So we got whipped by TCU 55-28, and now our season is a lost cause because we will most likely not be first in the Mountain West Conference, right?
Wrong. Just because there is a 99.9 percent chance Utah will not win the MWC Title does not mean that this season is a failure. Players have put in way too much work and fought way too hard to let one game dictate their season.
Even with the loss to TCU on Saturday night, what the Utes have done this season is still impressive. Battling quarterback controversy and losing the best offensive threat in running back Matt Asiata during the fourth game of the year, the season could have spelled out a much worse for the Utes. I’m talking four losses worse. Don’t forget, the Utes had to battle back against Colorado State for a dramatic fourth-quarter win. And who can forget the overtime thriller against Air Force? The Utes could easily be 6-4 right now.
But they’re not.
They know how to rally together behind their tough defense and win ball games. They’ve worked too hard to just give up on the season because of one loss to an elite MWC opponent. I know not everyone believes in “the good of the conference” talk, but let’s be honest: I have a better chance of getting a date with Megan Fox than TCU does of losing to Wyoming and New Mexico. As No. 1 Florida will face No. 2 Alabama in the SEC Championship game to end the season, the fourth-ranked Horned Frogs have a legitimate shot at a national championship game appearance. Highly unlikely, I know, but the point is that it’s possible for a MWC team to get into the championship game this year.
Yes, it sucks that it’s not Utah. But for the MWC to get the automatic BCS bid it has been pushing for8212;and that it deserves8212;the MWC has to prove that more than one team in the MWC is capable of going to a BCS game and winning, and TCU seems like it has the chops to do it.
I don’t know if you noticed, but TCU is pretty good. It has the nation’s third-best defense and some crazy good athletes. We all know BYU chokes every year on its “quest for perfection.” Call me crazy, but TCU can really help Utah this year.
Utah is 8-2. A majority of Division-1 teams would kill for that record8212;just ask Bobby Bowden at Florida State. This year is not a failure. Our beloved Utes have overcome adversity in many ways this year and have yet to crumble into obscurity. They nearly beat a fire-hot Oregon team at Autzen Stadium, the same team and same place that destroyed annual powerhouse USC. Going 10-2 would be a great year for the Utes because the season is never a failure when we beat BYU.
