Most any other year, a loss to BYU, like in Saturday’s 24 21 defeat, would mark the end of the season for the Utah football team.
The Utes would have time to reflect on blowing an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead, time to reconcile the idea of letting their biggest game of the year slip through their fingers before eventually preparing for a bowl game or clearing out their lockers.
This year, however, the funeral dirge must be cut short, the mourning must cease and desist, and Utah must move on?
Because even if it feels like the year is over, there’s still some time to go.
“This isn’t the end of the season?we’ve still got one game left,” senior linebacker CR Dwinnell said.
While the BYU game traditionally marks the end of Utah’s regular season, this year, Air Force will cap off the schedule for the Utes.
It wasn’t originally supposed to be that way, but when terrorist attacks struck New York City and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, leaving thousands dead, propriety and respect dictated that all games scheduled for the following Saturday?Sept. 15?be either canceled or rescheduled.
And so the Utes, after taking this coming Saturday off, will be taking on the Falcons on Dec. 1.
They may not really feel up to playing Air Force, given the end results of the game with the Cougars, but the Utes know they must get back to business.
“It feels pretty s*****, but we’ve got to move on?we’ve got another game to play,” said junior defensive tackle Garrett Smith. “We’ve still had a great season. It’s disappointing to lose [to BYU], but we have to think in the positive and worry about Air Force.”
Though the loss dropped Utah to 7-3 overall, 4-2 MWC and handed the Cougars the outright MWC title and at least an invitation to the Liberty Bowl, the Utes still know they have much to play for.
While they didn’t get the conference championship they wanted, they still have opportunities. Even assuming BYU misses out on the Bowl Championship Series’ Fiesta Bowl and must “settle” for the Liberty Bowl, the MWC still has at least two other postseason games to send teams to.
Consequently, with a trip to either the Las Vegas or New Orleans bowls potentially looming, the U players realize that there is precious little time to mope over faltering in Provo.
“We can’t hang our heads, because we played hard and we know there’s still one game to go,” said sophomore safety Antwoine Sanders. “And that game will be big.”
News and Notes
A pair of U football players were named to the Verizon Academic All-District VIII Football Team for their performance in the classroom.
Junior linebacker Brooks Bahr, who has already earned an undergraduate degree in biology with a 3.95 GPA, and is now enrolled in the U’s MBA program, was named to the First Team.
Sophomore center Dustin McQuivey, who carries a 3.57 GPA in business, was a Second Team selection.