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The blocked field goal heard around the world

0 Comments | This entry was posted on Oct 17 2011

On a cold day in Salt Lake City, the “Holy War” was resurrected again. November 27, 2010 was the date when the Brigham Young Cougars took on the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium in front of 45,272 screaming Utes fans. This heated rivalry goes back to the turn of the century as BYU and Utah have played each other since 1896. As of 2011, Utah holds the edge in this series with 55 wins, 34 losses, and four ties. The close proximity of both campuses (45 minutes away from each other) also fuels the competitiveness between both schools.

Utah came into this game with a stellar record (10-1 overall, 7-1 conference) and was ranked #20 in the polls. Utes Head Coach Kyle Whittingham had his troops prepared or so he thought. Cougars Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall always circled this game on the calendar to get his boys ready to play. With the frenzied fans behind the Utes, they looked to hold court on home turf as kickoff drew close. Much like other storied rivalries as Michigan-Ohio State and Florida-Florida State, the electricity in the air was thick.

As the game progressed, the defensive play of the Cougars was stellar. Going into halftime, the Cougars were up 6-0 and extended the lead going into the fourth quarter leading 13-0. The Utes engineered a wild comeback heavily relying on costly errors by BYU. A Utah field goal cut the lead to 13-3 and BYU fumbled on their next series which the Utes cashed … Read more »