Utah 31 - Alabama 17. Yes, I'm here to gloat.
by Ute in DC on Jan 3, 2009 3:16 AM EST
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PrintI just got back from partying in New Orleans after Utah's victory in the Sugar Bowl.
Back in November I took exception to FSUncensored's blogpoll ballot that had Utah at #23. I promised then that win or lose, I'd come back and eat crow or come back and say I'd told you so.
Yes, I told you so. Utah just beat #4 Alabama convincingly making the Utes the only undefeated team in the nation with a 13-0 record. Maybe Utah can crack FSUncensored's top 20. (I won't hold my breath.) He also predicted that Utah would get shut out by South Carolina. We will never know for sure, but considering Utah just beat SEC #2 and put up 31 points, I would like Utah's chances again the SEC #6 who just lost their bowl game to Iowa.
A few Florida State fans made predictions once the Sugar Bowl matchup was announced. None of these comments came true. FSUStateofMind said Utah was going to lose by 30; that obviously didn't happen. FSUncensored said BJ would have several interception. He had zero, but he did have 1 fumble.
Anyway, it was a great game. I love it, and I will look for the final blogpoll ballot.
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Congrats on the win!
I love it when the major conference teams get beat by the mid-majors of the world. (As long as it isn’t FSU :) ). It just shows the farce of the BCS what it really is.
It also takes some of the luster off of the MNC winner. Who’s the real champion this year? Utah, USC or the Sooner/Gator winner?
Great win for Utah
They played really well.
Do I think Bama took them seriously? No. Do I think Bama thought the matchup was a disappointment? Yes That doesn’t matter, however, as Utah played a great game. I do think it might be important to mentiont that Bama lost both starting tackles within a period of 5 days, clearly the most important factor in this game as Utah had as many sacks as Bama gave up all year.
While I don’t think Utah could have stopped Bama with their regular personnel in, Utah’s offense impressed me. A lot of teams try to go up tempo and no-huddle, but few do it well. Installing that and running it over and over again in the weeks leading up to the bowl game was very smart. Utah remained poised throughout most of the game.
I thought Whittingham coached the game of his life in what was the game of his life.
Nice win, UTE in DC.
As an aside, and I don’t mean this as a slight… what will it take for these BIG teams to take Mid-Majors seriously in their prep?
My response:
As an aside, and I don’t mean this as a slight… what will it take for these BIG teams to take Mid-Majors seriously in their prep?
I have no idea. If you figure it out, let me know. Every team seems to have trouble getting up for games against teams they expect to beat. The only team that seems to be immune from this is Boise State. Maybe you should ask them how to avoid letdown games. Utah lost to UNLV – 27-0 in 2007. That was one of only two wins UNLV had that year. Utah ended up 9-4. If I knew the secret, I’d pass it on to Coach Whittingham.
As an aside, I don’t think Utah can really be called a “mid-major” any more. On the field they are the only team to have had two undefeated seasons since the BCS started 10 years ago. There are one of only a handful of teams to have won two (or more) BCS games. In basketball, Utah frequently plays in the NCAA tournament, and went to the championship game in 1998. Off the field, academically, Utah is a top notch research institution and has a fairly large enrollment of just under 30,000 – which is more than Alabama, for example.
I do think it might be important to mentiont that Bama lost both starting tackles within a period of 5 days, clearly the most important factor in this game as Utah had as many sacks as Bama gave up all year.
Yup that’s true; it hurt their chances. That being said, there have been countless times where I have heard it argued that BCS teams have better backups than the starters for non-BCS teams. I think Utah proved that is nonsense.
Injuries and suspensions are part of the game. If the shoe were on the other foot and Utah lost two key players and lost by two touchdowns, I doubt you would be making excuses for Utah. You’d probably be arguing that Alabama just has a great defense. Well, Utah has a great defense. They aren’t big, but they are fast. Unfortunately, I think Paul Kruger will leave for the NFL, but he has two years of eligibility left. Ditto Sean Smith and his year of eligibility.
Furthermore, that is only one side of the ball. Utah dominated on both offense and defense. With Andre Smith, Alabama’s offense would have put up more points, but I’m not sure he alone can make up a two touchdown deficit.
Do I think Bama took them seriously? No. Do I think Bama thought the matchup was a disappointment? Yes
If a team can’t get excited to play in the Sugar Bowl, don’t blame their opponent. The fault for failing to get motivated falls completely on Alabama. Good teams are able to motivate themselves.
Good Win for Utah
If a team can’t get excited to play in the Sugar Bowl, don’t blame their opponent. The fault for failing to get motivated falls completely on Alabama. Good teams are able to motivate themselves.
I agree.
Check UGA vs. Hawaii last year. There is a team that was motivated and prepared for the mid-major.
Utah got off to a quick 21-0 start because Bama was not up for the game. After the initial surge Bama was stopping Utah’s offense just fine. The only reason Bama couldn’t score more points was because their best player was missing and Bama was down to their third LT.
This was the biggest game in Utah history – they were more than ready. For Alabama, they didn’t even want to play this, they wanted a NC or at least a team like Texas or USC.
It was a nice win, but that doesn’t make Utah one of the elite team in the nation. Is Oregon State one of the elite teams in the nation? Is Ole Miss? Texas Tech? No.
http://today.sportingnews.com/sportingnewstoday/20081229/?pg=2
First quarter points count the same as at any other time.
Utah got off to a quick 21-0 start because Bama was not up for the game.
Or Utah anticipated what Alabama would try to do defensively to start the game and took advantage. Then Alabama adjusted. That’s just good coaching on Utah’s part to figure out what they could expect to start the game.
If you guys are so great then
How about playing in a real conference?
http://today.sportingnews.com/sportingnewstoday/20081229/?pg=2
I think you would do well in the Pac10
It would be dumb, however, as the BCS run would come to an end.
Maybe, maybe not.
I think it is likely that if the Pac-10 were to expand to 12 teams and add a championship game, they would be more likely to get two teams into the BCS most years. Like most college football fans, I’d really prefer a playoff, but as long as we are stuck with the current system, it would be fun to have a chance to play in the Rose Bowl.
Even if you are right, the Bowls for the teams that finish 2-6 in the Pac-10 are a step up from the bowls that MWC teams play in.
Congrats ---- you played a great game
and if you notice, Iater in that post I backtracked from 30. I was hoping for a close game.
Our goal is simple: Best in the land
You did suggest that you were exagerating
But you never backed down from the underlying premise that Utah had no chance.
I think this
gives Whittingham a boost for next years coaching vacancies. He will be one of the front-runners.
Man I feel bad
All year I was talking trash about these teams and how I cant wait for the bowl season to show how bad they were. Im sorry for being an Ass about it. What I would like to know is how do teams like these get the recruits they get. They are not going and getting the top 50 guys and beating you with athleats. they are going and getting the others and teaching them how to work as a team. I thing that with Utah’s win there is more to learn here other than they are a good team like they work hard to work as a team.
DESMAN IS SORRY FOR ALL THE CRAP.
nice game
Utah outplayed Bama on both sides of the ball for a full 60 minutes.
Don’t discount the loss of linemen though. As talented as the backups may be, no team can just plug in backups without any practice. Losing your Outland Trophy winner the week of the game is devastating. This is especially true for Alabama, a pure power running team. Their offense was crippled and it showed.
Not to take anything away from the Utes though- as Bama was full strength on defense, yet Utah shredded them all night and made Bama look very very slow. It was the Utah offense that jumped out to an early lead and forced Bama to go one dimensional to a shaky passing game. Utah was clearly the better team in that game.
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