You forgot one thing Harmon-
"sorry guys, we spent more time reading the newspapers and watching ESPN clips and analysis of our forthcoming perfect season and BCS buster predictions than we did game film of the pathetic Utah State defense. They made us look confused most of the game and unfocused.

Hopefully the best thing that came out of this game was eating one giant piece of humble pie.

Come on BYU, let's demonstrate charity on the field...next year! I doubt Oklahoma or Georgia will let us win with that level of execution. No more mercy or you might as well book your Vegas travel plans for the post-season!

Couldn't have said it better myself, Dick. Give credit to USU for not folding after the 1st, but man, 12 flags (mostly on the offense), 3 turnovers and I don't know how many dropped passes scares me to death. It's like they made up three games worth of miscues in one game.

Look at it this way: for three quarters of that game the Aggies won 14-10. I doubt the remaining teams on their schedule will let them get a big first quarter lead to live off of the rest of the game. Good thing those mistakes are correctable--I hope...

P.S. Another effort like that and you might as well make Vegas travel plans for the post-season!!!Please demonstrate mangnanimity to opposing teams only when your pads aren't on!

Sorry Harmon, what a stupid article. Anymore of that and I'll stop reading.

Dick, that was brutal.

Harmon, I think you are spot on with that. i kept thinking to myself is USU run D really that good or are we really that bad tonight. I really hope that the team takes every bit of this game and never forgets it. being called OVER RATED by USU fans, the 2 ints, the sack, dropped passes, failed assignments and execution, failed 3rd down conversions, poor special teams play, PENALTIES.
the only good thing that i hope come out of this, besides BYU learning from it, is that USU picks up and runs with what they did tonight. because from what i saw in the second half, i would have thought they were 5-0 and 8th in the polls.

Isn't 300 rated "R"?!? Pretty funny article. It's too bad that college football has come down to who you beat and by how much- thanks BCS.

That article was almost as painful to read as the game was to watch. Is this suppose to be creative journalism? I'd go back to the drawing board.

... the Aggies were really hyped up for this game. They're better than advertised--certainly not the worst team in the nation, as the SI preseason power rankings for one had it. They got in the Cougs' heads a bit, too. They weren't about to have another Utah game meltdown.

They still won't come close to winning the WAC, but they won't utterly embarrass themselves, either. They've got more pride, guts and grit than people have been giving them credit for.

So Cal fan, I'll have to agree with you that BYU played as if it spent too much of its bye week reading press clippings. Or as if playing only one halfway decent quarter of football is enough to win a football game. Let's hope it's back to basics and away from the press coverage from here on out.

Pride goeth before a fall--and here come the Lobos and TCU. Gotta wise up in a hurry.

Actually the Utes also played in Logan...not in Salt Lake like your article suggests (and your reasoning for the greater point disparity). USU DID play up in Oregon, if you want to throw out those comparisons for "home field advantage".

Great article. Sums it up nicely. At least BYU knows they have ALOT to work on now.

If we want to be in BCS, we cannot be that sloppy. it is good that the offense, and the defense somewhat, are having a bad game with only USU. I hope they will wake up and get rady for the next game.

If the pollsters didn't see the game, they'll figure with 300+ yards passing and a 20 point win away from home, BYU did okay. If they watched the game, depending on what the teams around them in the polls do, they just might slip the Cougars down a few notches.

I think the BYU players don't have that killer confidence that the top teams have. They'd have just gone into Utah State and showed who's boss. They didn't. Oklahoma showed Washington and TCU who's boss. BYU didn't at Washington, and probably won't against TCU. BYU doesn't look like it's in Oklahoma's league.

Combined with Utah's squeaker over Oregon State at home, the MWC looks a little less strong. Hopefully, Air Force can win their game Saturday. A loss there would add another chink. Still, the MWC has a great non-conference record this year.

5-0 isn't anything to be disapppointed about. So, I guess we should be happy.

