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BYU football: Turnovers ultimately led to Cougs' demise
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GO UTES!!!
Utah didn't make any spectacular interceptions. They were all right to the guys. Utah should have had two more had the passes not hit them so hard in the chest.
Hall is subpar when it comes to big games. Ya, he beat up on the weaker teams in the conference.
Great QB's win big games.
Collie on the other hand is a BIG TIME receiver!
Congrats Utah
While I can't disagree with your basic premise that Hall cost BYU the game. I don't agree with the idea that no one else bore any responsibility.
Had BYU's defense done more to stop the Utes they still could have won. If the Utes don't score then BYU wins, even with the interceptions and fumble.
Conversely, Brian Johnson was masterful in his control of the game. You could see it in his eyes that he was not going to be the one who lost the game for the Utes.
In the end, however, I feel it was Utah's defense that made the real difference. They put a lot of pressure on Hall. They batted down several passes and kept him out of his comfort zone; which resulted in the interceptions and fumble.
Kudos to Utah's defense, you were relentless!
Thanks Utah ... for a great and memorable season.
But everyone has an opinion. don't they.
What happened to the BYU that beat UCLA?
I hope that we can fill some big shoes on the O-line and at halfback. Defense will hopefully be better next year.
If Utah's corners made some ESPN type interceptions then you make the case that the corners saved the day for Utah. But from what I heard and have read Hall was making horrible throws.
Could it be that the relentless pass rush of Utahs front four, and the defensive schemes combined to make a mess of Hall's offense? That is my opinion. The defense did what it was suppose to do, which is confuse and rattle the opposing quarterback. Let's hope they can do this in the BCS bowl as well.
Hall is a great college quarterback. He is not the best but neither is he horrible, this game aside. His biggest problem is that he isn't the best at reading defenses and he zeros in on his primary receiver allowing the defense to adjust easily.
If Hall can concentrate on reading defenses like Ty Detmer, even close, and stop zeroing in on his primary receiver but go through all his reads, next year will be alot more fruitful.
In any case, congrats to the Utes, they earned it. Classy team.
And Go BYU! Win your bowl game!!!
Max Hall had the same problem last night with red.
Utah played a great game and deserves the credit they have earned.
BYU will be back and continue to grow and do well.
Sounds a bit like life.....
Glad BYU got beat and cheer every time it happens. Can't stand the school, its leadership and its attitude and that view comes from having attended and graduated from the place.
I wish BYU coaches and players would just humbly, quietly go to work and let their play on the field communicate greatness, or otherwise. Speak of Quest, and other motivating goals in private. I, as a fan, don't need the marketing department at BYU or the coaches to come up with these themes to get me fired up for another season. I just want to be part of the BYU football season every year.
Play smart in every phase of the game, including marketing and motivation.
The adjustments that Utah made on defense were brilliant. True, it allowed more rush yards than typical, but in the end, it caused more stress on the QB and he imploded.
And I'd be willing to bet there is not a BYU player who would not want Max Hall as there QB if these teams were to play again tomorrow.
He certainly did not have the best game of his career, but I've seen him make way too many good plays to let one game define him.
Keep some perspective.
Congrats to the Utes.
Unga is next to unstoppable and I hope the injury is not serious.
Collie is another in a great line of BYU receivers.
Hall had a bad game, but will get you a win in whatever bowl you wind up at.
Most teams would love to finish 10-2.
Go Utes.
congrats to byu on making your conquest to 3rd place in a mediocre conference and qualifying for the blue rug bowl.
Hall was lousy, he cost his team. The guys won't say it to the press, but they are blaming him.
Why did the BYU coaches not run the ball if that was working?
Here's what I think went down. Earlier in the week Craig Thompson had a conference call with Bronco, Tom Holmoe, and Max about the Utah game. He reminded them that if BYU won then BSU, not Utah, would go to a BCS bowl and all those millions would go to the WAC. So he told them we don't want to upset the apple cart. And he also told them it would be best for the Utes to have a convincing looking win.
All I can say is Tom, Bronco, and Max are good soldiers.
No question the U is the better team and had the better QB. they deserved to win but Hall is a better QB than that. Seems kind of odd to me.
Excuse me but your comment is one of the dumbest I've seen posted to all of the articles about the game. And believe me there are quite a few dumb ones posted by all the bandwagon ute fans. The "arrogance" you refer to you blind ute homer is called confidence.
The mental attitudes he's teaching his players are just fine thank you very much since he is teaching them to think like winners and expect to be winners and they have been winning. That's what coaches are supposed to instill in their players. Whit and his assistants have done the same, based on various interviews with coaches and players I've seen and read about in the media.
A lack of talent/experience in some positions on defense and some bad decisions by Max Hall are what did us in, not the winning attitude that Bronco is teaching.
Congratulations to Utah! Utah deserves to win the MWC outright and I hope they go on to reprsent the MWC well and win their BCS bowl.
Go Utes!
I think both of these teams had way to much hype and whoever Utah plays is going to KILL them.
Let's not forget two pass interference penalties that helped BYU score. One was close and the other was wrong. Also, your fake audible-hike it to your running back when nobody was watching play.
Most of Utah's defense is back next year. All we have to do is put pressure on Hall and he'll give us the ball. (bully mentality)
Hey Robert, if you scored one more point than Utah, your team would have won. Periodl. Duh!
BYU is not the better team. You must have "losers limp". Face the fact that the better team won.
We will win again next year with our defense. We will have a good QB with Asiata, Key and most of our offensive linemen.
Don't be jealous!
Of course it's Max Hall's fault! You could say he didn't prepare properly (coaches might take the blame on this) or that the receivers didn't run the right routes. However, Max is ultimately the one who threw the ball, made the wrong reads, didn't secure the ball, etc. No one else should take this blame.
I love the fact that Coach Mendenhall wants to remain positive and not discourage his only chance of winning games, but the facts are it was Max's fault.
No doubt he was trying to help his team win. Of course we want to win, but that takes the right strategies and proper preparation. If he was prepared he would have known Utah's defensive schemes with his eye's closed. He would have been obsessive in this preparation as is necessary if you really want to win. The leadership was lacking on the part of Max Hall on this night.
Unfortunately, Max folded and he needs to pick himself up if he wants to be known in BYU folklore.
Yet another reason I no longer call myself a "BYU fan." You people are UNREAL. Come on--the man played an excellent team with the ability to force him into bad decisions and no-win situations. That's exactly what the BYU defense was trying to do to Brian Johnson. The team that can work its will wins the game. So give the Utes some credit for playing a great game. (And NO--I am NOT a "Utah fan" either.)
Max Hall will be back and doubtless lead the Cougars to another highly successful season next year. Sadly, there will be folks wearing blue who will boo every overthrown or dropped pass. My apologies that I'm not disloyal or fickle enough to join you.
Max Hall has talent but needs to keep the emotions in check. Austin Collie is for real. They will recover and still be a force in the bowl they play in and next year.
That being said. Utah played a complete game. Coaching for the schemes, defense for having a nose for the ball, offense for taking what was given, and special teams for regrouping after their first kick.
:-) Now we know why Harline is still open..... he is at Max Hall's 24 hour pastry shop selling turnovers. :-)
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