So proud

WHAT A STUD!

A little more than a month ago, I posted my "I told you so" post and I mentioned that at the time, I did not know where the Utes were going to play, who they would play, or if they would win. I had my suspicions that we would be playing Alabama in the Sugar Bowl but one can never know what will happen in the world of college football. I also had the slim slice of hope that we would be going to the Fiesta Bowl simply so I would be able to go. But my suspicions were right and we ended up in the Sugar Bowl as everyone who does not live under a rock now knows.

Well I can honestly tell you once again "I told you so". With my love of sports, I spend many an hour on Rivals.com (which I love way more than the incredibly biased ESPN) reading and literally scouting out other teams. I spend every waking moment (no exaggeration) on Saturday's watching, listening or keeping up with what is going on in the world of college football. Saturday night and Sunday morning, I re-watch the Utes game from the night before, obviously this year for enjoyment, but honestly to learn more about the game. Some say its ridiculous, I say its something I love so why not do what I enjoy. While others listen to the radio or their I-pod's, I am listening to talk radio (1280 The Zone and 1320 KFAN) listening to others opinions and obviously forming my own.

With all of this, I said to multiple people that WHEN (not if) Utah goes to the BCS, I would want to face Alabama. Not saying I don't think that the Utes could not hold their own against other teams, I just felt that our best chance to make a statement would be to play the Tide. I would call them a 1 1/2 dimension team. They run the football first and foremost, and if needed, JPW could throw a quick pass to Julio Jones for a first down. JPW was a mediocre quarterback with a big name school on his jersey, so therefore that made him a good quarterback. By the way, does anyone else think he might hair spray his hair before putting on his helmet??? What a priss! But when you have one WR have just over 900 yards of recieving for the year, with your next closest WR with only 324 yards, you don't pass the ball very often. All we had to do was stuff 8-9 guys in the box, put Sean Smith and Brice McCain on the WR's and we would be fine.

I believed from day one that we would win. I know everyone says that, but I honestly would have placed a lot of money on that game if I was a gambler. In fact, about 30 minutes before the game I said that if we really wanted to throw them off, come out with a no huddle offense. I would not be suprised if we put up 21 points in the first quarter. Well as we all know, that is EXACTLY what happened. I don't care what anyone says about Andy Ludwig, he was an absoulte genius Friday night. His game plan, and complete trust in Brian Johnson, single handedly put Alamaba on their back sides. Along with Gary Anderson and Sitake's defensive game plan, they could not do anything. **Another side note, whoever thinks we are screwed next year with Anderson leaving, you are sadly mistaken. Sitake's style was very much apparent in that game and we will be just fine, if not more dominant next year. And good luck Ludwig at Kansas State, you gave us some strokes the past few years, but when it comes down to it we are 13-0! Thank you for getting helping us get there **

But this post was not to boast, but from the title to express how absolutely proud of the Utah football team I am. I have never seen a group of individuals overcome disrespect as humbly as that team did. No one gave them a chance to win, some said it would be close, but I would love to know how many so called "experts" picked Utah on their Bowl Pick'em contests. I know only 8% of fans in this country did. And no matter what some fans say, I know there were Utah fans out there who did not think it could happen. From listening to post-game shows, I found out that many of the players could no longer hold in the emotion, frustration, pain and anger from constant disrespect for a month and broke down in the locker room crying. What an incredible sight that would have been to see a group of men finally know they had reached the absolute highest potential they could and prove to an entire country that they were wrong. I would have paid money to witness that scene. The game was fantastic, but to me, that was the most incredible moment of the night.

So Congratuations Utes! You did it! You made a school, a state, a conference, and thousands of fans proud to be a Utah man. Thank you for so many incredible memories and for competing and reaching your potential. After 24 seasons of being a season ticket holder, I can honestly say, this one will be hard to top. But I will be there next year cheering you on as you embark on another incredible season. GO UTES!