Instant Analysis: BYU-Utah

They’re partying like it’s 2004 in Salt Lake City, and Brian Johnson is literally throwing the big bash.

The last time the Utah Utes made a BCS bowl, Kyle Whittingham was Urban Meyer’s right-hand man for a program that registered a perfect regular season and strolled to the Fiesta Bowl. Four years later, Whittingham is in charge of a Ute movement that is destined for a return trip to suburban Phoenix. The only difference between this year’s flight to the Fiesta and the 2004 trip is that the outright Mountain West Conference champions—freshly crowned after an authoritative dismissal of in-state rival BYU on Saturday evening—will go to the westside suburb of Glendale and not the eastside town of Tempe.

Utah won’t care about those directional considerations, however. The only thing that really matters for the 12-0 Utes, who rule the Rocky Mountain region once again, is that Brian Johnson has become their true north, in much the same way that the electrifying Alex Smith guided the program to a spotless 2004 season.

The difference in this so-called Holy War was really rather simple. While BYU signal caller Max Hall threw four picks and the Cougars imploded with five turnovers overall, Johnson—saving his very best for the final home game of a decorated career—threw a party by completed 29 of 35 passes for just over 300 yards with no interceptions. BYU stayed close through nearly three full quarters, but the accumulation of turnovers eventually caught up with the defending MWC champions, who got knocked off their throne by a determined opponent that—after a year of close-shave wins against the likes of Michigan, Oregon State, New Mexico, and TCU—flexed its muscles in the finale to crash the BCS party.

The BYU-Utah rivalry has been marked by close games and thrilling, last-second finishes over the past several years. The fact that the Utes could pull away and crush the Cougars in a 21-0 fourth quarter shows that the sons of Salt Lake can win with authority on occasion. This runaway win, defined by a fourth-quarter flurry, is just the kind of accomplishment that will give the Utes added credibility as they gear up for a big-name opponent in the first week of January.