Reversal of Fortune

Reversal of Fortune

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Here’s a sample of the chatter you’ll hear at the water cooler on Monday all up and down the Wasatch front:
BYU fan – “Dude, if only we’d had Utah‘s easy schedule to start our season, we could have moved in to the top 10 and then only lost to TCU by 28 instead of 40. I totally wish we could have played UNLV earlier in the season so Heaps could have got it going sooner!”
Ute fan will tell his buddies – “Bro, what happened. I’m still in shock. Do we even have a chance next week against Notre Dame? How on earth are we going to compete next year in the PAC-12?”
Yes, Utah was humiliated on Saturday. It was a major blow to the school, the city, their athletic reputation and not to mention, it cost Utah a shot at the almighty BCS pay-out. It’s off now to the Las Vegas bowl and 10% of the cash they could have earned.
All that being said, Utah just got beat by a better team. They should not have lost by 40 albeit but TCU is clearly better. However, I fully expect Utah to rebound and win out the rest of the season. Yes, the BYU game might now be a little more interesting than we originally thought but Utah is going to be fine. I see no reason why they can’t go 7-2 or 6-3 in conference play next year and qualify for the PAC-12 championship game. Utah still has a great coach and a great team, as evidenced by their very solid #15 ranking.
As for BYU, the team did look good and their offense finally found some rhythm against UNLV. The Cougars should expect similar outcomes against Colorado State and New Mexico. Bronco will have righted the ship to 6-5 and then hopefully play a competitive game against Utah. Regardless, BYU should go bowling and build some positive momentum for next year.
However, if you caught the BYU broadcast on Saturday, one of the announcers claimed that this year might be one of Bronco’s best coaching jobs ever and insinuated that the year will turn out just fine. Um, not exactly. I think I’d rather take the 11-1 or 10-2 season Utah is going to turn in this year. Or how about the 4 straight 10 win seasons BYU had. Let’s not forget that no less than 2 months ago BYU was embarrassed by Utah State, got hammered on the road by Florida State, was never in a game against Nevada and has not been competitive in a game against TCU for three years.
In other words, Ute fans – relax, you’ll be alright. BYU fans, don’t forget how close it came to totally unraveling this year while enjoying your new found success. November 27th just got a little bit better after this weekend’s events.

Matt Nielson has been writing about the college sports landscape in Utah and the Intermountain West since 2010. When he’s not pretending to be a professional blogger, he works full time as a residential real estate agent and house flipper. Matt graduated from Brigham Young University in 2000. He and his family reside in Salt Lake City, UT.

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