us to demonize anyone who’s not on our side (this may even be applicable to politics…).

Ratliff is an interesting one. IIRC, that 2005 game was his first start. In the week leading up to the game, it seemed like the media had already given the game to BYU. We were starting to come together as a team and Utah was falling apart. Their QB had been injured the previous week and we thought we had the game in the bag because they were going to have to start this unheralded guy who wasn’t supposed to be very good. I think part of that was gamesmanship by Whittingham, almost sounding like he was surrendering and conceding the game before it was played.

Ratliff then proceeded to run all over us. We looked off-balance defensively from the opening drive and he beat us with his legs more than his arm. Disappointing loss in the first Holy War game between Bronco and Kyle, but yeah, looking at it from their perspective, it was a great moment for them and it extended their streak over us to the post-Urban Meyer era — probably their longest win streak in decades.

Some other times I remember seeing things from the other side’s point of view are when we pulled off upset wins on the road against “classy” fan bases. In the case of 2009 Oklahoma, 2014 Texas, and 2015 Nebraska, I could see that, as excited as I was, the opposing fans were stunned and sad. Those three games in particular reminded me that there are nice people on the other side who are just as invested in their teams as I am in mine.