BYU 35, Wyoming 21

I got to see this one with my Dad while visiting my parents in Arkansas, about a 4 hour drive from where we live in Texas. It was a good visit with the folks topped off by watching a nice win by BYU.

BYU clearly outplayed Wyoming in the first half, scoring 14 points in each of the first two quarters. Wyoming put together some nice drives but turnovers really killed them. It was BYU 28, WYO 14 at the half. The third quarter was pivotal as Wyoming scored a td to bring themselves to within seven. After they forced a BYU punt, they drove all the way down to the BYU 9 yard line and were on the verge of tying the game....before fumbling the ball. BYU recovered. BYU then drove 93 yards to reestablish the 14 point lead.

The story of this game was 5 Wyoming turnovers(0 BYU turnovers). Wyoming moved the ball very well but the turnovers just killed them.

The most astounding individual performance of the night belonged to Justin Luettgerodt. Luettgerodt recovered 3 Wyoming fumbles and had an interception as well. I'm not sure how someone would do this even if they tried. Three fumble recoveries in one game? That's just incredible. This almost makes up for that biffed xp snap in the TCU game.

It was somewhat disconcerting to me that BYU didn't score in the 4th quarter and only scored 7 points in the second half. BYU needs to assert itself and be better at putting teams away. I fear that the BYU offense may have lost some momentum. I sure hope not. On the other hand, the defense deserves some credit for holding Wyoming to 7 second half points.

Now on to Utah.

BYU hasn't beaten Utah since 2001.

Utah is without its starting quarterback(Brian Johnson - knee) & its leading receiver(Madsen - ankle). Both got hurt Saturday in the utes home loss to New Mexico. I felt sorry for BJ - knee injuries just suck. I'm sorry that they got hurt but I'm not sad that we don't have to face them Saturday, either. Johnson is an excellent qb. Due to these key injuries most BYU fans are wildly (over)confident. I am not. Utah always prepares very, very well for BYU - even in the years that they aren't doing well. I am quite sure that the Utah players are preparing for this game with a focus and effort fueled by the white-hot hatred that they feel for BYU. You can read more on my feelings about it here.

So Utah is without a couple of key players but I have every reason to believe that they will be well prepared for the game saturday. It should be tough, especially if BYU is overconfident(which they very well might be). I hope that they practice with a sense of urgency this week.