After watching the last quarter a few times, I have realized that there were several things that contributed to the loss that I have listed below in chronologic order.

1. UTAH PLAYED WITH A SENSE OF URGENCY

2. UTAH GOT CHUNK PLAYS WITH A 4 RECEIVER LINEUP. By the very end of the 3rd quarter, Utah started having good success spreading the field with 4 receivers. BYU went to three down lineman and there was absolutely no pressure on the QB and there were huge running lanes. This also seemed to wear down BYU's defensive line as Utah got chunk plays.

3. TWO KEY DEFENSIVE INJURIES. Corbin was playing injured already but tweaked it late in the 3rd. He stayed in a while longer, but no longer had the disruptive motor he had earlier, which further weakened the defensive line.
The other Kaufusi who played linebacker went out and was replaced by a less athletic freshman who Utah targeted for a few big plays.

4. HADLEY INJURY AND A RUN CALL ON 3RD AND 9 THE NEXT PLAY. The wheels really started to come off the very beginning of the 4th quarter. The first play Hadley is injured on a 2nd and 12. The next play is a 3rd and 9 and BYU hands it off to Riley Burt who gets 5 yards- a nice carry, but a TERRIBLE play call when you need 9 yards.

Maybe they went conservative to prevent an interception here, I don't know, but chances of breaking off a 9 yard run here was very low. This was the only play call that I thought was truly conservative. Maybe Wilson made this call- I don't know.

As a side note, Utah fans love to point out that Hadley averaged only 3 yards a carry, but neglect the fact that he was also catching balls out if the backfield. He was getting the yards BYU needed, when they were needed, to move the sticks. He also got 2 short yardage TD's against a tough defensive front.

Riley Burt was no threat to catch a ball out of the backfield.

5. A 15 YARD PUNT. Following the Hadley injury and terrible play call is the 15 yard punt. . . classic BYU crapping their pants. The ball goes out at the 45 yard line! Utah scores on a short field aided with a pass interference penalty. The defensive line is looking gassed. All momentum is going Utah's way now.

6. THROWING DOWNFIELD ON A 3RD AND 1.
With BYU down by one with around 4 minutes to go, they find themselves in a 3rd and 1. The play call sends 3 receivers out on intermediate patterns. There may have been a miscommunication or something, but Zack throws it into the ground trying to hit a reciever at the sideline doing a 10 yard comeback pattern. The receiver was covered well and may have even been held, but the ball was nowhere it could have been caught anyways.

A 3rd and 1 with corners playing off 7 yards could have been an easy first down off of a quick slant or even just a quick throw to the sideline. Another option would have been to run the ball for a better chance of getting 1 yard. A more experienced qb may have called an audible into a play more likely to get a first down, but that play should have never been called in the first place.

7. FAILURE TO CONVERT AND STOP A 4TH AND 1. At that point it is 4th and 1. Utah converted two 4th and 1's in the 4th quarter, but BYU was stopped on theirs. Utah brought the house and there was nowhere to run.

Just once, I would like BYU to sell the run and dump a pass over the top to a RB or tight end for a good gain to take advantage of Utah's overcommitment to stop the run in such critical short yardage situations.

IN SUMMARY, lack of depth, coaching errors, lack of qb experience, and a good opponant all worked against BYU that 4th quarter. With the terrible punt and failure to convert on 4th and 1, BYU essentially had 2 turnovers down the stretch resulting in short fields for Utah, which they quickly converted to TD's.

I hope they can learn from last year's mistakes and be better prepared this year. I hope they have figured out how to defend a 4 receiver set or we will see more of the same next Thursday. Here's to hoping they play a complete game next week and don't crap the bed. Go Cougars!!!