U.'s Johnson has message: 'Yes we can'

There was a Barack Obama cutout being waved wildly down on the field in the post-game celebration. Later, Utah quarterback Brian Johnson entered the interview room wearing an Obama tee.

"He did it," said Johnson, making a fist. "So did we."

It's been a memorable week for both president-elects and Ute quarterbacks.

The way Johnson performs in the final two minutes, you have to wonder if he, too, should run for office.

For the second time this season at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Johnson guided his team to victory in the dying moments. The first was an October win over Oregon State. This time it was a 13-10 win over TCU, Thursday night.

"That's what we do," said Johnson.

Yeah, but does it have to be so doggone ... theatrical?

You'd think they would get tired of waiting around until the restaurants close to settle things.

The Utes kept their BCS bowl hopes alive by holding off a fine opponent that came oh-so-close. They ignored an abysmal defensive start, then laughed in the face of a diminishing clock. They didn't even get a serious look at the end zone until scoring with 48 seconds left.

"We knew if it came down to the fourth quarter, it would be a battle of wills," said Johnson.

Encouraged by two missed TCU field goals, the Utes took over for their last drive with 2:48 remaining, as Johnson completed seven of his final nine passes, finishing up with scoring pass to Freddie Brown.

The house celebrated like the Democratic national headquarters.

Long live soaring hope and big plans.

Which brings up the obvious comparisons with the undefeated 2004 Utes.

"This is more a model of Coach Whit (Kyle Whittingham). They were more coach (Urban) Meyer," said Johnson of the 10-0 Utes. "This is a tough, blue-collar, grind-it-out kind of team. We live for games in the fourth quarter."

Truth is, they are vastly different teams in some ways. The 2004 team that won the Fiesta Bowl was never seriously challenged. It won games by dozens of points. Fans could go home at half time and still rest easy.

Not so much with the 2008 Utes. They went scoreless and gave up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to hang on against Michigan; scored with 58 seconds left to beat Air Force. Johnson led the Utes to two touchdowns in the final 1 1/2 minutes against Oregon State. Last week they ground out a 13-10 win over New Mexico.