personal fouls, big plays, a post game interview low on class, and despite a memorable final play, the game itself wasn't all that memorable, won't be remembered that much in the annals of the Rivalry history, except for a certain set of comments.
Regarding Hall
I've thought for a while regarding my thoughts and what I wanted to say regarding Max Hall's diatribe after the game. I even rewrote this paragraph twice. In the end I've decided to show the players on the field more class and more respect than Hall showed them. I'm not going to take away from the game that happened on the field. In fact the only thing I'll remark upon from his post game diatribe is...
Hall was right about one thing
BYU deserved to win that game. Utah was sloppy throughout the game. They would continually put themselves in the position to make the same mistake over and over (Brandon Burton). On the deep balls they were constantly getting behind the BYU Defense, but they were just a bit off. Sometimes because the pass was too long, or sometimes because the WR thought it wasn't coming so he slowed up his route (David Reed).
Utah wasn't the only ones who were sloppy. BYU suffered some major brain farts as well, mostly coming from their QB who was too worried about the pass rush and did not have a good game.
But mainly the biggest sloppiness came from the offensive playcallers for both sides. When BYU got up by 14 points the BYU Offense packed it in, and went to one of the most conservative game plans that wasn't from Ohio State. Utah constantly killed it's momentum with the unnecessary single wing formation.
That said, the BYU defensive game plan did just enough in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to keep Utah from making a move early in the game. When Wynn got out of a rhythm, the BYU Defensive Coordinator dialed up a nice amount of blitzing with their front 7 to keep Wynn off balance just enough. By the time Wynn got back into a groove it was almost too late.
Time to euthanize the wildcat
This game was the perfect example of why, unless you are willing to dedicate your offense to it, the Single Wing/Wildcat formation is more of a hinderance than it helps. The novelty has worn off, so it no longer surprises a defense when they see the lineup. BYU's first two plays were single wing plays. After not using it all year long they try to bring it out. Utah stopped them.
For Utah it's troubles were much much worse. Utah had the ball up 3-0 driving in the redzone for a TD. They brought in their Single Wing formation and got stopped. The big problem is it seemed to take Wynn out of the flow of the offense. A flow it took him 2.5 quarters to get back into. It seemed that every time the Utes would start to get some momentum they'd go into the Single Wing and it would just break the flow. Even worse they would use the Single Wing formation for plays that were just normal plays. Plays better executed by the starting QB. Such as the 5 attempted WR Screens, of which Shaky was 1-4, including bouncing two off of the turf in front of a WR who had blockers in front of him.
There is a reason that the Miami Dolphins are really the only successful Single Wing team. They are the only ones who have committed to it as an offensive system. Rather than use the Single Wing, just come up with some normal trick plays.
Upcoming RB&P
So now that the regular season is over, Just thought I'd detail a few upcoming posts. As we get ready for the Bowl there will obviously be lots of talk about that game. Plus, future posts will recap both BYU, and Utah's season, Talk about the future for both of these teams and where they go. Also, expect detailing about Post season awards. And finally I plan to bring back Sideshow's Playoff Proposal, as well as BCS Lie Detector post.