Utah Utes football: U. could use another Pittsburgh-like foe

So now that Utah has clinched a BCS berth for the second time in four years, everyone's hoping the Utes get a good draw. But it's different than in 2004 when Utah wanted a shot at a top team, but ended up with an 8-3 Pitt team in the Fiesta Bowl.

This time everyone is hoping Utah's opponent isn't too good. I don't think the Utes want anything to do with an Oklahoma or Texas, which they'd probably get in the Fiesta Bowl. Alabama in the Sugar Bowl would be tough and the Utes might be able hang with the Tide. An Orange Bowl matchup against someone like Boston College or Virginia Tech would be the least exciting of the three bowl possibilities, but the most winnable for Utah ...

Utah is one of four unbeaten teams left in the country and the only team with a chance to be the only unbeaten regular-season team. That's because the other three unbeatens still have games left this week as Alabama plays Auburn, Boise State plays Fresno State and Ball State plays Western Michigan ...

So who would you pick for all-MWC quarterback after Saturday's game? BYU's Max Hall has better numbers for the entire season than Brian Johnson, but he was badly outperformed by Johnson in Utah's convincing victory Saturday night. Let's see, 30 of 36 for 303 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions vs. 21 for 41 with no touchdowns and five picks ...

I wonder if Johnson's huge game Saturday will shut up his detractors among the Ute faithful who have complained about him all season? Probably not. They'll likely point out the fact that he threw six incompletions in his 36 attempts Saturday ...

Also, BYU fans need to lay off Hall, who is still an excellent quarterback despite an off day. He still has another game left this year and another year to make everyone forget about one poor performance ...

Funny to hear some Cougar fans complaining about Utah running up the score Saturday. If the Utes had kicked a field goal instead of going for the last touchdown, they would have been up by 20 with about three minutes left. Have Cougar fans forgotten about the 1980 "Miracle Bowl" when BYU scored 21 points in a little more than three minutes to beat SMU by one point? ...

While Utah was beating BYU Saturday, former Ute coach Urban Meyer's Florida team was beating up on The Citadel 70-19. The Gators were up 42-0 midway through the second quarter when Tim Tebow and other starters were taken out. You wonder why Florida plays such games, but it did give Meyer the chance to play a lot of reserves and put in a little-used defensive tackle to score a one-yard TD late in the game (shades of Utah-BYU in 2004) ...