11.11/24/07 – “Magic Happens”: #23 BYU - 17, Utah - 10

             Since the creation of the Mountain West Conference in 1999, either the Cougars or the Utes had won the conference championship in five of the conference’s first eight seasons. Since their annual rivalry game was always scheduled for late November, the conference championship was often on the line. In 2007, the #23 ranked BYU Cougars (8-2; 6-0 MWC) were vying for back-to-back conference championships - something that hadn’t happened since ‘95-’96 when they played for the WAC. The Utah Utes (8-3; 5-2 MWC), could tie for the championship with a win and a Cougar loss to SDSU. Even more to the point, the Cougars had broken the Utes’ string of four straight victories in the rivalry the previous season in a game that wasn’t decided until after the clock had expired. Both teams were riding seven game winning streaks, and their respective fans felt that their team had what it took to win.

The first half was a defensive battle. The Cougars’ first two possessions ended in punts. On their third possession, the Utes intercepted QB Max Hall’s pass at the Cougar 16-yard line. The Ute offense, however, had fared no better, having gone three-and-out on their first two possessions. With only 16 yards to go, though, they were almost guaranteed a score … almost. The Utes were inside the Cougar 5-yard line when QB Brian Johnson was hit while throwing for the end zone. Safety Corby Hodgkiss picked off the pass and brought it out to the 8-yard line. A 44-yard run by RB Harvey Unga brought the ball out to midfield. The Cougars continued to roll until Unga fumbled the ball at the Ute 25-yard line on the eighth play of the drive.

Both offenses improved in the second quarter, but neither one could break through. A long drive by the Cougars (15 plays, 58 yards) took them to the Ute 30-yard line, but the FG attempt went wide left. On the ensuing possession, Matt Bauman picked off Johnson at the Ute 40-yard line, giving the Cougars another chance to score. They almost did on a trick play, but the ball fell incomplete. Riding Unga and Manase Tonga, they made it inside the Ute 5-yard line before they settled for a 22-yard field goal by Mitch Payne. That ended up being the only score in the half as both teams headed for the locker rooms with the Cougars leading 3-0.

As the teams came out for the third quarter, Johnson led his team down the field on their very first drive. On first-and-ten at the Cougar 12-yard line, Johnson was sacked for a ten yard loss. Rather than score a touchdown, Utah had to settle for a 30-yard FG that tied up the score. Near the end of the quarter, Max Hall orchestrated a long drive of his own. Though they knocked on the door, they too were turned away and had to settle for a 23-yard FG. Utah tried some razzle-dazzle on the kickoff return, but the Cougar special teams stuffed the runner at the 7-yard line. After pinning the Utes inside their own ten, the Cougars started their next possession at their own 44-yard line.

As the fourth quarter opened, BYU drove inside the Utah 20, but the Ute D once again forced them to go for the FG. Payne’s 35-yarder gave BYU a 9-3 lead. On their next possession, Hall completed a long pass to Austin Collie, who ran all the way to the Utah 31-yard line. Unfortunately, they turned the ball over on downs when Hall’s fourth down pass slipped through the fingers of Harvey Unga on what would have been a TD strike. Instead, Utah ate up most of the clock in a 69-yard drive that lasted 15 plays. With 1:34 remaining, Darrell Mack swept right for a one-yard TD. The extra point by Sakoda gave Utah a one-point lead.

With just a minute and a half remaining in the fourth quarter, BYU began its last drive from their own 20. The Utes sacked Hall on the first play of the drive. Two incompletions later, the Cougars faced a fourth-and-eighteen from their own twelve yard line. *Max Hall, who was suffering from a third-degree shoulder separation, took the snap and looked for his tight ends, but they were covered. As the pocket collapsed, he scrambled to his right and launched a bomb to Austin Collie and “magic” happened. Collie had to wait for the ball, but caught it and turned upfield before stumbling out of bounds for a 49-yard gain (#10). A penalty by Utah pushed the ball into field goal range. *On second-and-seven, from the 11-yard line, Hall handed the ball to RB Harvey Unga, who sliced through the defense and burst into the end zone for the winning score with 38 seconds to go (#23). Collie snagged the two-point conversion to provide the seven point margin of victory. With 30 seconds left, Utah tried to strike back. They quickly got a first down to midfield. With ten seconds left, Johnson was on the verge of getting sacked, but chucked the ball out of bounds to avoid the sack and stop the clock. On the final play of the game, all of Utah’s receivers sprinted for the end zone. Johnson dropped back, waited, then launched a bomb into the end zone. Three Utes and eight Cougars converged on the ball, which was batted down. Game over! Cougars win!

Austin Collie
Courtesy of BYU Photo

Harvey Unga
Courtesy of BYU Photo

With the win, the Cougars became the outright champions of the MWC, earning them a third straight trip to the Las Vegas Bowl for a rematch against UCLA. Utah was invited to the Poinsettia Bowl, where they would defeat Navy.

 Game link: https://www.byutv.org/b66850a1-f8ea-4efc-b0c9-53eb652de55a/byu-football-utah-vs.-byu-(11-24-07)

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