(Photo courtesy of USA TODAY)
By: Daniel Olsen
10/01/2018
It is reportedly the first time that BYU and Utah were both playing college football on the same day at the same time in the Evergreen State. It was also close to the same time. The Utes started at 4 PM MST and the Cougars started the first quarter in Seattle while the Utes were finishing the game in Pullman.
It wasn’t how either team wanted to finish. The Cougars and Utes both wanted to paint the Evergreen State Ever-BLUE and Ever-RED respectively. That didn’t work out so good though. The Utes did give themselves a decent chance to win against Washington State while BYU got absolutely manhandled by a team most consider to be the top contender for the College Football Playoff in the PAC-12.
So how did this story unfold? One play at a time:
3 PM PST in Pullman: The Utah game kicks off in the nation’s Lentil Capital. Read here about the unique festival and rich history of growing lentils in this part of the United States.
8:22 left in the first quarter: Washington State’s 6 play 52 yard drive ends in an interception. What does Coach Whit always preach? Win the turnover battle. Check.
Tyler Huntley scores a 24 yard rushing touchdown in the next drive to put the first points on the scoreboard. Classic Huntley play. He’s got wheels.
9:03 left in second quarter:
With the score knotted up at 14 each, Dezmon Patmon caught a 65 yard pass from Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew.
10:39 left in third quarter: Lou Groza kicker of the year winner Matt Gay connects on a 41 yard field goal to put the Utes up 24-21. It would be the last score the Utes would get.
4:14 left in the fourth quarter: Backed up near their own goal line, the Cougars needed a big play to be in the game. They got just that. 89 yard touchdown pass from Gardner Minshew to Easop Winston. It would be the winning score.
Bottom Line: Two different styles of play and the passing attack of Washington State beat the ground and pound of the Utes. Minshew played well. His name means democracy in Japanese so maybe that had something to do with it.
So what went wrong with BYU:
Everything. The End.
Just kidding. It wasn’t all bad. Ok it was. 35-7 isn’t close enough for even a moral victory but if we are reaching the Cougs made a late play to force a fumble and convert a 30 yard drive to a touchdown to avoid the shutout.
On the bright side:
1. Seattle is a cooler place to hang out in than Pullman.
2. BYU isn’t the most hated group of Cougars in the Evergreen State.
3. At least BYU can claim a victory over one quarterback named Jake who played for Washington. Looking at you Jake Locker.
4. The Cougars can use this as angry fuel to channel this Friday. It’s a short week but it shouldn’t be hard to be motivated for a rivalry game.
5. At least they still got a COUPLE votes for the AP Top 25. They, along with Boston College and Mississippi State had 3 votes each to tie for the 37th most votes in the nation.