So USU didn't roll over the way everyone thought they would. So the offense too often went deep instead of methodically moving down the field as usual. So Hall needs to check down his progression when Collie's doubled up. So the O-line didn't assert itself in the run game. So, after creaming the Aggies in the 1st quarter, the team relaxed far too much in the 2nd. So the D got chippy after the shutout streak ended at 11 quarters and 137-0 in scoring. So we "only" won by 20 points.

It doesn't matter. A win's a win, even against a team like USU. Just ask USC, USF, Florida and Wisconsin.

Hopefully this will wake the team up to the fact that it has a huge target on its back and the opposition will bring everything it has. I'd rather they meet some resistance, get rattled and find themselves in a dogfight when up 20 points late than early in the TCU game. Bronco was visibly displeased and I'm sure that he has plenty of "teaching moments" to drill into them before next week's game.

Is a team really over-rated when its offense plays it's worst game of the year, gives up nearly 150 yeards of bone-headed penalties, and still wins by three touchdowns? This was like the super-bowl for Utah State fans and I'm confident they'd have stormed the field if they'd scored on the last play of the game (to lose by two touchdowns). The saddest thing is that most of those USU fans weren't there the game before and won't be back until they play BYU again. Embarrassing. They're just a bunch of anti-BYU wannabes who really don't care enough about their own team to show up to any other game.

Harsh, VERY harsh! The satircal analysis in your article was as accurate as any I have ever read. Dick, simply you outdid yourself. I hope every BYU offensive player is required to read your article and look at themelves in the mirror regarding their performance at USU.

BYU has a HUGE bullseye on its back, with the national ranking, and every team they play is going to pull out all stops to beat them. Opponents are NOT going to rollover and die for BYU this season. They are going to try and knock them off their nationally ranked pedestal.

If BYU does not play EVERY game executing at their highest level, a loss will be assured this season. It is time for BYU to dig deep and decide if it really wants to be one of the top football programs in the nation, or be just another also ran, constantly whining and begging for respect.

Quit resting on your laurels, and stop reading your own press clippings. The season starts next week with New Mexico! Show us what you can REALLY do by dominating the teams left on the schedule. You have the talent to do it!!!

byu needed to run up the score and couldn't. So please stop with all this "charity" talk. And don't feed me the "well they were playing their 3rd and 4th stringers". Max Hall took every snap the ENTIRE game.

Well written Harmon - I think this was one of Halls' worst games to date. Rather than take what he gets - he tried to force the play all night - it was: I want to throw to Dennis or Austin and I will no matter what. The whole offense appeared to be sleepwalking through the plays. Without our defense showing up to play - we would have lost this game.

BYU was due for a down game, so I guess this was a good time to have one as it still produced a 20-point victory. However, this game felt like a loss.

Hall need to move the ball to others. Distribute the ball to all the receivers. Quit going to Collie every other play. To all the receivers: focus on catching the ball. Yesterday had shades of UW where it seemed no one was ready to play.

I am all for pulling back when you jump to a big lead. Scoring 24 in the first quarter was great. But keep the hammer down until the end of the half.

So you say you would have put 58 points on the Aggies like Utah if you could have played them at home like Utah. Uh, I distinctly recall driving up to Logan for that game. I think you fumbled that one.
I'm happy BYU won and was pleased to see the Aggies put up a fight. It was ugly yet fun to watch. Just like the Utah game.

So Cal BYU Fan,

Hi there neighbor. Better prepare for LV in December. It's only about 5-hour drive.
I'm driving to AZ to celebrate New Year fiesta.

A couple of notes:
I think I only saw Max Hall look-off the defensive secondary twice. But for that, I could tell where he was going every time. Makes defending BYU easier.
Borel and Locker are similar quarterbacks and it is evident that BYU doesn't handle athletic quarterbacks well.

My thoughts exactly!

If BYU remains this focused they will flat out NOT be going to the Vegas bowl, forget BCS. If BYU plays with their collective heads in the newspaper clippings of greatness they WILL lose to both TCU and Utah and WILL lose another MWC game along the way. That will be either New Mexico, Colorad St, Air Force or UNLV. FACT.

They better stop being primadonas who are ranked in the Top Ten (for another 30 hours at least before they get dropped behind Utah) and get back to the basics that got them ranked as high as 7.

