There is nothing more heartwarming than receiving a family holiday card in the mail. It's always nice knowing someone is thinking of you this Christmas season.

I was lucky enough to get a copy of the Christmas card Bronco Mendenhall has sent out to all his close friends and family and I thought I'd share it with you because, well, isn't that what this season is all about?

Enjoy.

Happy Holidays From the Mendenhalls (and Whiskers!)

Boise State and BYU announced today the signing of a twelve-game series that will begin next year. It's a huge deal that will span at least a decade and might indicate a monumental shift in the rivalry game between the Utes and Cougars.

Though there is still the possibility of BYU and Utah agreeing to a deal, especially if the Cougars remain independent for the foreseeable future, it is interesting that, a couple weeks after several subtle hints were dropped from Utah's side that the rivalry might not continue beyond the two-game series already scheduled, the Cougars turn around and invest in a multi-year series with the Broncos. 

I could be reading way into things here and that wouldn't be the first time. However, it's rare you ever see two programs make such a commitment to scheduling - unless they're rivals.

Could Boise State be BYU's new rival? 

Saturday's win over BYU was the most enjoyable and complete performance since the 2009 Sugar Bowl and signals that maybe the Utes are finally putting together the pieces for a solid and successful first season in the Pac-12. 

Prior to the game, though, that was unclear. We didn't really know how good Utah was and, I guess in some ways, we still don't. Certainly the Utes aren't 44 points better than the Cougars. But they are better. That shouldn't be up for debate. An equal does not lose on its home field the way BYU did Saturday.

While Utah might not have been six or seven scores better than the Cougars, I do believe if they were to line up ten more times, regardless of location, the Utes win every single time and I doubt any game is really all that close. 

That's huge because I think it shows just how improved this team is over last year's squad. Last year, Utah would have been rolled by SC and I'm not sure they would be capable of beating this year's BYU team. If they did, I'm thinking it would be by a similar margin to last year's game - maybe even coming down to the final play. 

That wasn't the case Saturday. In fact, outside the first half, this game was never really in doubt. Once Utah went up 21-10 at the start of the third, I felt the game was pretty much in their control, even if this was a rivalry game and history had taught us that no lead is really safe. 

But this game felt different. This wasn't the 2006 Utes who, with a lot of fight and determination, pushed ahead of the Cougars early in the third quarter of that rivalry game. We knew, at that point, BYU was the better team. Utah was kind of living on borrowed time with their lead and what do you know, the Cougars clawed their way back into it and eventually won the game on the final play.

Like 2008, though, once the floodgates opened, you just felt there would be no comeback for BYU. They just weren't good enough, at least compared to the Utes, to make this a game. 

After three consecutive scores, which resulted in a 24-10 lead, Utah broke BYU's will and the rest is pretty much history. 

The grades after the jump...

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After Saturday's game, ESPN Pac-12 blogger Ted Miller wrote that Utah opened up some shock and awe on the Cougars. 

For a rivalry that loves to name specific games (the Rice Bowl, Burton's Block, Doink Game), shock & awe works perfectly. It pretty much sums up exactly what Utah unleashed on BYU Saturday night. It was the most dominant stretch of football this rivalry has seen since BYU routed Utah 70-31 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in 1989. 

In the 80s, Utah fans witnessed a lot of those games and many even happened in their own stadium. During the 1980 rivalry game, the Cougars overtook Rice Stadium and pulverized the Utes 56-6. That was really the beginning of the end for Utah head coach Wayne Howard, as next year, after a successful 8-2-1 season, he abruptly retired and left the state. 

Howard had been quoted many times throughout his five years with the Utes on how much he hated the BYU Cougars. In his first season leading the program, LaVell Edwards reinserted starting quarterback Marc Wilson to break the NCAA record for passing yards - even with the Cougars handily ahead. After the game, Howard was famously quoted that beating BYU would now be his crusade. 

The next year, the Utes upended BYU 23-22 in Salt Lake City, earning their first victory over an Edwards coached team. They wouldn't win again until 1988.

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I don't think anyone expected a 54-10 rout Saturday night. It might be the most unexpected outcome in the rivalry's history since the Utes dropped 57 on BYU in 1988. 

Generally, these games aren't blowouts. Normally, they come down to the fourth quarter, a final play and a few sequences that ultimately decide the game. Saturday, this one was over pretty much at the start of the third quarter. In fact, I don't know if a game against the Cougars has been so quickly decided in either's favor so fast in the last 20 or so years. Even in 2004 and 2008, BYU put up more of a fight and kept things interesting for a bit before wilting away.

Not so Saturday. The Utes completely dominated the second half. The sold out LaVell Edwards Stadium crowd sat stunned for most the game and you've got to wonder if it left Mr. Edwards himself wishing the stadium didn't bear his name.

Certainly this was the worst performance BYU has experienced at home since Edwards' first season in 1972 and that includes the three-year stretch of awfulness that defined the Gary Crowton era. 

It was the worst loss to Utah in modern rivalry history. 

And when this game kicked off around 7:20 Saturday night, I don't think anyone thought such a thing could happen. 

Now the Utes have momentum heading into their bye week (and the home conference opener against Washington) and the Cougars are left with a lot more questions than they had before this massacre began.

Beat the Fighting Roscoes!

You all know my personal story with last year's rivalry game. No need to revisit sad memories.

So, instead, let's focus on a good one - Brandon Burton's blocked field goal. 

Since the 2006 season, Utah fans had been tormented by close, last second losses to BYU. The stretch of awful, emotionally exhausting defeats at the hands of our rivals was only broken up by the lone lopsided victory in this series since the Whittingham-Roscoe era began. Of course, that was the '08 game and Utah, with a huge third and fourth quarter, cruised to a 48-24 victory over the Cougars, punching their ticket to the BCS. 

But outside that game, we had Harline Is Still Open, Magic Happens and George Is Still Running. In all three defeats, the Utes held the lead before each heartbreaking play materialized. '06 still remains the most painful of losses because Utah was one stop away from pulling off arguably one of the biggest upset in the rivalry's history. 

With one block, though, all that pain washed away. The close losses, giving Cougar fans a year's worth of fodder, vanished with one play.

The game itself was pretty unremarkable. Neither team could find any offensive movement and though the Utes trailed 13-0 heading into the fourth quarter, you sensed they would eventually make a play or two to get back into it. 

And that's exactly what they did. To start the fourth, Joe Phillips connected on a 40-yard field goal and pulled Utah to within 10 points. A touchdown less than two minutes later would make it a three point game before a Mitch Payne kick ballooned the lead to six points. 

That's where Jordan Wynn had one of the biggest throws of the game, hitting Dallin Rogers on a 30 yard pass that put the Utes at BYU's three and, a play later, Matt Asiata punched it in for the go ahead score.

Of course, this is the Holy War and rarely do games end like that. There was still nearly five minutes left in the game, plenty of time left for a Cougar game-winning drive.

Cue the '06, '07, '09 flashbacks. 

Brandon Burton was not going to have any of that. After the Cougars toyed its way down the field to get into field goal range, the heavens opened, God smiled on our fair Utes and we created a little magic of our own. 

Brandon Burton's Game Winning Blocked Field Goal vs. BYU in 2010 (via UtahUtesHighlights)