Congrats Utah!
This team got better and better as the year went on and no Michigan fan should've hung their head after the season opening loss. They were a great team this year and I am happy they beat Bama! If they are anything lower than #2 to end the season than it's bullshit.
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:57 PM ^
All they did was win every game they played. Oh, by the way, one of the teams they beat was Oregon State, which beat USC.
To summarize...Pete Carroll, shut the f*** up!
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 AM ^
i could hear sports writers getting ready to write articles about how the SEC was still the best conference but they just beat each other up after ole miss convincingly beat texas tech. but thank you utah for throwing a wrench in there. where was the SEE EEE CEE speed??
January 3rd, 2009 at 1:22 AM ^
The ESS EEE SEE SPEED was on full display -- you saw how much faster Bama fell behind 21-0 than a team from another conference would have.
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:59 PM ^
UM only lost to the Utes by 3, right? So, they must be better than the Red Tide.
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 AM ^
crimson tide*
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:01 AM ^
We lost by two (25-23). We actually had two possessions at the end of the game with a chance to win, but turned it over on downs. (Granted, we were lucky to come back in the first place.)
January 3rd, 2009 at 4:46 AM ^
They didn't really take us that seriously after the first half, though, did they?
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:21 AM ^
I don't think it was so much them not taking us seriously as a confluence of fluky events (blocked punt for a TD, 3 billions pass interference calls on them).
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:21 PM ^
Yep. We basically caught every break imaginable in the second half, and still fell short.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:24 PM ^
a bunch of pass interference calls against Bama, too?
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:02 AM ^
.....now here's hoping for some of it to work:::::snake oil:::::
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:06 AM ^
I was more invested in this game emotionally than any other non-UM bowl game ever. Go Utes!
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:28 AM ^
Yeah I was really happy for the Utes. This result definitely gets us closer to a playoff too, which is good for everybody. There were people that could argue that the Boise State win from 2 years ago was a fluke but not this game. Utah just completely physically dominated what I thought was the most physical team in the nation. Tough to say they didn't deserve a shot at the MNC.
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:52 AM ^
what happened with bama fans calling utah fans gay or something? i've heard a lot of people reference it but i mustve missed it on live tv
January 3rd, 2009 at 1:30 AM ^
that the worst Michigan team in half a century gave the undefeated giant killers from Utah their closest game all season. Go fucking figure.
Houston Nutt can damn well coach, too. Arrr-Kansas will regret letting him go.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:14 AM ^
Bad, very bad. They didn't have an answer for Utah at all. Johnson didn't even have to make reads, he took one step and could throw no look passes and knew the guys would be open.
Bama guys weren't jumping routes, they weren't aggressive. Their defense looked like they were giving Utah too much respect for the deep ball and just let Johnson go to work on the underneath crossing stuff, because they were giving huge cushions. You have better athletes Nick, you can play press coverage.
Bama's O line was an atrocity today, I think the smith suspension really hurt them. They weren't getting beat physically, they looked like they didn't know who to block.
The Utah coaching staff should take the game film, package it in a DVD, and title it "Quick Slants and Defensive Shifts: How to Beat 'Bama". It would be a bestseller on SEC campuses.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:34 AM ^
During the game I kept having flashbacks and shouting Stevie No!, only to see Bama's safety make a tackle and give up a 15 yard slant instead of a 60 yard slant.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:18 AM ^
Utah really played a complete game today. Frankly, they were very sloppy when the played us (though they certainly still outplayed us), but tonight, they looked just great. They've really come together over the year.
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:04 AM ^
Go Utes!!
January 4th, 2009 at 7:01 AM ^
Utah just smoked the team that was ranked #1 at the end of the regular season, they're the only undefeated team. They beat oregon state who beat usc. if oklahoma wins you could make an argument that utah is third behind texas, but if florida wins a close game, and given the big 12's other disappointments in bowls (texas tech, ok state, missouri needing OT against northwestern ), then Utah should be a near unanimous #1 in the AP poll, in a just world at least.