This one game risks blowing everything. Yesterday afternoon a BCS game was very much in reach. After last nights pathetic performance...no one wants another Hawaii versus Georgia game.

If we keep playing like last night let's get ready for Podunk State in the John Deere Bowl in Hooperville, Kentucky. I think that's the newest bowl game.

Get back to business!

You're all correct. Utah State totally dominated this game, shut BYU down completely and certainly deserved their three touchdown margin of victory.

What's that you say? They LOST by THREE freaking touchdowns?

You mean BYU played it's worst game in two years and STILL won by THREE freaking TOUCHDOWNS?

Even if it felt to you that Utah State outplayed BYU, it doesn't matter. You can feel like Superman, it doesn't mean you can fly.

It is time to be consistent Cougar fans. (You all remember consistency, right? It's one of Bronco's first commandments?)

It is time to say the same thing that we said after the Washington game. It doesn't matter what fans, pundits, fish-wrap quarterbacks or anyone else thinks. Scoreboard is all that matters. Period.

Remember; oh, remember my children; the dark days of Gary Crowton when a victory over Timpview would have caused a major celebration. Be grateful that ye not be filled with pride!

i don't get this whole thing from Harmon to Wrubbel...both not happy with a win. any win against USU is like any win against the U. these two schools loathe byu. it's a holy war just like the U game for byu. byu had nothing to prove in this game. they just needed to win and get out of there with as few injuries as possible. aside from a small stadium with low revenues this is the reason byu dislikes playing the usu: go back to 1983 when usu knocked gordon hudson out of football essentially for good despite a stint in the USFL with a viscious cut block. usu did it again last night multiple times. nixon got a helmet to the shin and was taken off the field. usu is a dirty team. i wish we could eliminate this and the u games just based on the nastiness that happens from these two teams. it's not worth the injuries. so let's just be happy BYU won and move onto next week.

Sorry Dick, get your facts straight. Utes destroyed the Aggies IN LOGAN [Wink, Wink]. Are you sure you cover sports??? Cougar homie.....

Great article Harmon and it hit the nail square. Except you forgot that the defense cannot stop the long ball. BYU is sooooooo overrated it makes me laugh. I will be real surprised if BYU can stay in the top #10. Hope they do so we can show them how a good team can play in November. It will be fun. Go Utes! P.S. We scored 58 against the Aggs after pulling our starters early! Collie needs to go back to receiving 101. He must have dropped 4 or 5 easy ones.

Okay, I get your point! Cougs better get the "Eye of the Tiger" soon or the Y will go down sooner or later. Every team we play from here on in the conference will play as though it is their bowl game since for some teams they won't have the 6 wins necessary to go post-season bowling.

Cougs, up the intensity at New Mexico!! Go Cougs!

Dick, once again you are loose with the facts. Utah played at USU. (wink, wink)

Dick,
That was a good article. I love it, like the humor.

While it was a little harsh I have to agree that the offense needs to pull their heads out. We still won by 20, and while it should have been more I am somewhat grateful the starters had to play a whole game. I think some of the lack of sharpness could be attributed to the offense only having played the equivalent of about 3 games instead of five. It will get worked out.

Harmon, get your facts straight, Utes beat Aggies in Logan. Still want to see the Holy War with both teams undefeated. Shut the state down for a week.

The real problem is that BYU isn't so hot on the road. Everyone is talking about the national championship game, when they've only played one game away from home, and they barely eked out a win against a winless Huskies team in Seattle. I think this BYU team is like all those Steve Cleveland basketball teams--great at home, but losers on the road. This team will blow out New Mexico next week, but I shudder to think what will happen in Fort Worth just 5 days later...not to mention the 2 trips to Colorado, and the finale in Salt Lake.

Dick,

This was a horrible win, but a win. The D was great and spent way to much time on the field. They never should have been out there that long in the first half.

The offence, well let us just hope that they do not spin out in any more games through the rest of the season. This was a good game to be a little off since our D is good enough to win the game inspite of the O. That will not be the case the rest of the season.

