Favorite Mountain West Conference memory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1AewMuz41g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtMF4ZrC9ws

My favorite part is 2:35, where there’s a minute left in the game, Utah is up 45-21, and defensive lineman Steve Fifita comes into the game as a running back, literally throws one of BYU’s defenders on the ground with one hand, straight-arms another guy and runs it in for a 4-yard TD. (That clip is also here, but it’s a grainier version.)

WR Steve Savoy’s 92-yard TD run at 3:36 was pretty awesome too. (Also available here.)

I froze my butt off in driving cold November winds at over 7000 feet, but I was one of only a hundred or so Utah fans that actually got to see the game live. The Wyoming stadium had a partial blackout, which took them over an hour and a half to fix, and by the time the lights were back on, KJZZ had already started showing a Harry Potter movie instead of the game and wouldn’t switch back.

and it’s really not that close for me.

TCU 2008

I’ll take the two times we crushed byu on our way to the undefeated seasons.

This was more than just a game. This was a chance to become the first non-BCS team (as they were called back then) to play in a BCS bowl. There was such a feeling of electricity in the air. Game Day actually came to SLC. It doesn’t seem like such a huge deal now with TCU, Boise St, and Utah all playing in two BCS games a piece, not to mention Hawaii.

But at this time it had never happened. For all the great teams that went undefeated or opened the season appearing like they might, none ever played in a big game. Marshall, Tulane, Fresno St., Boise St., BYU, TCU, Louisville, etc. They all looked like they could have or should have. But this was real. One game and we’re in. Beat your arch rival and crack the system. I’ll never forget the swarm of people rushing the field instantaneously from all sides. Security didn’t even try to stop anyone, they wanted us to capture the emotion of moment and it was an great celebration.

A defensive game for the ages. TCU was a top ten team and looked better than Utah for much of the contest. I was sitting in a bar in the West Village with a few members of the Utah alumni-New York chapter drinking away through serious doubts. The game is over.

Then their place kicker missed a couple of chip shots that left the door open for an amazing drive that will be at or near the top in Ute lore for generations to come. Life continued on a fourth and five. Brian Johnson cool and collected without a hint of panic moves the team down field against a defense that hadn’t budged all night. Then, against all odds, touchdown Utah. We actually had the lead with less than a minute to play. How did that happen? Simply amazing.

This win made the Alabama Sugar Bowl match up possible. Soundly defeating a team that played in the SEC championship and was number #1 in the country for half of the season did wonders for the program. It never would have happened without the TCU fantastic finish.

Prior to the 2003 season, I was a “NCAA tournament Ute basketball fan” and “beat BYU” football fan. But 2003 I had my own car and free tickets to the Cal game. I went to that game and enjoyed it (and later the Oregon game), but when I was glued to the TV, pacing back and forth, wringing my hands over those two games, I was hooked for life.

Arnold Parker returning that fumble against CSU, and Ben Moa with the jump pass in double OT against AFA are memories I’ll never forget.

TDS 2004, it just doesn’t get any better than that. Everything significant in Utah football that has happened this decade stems from the 2004 season. That team could do no wrong. Toward the end of the season, it wasn’t a question of whether Utah would win or lose, the question became how badly would they embarrass their opponent. I just can’t think of enough descriptors for that night, freezing as it was, when I hit that field, slapped hands with the team, congratulated Alex as he was hoisted around in that silly sombrero… The BCS busting, the Pac-12 invite, none of that happens without the 2004 season. And to celebrate Pac-12 Day, I’m wearing my 2004 MUSS shirt today.

But a close, close second is the 2008 TCU game. I was at RES for that one as well and the sheer tension of that defensive grindfest was unhealthy for those in attendance with heart conditions. But that last drive, the winning touchdown, the final interception, the rollercoaster of emotions in that game between elation and frustration… It was an utter shame that one of those teams had to lose because TCU deserved a BCS game that year. That game proved that Kyle was at least Urban’s equal, and that heart and “scrappiness” can yield results just as well as talent.

Granted if we’re talking favorite moments while in the MWC, and not just games against MWC, I’d have to say 2 January, 2009. I could watch that first quarter again, and again, and again… ( though the hook-and-ladder four years earlier is almost as entertaining. )

…but those are two of my favorite MWC games.

TCU and Utah had a good thing building; it’s too bad the book closes already on such a promising rivalry…