14. 11/28/09 - Andrew George's TD catch to beat Utah in OT: #18 BYU – 26, #22 Utah - 23

            In the last regular season game for both teams, the #18 BYU Cougars (9-2) faced the #22 Utah Utes (9-2). Although the #7 Utes had defeated the #14 Cougars soundly in their previous match-up (48-24), ten of their previous twelve match-ups had been decided by seven points or less, making it one of the most exciting rivalries in the nation. Although, TCU had wrapped up the MWC championship earlier that afternoon, both teams hoped to line up lucrative bowl games and a Top 20 finish. In honor of the 1984 national championship team, the Cougars wore 25th anniversary throwback uniforms for the first time in team history.

The Utes began their first drive of the game at their own 45 after forcing a Cougar punt. They quickly advanced to the Cougar 20 with a couple of big plays and a BYU penalty. On the next play, they Cougars caught the runner in the backfield for a 14 yard loss. Unable to convert another first down, the Utes had to settle for a 39-yard FG by Joe Phillips. After another Cougar punt, the Utes went for another drive. This time they were stopped at the Cougar 4-yard line, and finally settled for a short 21-yard FG. The Cougars ate the rest of the first quarter with a long 17-play, 52-yard drive, that culminated with a 28-yard FG by Mitch Payne at the beginning of the second quarter.

Midway through the second, Utah punted from deep in their own territory. BYU’s O’Neill Chambers caught the punt at midfield and juked his way to the Utah 7. On second-and-goal from two yards out, RB Harvey Unga took a pitch from QB Max Hall and swept left into the end zone. With a minute left in the first half, Utah’s QB Jordan Wynn faced a third-and-24 at his own 43-yard line. Throwing into traffic, his pass was picked off by Safety Andrew Rich, who ran the ball back to the Ute 23. Hall and company quickly advanced to the Utah 9 before Hall was sacked back at the 20-yard line. With time running out, the Cougars booted a 37-yard FG to enter the locker room with a 13-6 lead.

Riding the backs of running backs Harvey Unga and Manase Tonga, the Cougars drove 66 yards on their first possession of the third. An 18-yard pass to TE Andrew George took the ball to the Ute 1-yard line. After a play-fake to Unga, Hall turned and lofted a short pass to Manase Tonga, who waltzed into the end zone. Leading 20-6, things looked bright for the Cougars as the third quarter drew to a close; especially since the Utes couldn’t seem to get anything going after their two initial drives. Since the pair of Ute field goals, the Cougars had stopped the Utah offense on seven straight possessions.

Unfortunately, Utah owned the fourth quarter. As soon as they swapped field direction for the fourth quarter, Phillips nailed a 31-yard FG. On their next drive, the Utes survived a fourth-and-four to drive to the Cougar 1-yard line. Eddie Wide smashed into the line, barely breaking the plane of the goal for a TD. Going for the two-point conversion, Wynn found David Reed in the back of the end zone to pull the Utes within three. Meanwhile, the Ute Defense forced 5 straight punts from the struggling Cougar Offense. With 0:29 left, Phillips booted his fourth field goal of the game, this time a 40-yarder to tie the score at 20-all. Upon getting the ball back, the Cougars only ran one play, a 7-yard rush by Unga, apparently content to settle the affair in OT.

In overtime, Utah got the ball first, taking the lead with yet another field goal - a 29-yarder. *Facing a second and 10 from the Utah 25-yard line, Max Hall lined up in the shotgun formation and called for the ball. As the Ute defenders closed in, Hall calmly threw the ball over the middle to Andrew George. Two Utes leaped in to intercept, but George snagged the ball as it slipped through the gap right before the Utes collided. George turned upfield and ran untouched into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown (#11). The 26-23 win was the third dramatic victory over the Utes in four years, sparking a fan blitz of the field.

Andrew George
Courtesy of BYU Photo

Dennis Pitta
Courtesy of BYU Photo

During the game, TE Dennis Pitta surpassed WR Austin Collie as BYU’s all-time leader in career receptions; a record that would eventually be surpassed by freshman teammate, WR Cody Hoffman. The win marked the Cougars’ 200th victory in LaVell Edwards Stadium. The Cougars also claimed double-digit wins in four consecutive seasons for the first time in their history, jumped to #16 in the next AP poll, and accepted an invitation to face Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Despite the loss, the Utes received an invitation to the Poinsettia Bowl, where they would beat Cal to finish 10-3.

 Game highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br31M3C8RB8

*BYU Tv's Top 100 plays in BYU Football TV history (updated 12/12/20 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYzgPw-bQ_c)



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cougar Centennial preview

 This blog is dedicated to highlighting the 100 greatest games in BYU Cougar football history. I've been a BYU fan since I was a little kid, and attended the university from 1992-1996. When I realized that 2022 was the 100th anniversary of BYU's first official football game, I decided to compile a list of the 100 greatest games in the program's history (from 1922-2021) and do a write-up for each of those games. I did something similar for the 50th anniversary of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and figured I'd share my efforts with other BYU fans out there. Throughout the blog, I will be referring to Top 25 (or Top 20 prior to the expansion of the polls) rankings of either BYU or the teams they played. I realize that there are a couple of major polls, and even a few less famous ones, but for consistency sake I've decided to use the AP poll as the official ranking (even though BYU tends to be appreciated more by the coaches' poll). Also, many posts refer to the...
Read more

#98 - 11/1/80 – Most points in a game: #17 BYU – 83, UTEP - 7

Image
Junior QB Jim McMahon didn’t like to share the limelight with anyone. Yet that is exactly what he’d had to do in Provo. When Jim arrived in 1977, he found himself the backup to Marc Wilson, who enjoyed a spectacular sophomore season. The next year, the two QBs shared time behind center. That didn’t work out so well, so McMahon redshirted in 1979 - Wilson’s senior season. The result was the first undefeated regular season in team history. Now, it was Jim’s turn, and he wanted to break every single one of Wilson’s records, as well as set a bunch of new ones. Unfortunately, the Cougars started the 1980 season with a surprise loss to lightly regarded New Mexico. The loss served as a wake-up call to BYU, who were universally picked to repeat as WAC champions. The Cougars rolled out six straight victories, including a 28-3 win over Wisconsin on Sept. 20. These were convincing wins - with a minimum margin of victory of 16+ points. However, the Cougs didn’t break into the Top 20 until Oct. 18,...
Read more

#100 12/28/74 – BYU's first Bowl game: Oklahoma St. - 16, #17 BYU – 6

Image
               When the BYU Cougars (7-3-1) started the 1974 season with a 0-3-1 record, nobody would have guessed that they’d come back and win the WAC. However, since their 3 losses were against non-conference schools, they successfully won the conference title with a 6-0-1 record by knocking off two ranked teams (Arizona & Arizona State). As the winner of the WAC, the Cougars were invited to their first bowl game, to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-5) of the Big 8 in the fourth annual Fiesta Bowl.                In the first quarter, the Cougar D corralled the Cowboys, forcing punts on each of the Cowboys first 5 possessions. The Cougar offense, meanwhile, moved the ball well early on. Senior QB Gary Sheide led the Cougars to the Cowboy 13, where Mark Uselman booted a 30-yard  field goal. Although they punted on their second possession, the Cougars took advantage of good field positi...
Read more