Did you think maybe some of those players would rather have been at their mission reunions? Great read Dick!

Dear BYU football team, the next time you feel like you deserve your ranking, just have the A/V student pump the USU chants of "Over-rated!" through the loud speakers all practice long. If I were Bronco, I would have that chant as a required download for all of your iPod's to listen to all week as as well.

to nottyou and the rest of you Utah yahoos that get your panties in a knot over these articles:

Sportswriting is NOT journalism. It's entertainment. It's a person writing about a GAME for idiots with nothing better to do than read about it. That's why REAL journalists call the sports department the "toy department."

And your point is? Not all of us care nor hold a standard or not watching rated R movies. So until you've mastered perfection, leave stupid comments like that out of the message boards. Besides, haven't you heard of edited movies or clearplay?

All in all, it was a very ugly game. After the first quarter dominance, it should have ended 60-0 with our second string in for most of the second half. I think this game was good for a couple reasons. One is that their performance should bring them down a few notches so they come in strong and humbled a bit for the rest of conference play. I think they let the two shutouts and high ranking get to their head. Two is that they actually had to play a full game, something they are going to need to get used to for when they play TCU, Air Force, and Utah.

"BCS" buster,and Ranked in the top ten??? Yeah right!!! Lets hope this game was "BLACKED" out to the nation. I suggest you clean up the "Hand Cart"
a bit if the Cougars are planning to finally play some quality teams to justify your top ten rating.

I love the Cougars, however, last night was miserable to watch. Dick, I think you nailed it on the head!!! We should have destroyed them. They looked like a lot better team than what we think they are... maybe they are living right off the field too.

8 minutes left in the game score was 34-0 and the dogs were called off. Anyone who thinks any different is just not clear with their thoughts...

Thus the (wink, wink) comment in his article.

Why was my comment removed . . . never mind . . . I know why . . . I'm not a cougar fan . . . I'm sorry . . . I shouldn't have stuck my nose into the mighty cougar empire of the Deseretnews.

Harmon - get a clue! Utes played in Logan this year, get your facts straight. Utah was up 37-7 against Weber St. and played the 4th quarter without their starters. Kyle was never going to run up the score against Coach McBride. Why so defensive Dick? Truth hurts, Cougars have played teams with a combined record of 6-16, impressive!

Very well-written and entertaining. And accurate. Could have done without the Midol reference/women-are-weak slant, but other than that, great article.

beautiful harmon!

For those of us who have watched BYU all season we know they played their worst game of the year! Part was due to USU playing at the top of their capabilities and part was due to very lackluster play-specifially by BYU's offense.

What happened to a more methodical pass attack hitting Pitta, Unga and others for short to intermediate passes? What happened to the blocking from the offensive line? Why the ho-hum effort in catching passes by Collie (I love ya man...but let's focus and not act like we're doing a walk-through) and others?

Despite the win, this game gave me more heartburn and anxiety than any for a long time. I don't know how many times I let out choice words because of the stupid uninspired play!

Yes, USU has definitely improved over the last two games largely due to the insertion of the new quarterback--and the rest of the team is gaining confidence. I think that's great for them! But still, this should have been more like a 50-14 win. I couldn't believe we couldn't score TD's the 2 times we tried FGs (and missed one).

BYU is better than this-let's see it next week!

To "Red Man", First of all...don't get your hopes up...Utah themselves are overrated! I watched them Thurs night and although I was pulling for them, they stunk! Sorry, but Johnson doesn't have what it takes and Utah was lucky to score that last TD and win, (thanks to a bad pass interferance call by the ref on the first 2 point conversion).

As for the USU/BYU game, USU is MUCH improved since Utah played them. With the new QB they have really picked it up! This was by far BYU's worst game of the season and they will wake up after this poor performance. I watched Utah barely beat Air Force too and BYU will handle them by a much larger margin I guarantee it.

I have been watching BYU football for 30 years of my adult life and I don't recall seeing a better BYU team (when they are firing on all cylinders). So get ready "red man" to get a red face the last conference game of the year!