BYU vs. Texas, Utah vs. USC

BYU vs. Texas, Utah vs. USC – Week 2 Preview

Posted on: 09-8-2011 by: Matt Nielson

Imagine the following conversation taking place in mid-January, 2006, somewhere in Salt Lake County. College football season has just ended and these two neighbors are out shoveling snow off their drive ways and shootin’ the bull:

Buddy #1:
Even though I can’t stand BYU, I’m glad you guys finally got rid of Crowton. This guy Bronco at least got you to the Las Vegas Bowl in his first year.

Buddy #2:
No doubt. And even though I hate Utah, I’m still stoked you guys went to the Fiesta Bowl last year and represented. That was great.

By the way, did you watch that incredible national championship game between Texas and USC two weeks ago? That guy Vince Young is unbelievable. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be at those guys’ level some day instead of just trolling around the pathetic Mountain West Conference?

Buddy #1:
Hey dude, I think it could really happen. I can almost see it now…..

On a sunny September afternoon in 2011, Utah will be on the road to face USC in a conference game and on the same Saturday BYU will be an Independent taking on Texas in Austin, Both games will be on national TV.

Buddy #2:
You’re out of your mind bro – Utah in the Pac-10 and BYU as an independent, playing those two teams we just watched dominate college football all year? The cold must be getting to you.

Buddy #1:
No dude, I’m serious. And in fact, though both BYU and Utah will be touchdown or so underdogs, it’s not crazy to think both can win these huge road games. They will have the talent to compete with Texas and SC and there’s no way they will get blown out.

Buddy #2:
Bro, you’ve completely flipped your lid. What are you gonna tell me next; that BYU and Utah will then in the very near future play the other 3 most prominent college football programs of all time? – Alabama, Notre Dame and Ohio State.

Buddy #1:

Dude, by 2011 Utah will have already played and smoked Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. That’ll be old news by 2011. And yeah, BYU will soon be playing Notre Dame practically every year beginning in 2012. And for Ohio State, Utah could very well end up playing them in the Rose Bowl in years to come.

Buddy #2:
Bro, you’ve just gotten completely ridiculous. Enough already!

Buddy #1:

Actually, I’m not done yet. Not only will our local schools have a chance to win these big road games against USC and Texas, but they will come back home the next week and meet up in the Holy War, in September, both ranked in the top 25, playing on ESPN, and the entire country will start to take notice of how great the rivalry is and how good both BYU and Utah are.

Buddy #2:
Well I always thought you were a little cooky, but what you said is just absurd. Get yourself together over the winter. From now on, no more football, let’s just talk about the Jazz.

Well, you know the rest of the story, buddy #1 was dead right.

It should be a great weekend for Utah and BYU fans.

For a little more in-depth analysis on this weekend, check out this article from Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune: Kragthorpe: Big-game convergence will define Utah, BYU

Matt Nielson

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.