yewt fans don't starty pointing to injuries again when a few loses come your way, and believe me they will. Beating a name heavy team like michigan was good for the conference but don't expect a magical run that only urban could deliver for you....btw how is the few from behind in the mwc? you should be pretty familiar with it by now...lol

Your "soldier" didn't go down, their aren't "live bullets" in practice. I wish Witt and his players would realize football is a game and stop using war metaphors. If you want to go to "battle" then enlist and go to the middle east, otherwise give those terms the respect they deserve.

In fact, Witt and his team should attend the funeral of the next soldier from Utah who goes down in a real battle.

It's a good thing the next game is against UNLV. The Utes have something to prove in this game as they redeem themselves from last year. The ends are very talented and healthy, so this injury won't be devastating to the Utes. They'll still win, and hopefully the whole team is healthy when November comes.
I hope that the BYU team is healthy too, as I've never met a bigger group of whiners than Cougar fans, and the incessant excuses that pop up when a loss comes their way. Utes, get prepared for a barrage of negativity and flying excuses this week when Washington hands the cougars their heads in a blow-out victory.

To Please,
What does BYU know about playing in a BCS game. Anwer: Nothing
Keep up the good work, you'll catch up some day.
Maybe!

I hope I'm not being oversensitive, but it grates when I hear athletes say things like "It's hard to replace Kenape, but our soldier went down." No, a 'soldier' did not go down.

During a time when real soldiers are really dying, let's not put sports injuries at the same level.

Please:

What: "loses" and "few"?

Maybe someone should tell that to Bronco and his "Band of Brothers".

I think some people are being a little oversensitive. Words like soldier and battle are used everyday by teams in all sports. There is no disrespect intended here. Lets stop being so PC and hyper-sensitive. No one is trying to compare sports to what our troops through. Stop trying to create issues people.

As a BYU fan, I congratulate Utan on it's impressive win at Michigan. I hope that the media finally begins to give MWC teams some attention. Utah got the job done. Give credit where credit is due. The offense played well in first half despite the high number of self-inflicted penalties. Utah has something to build on and will not look past UNLV.

BYU played well 3 of 4 quarters. Got the win in a "lose-lose" situation. Kudos to Hall and Pitta.
Turnovers were careless and occured near their own goal line, which attributed for most of UNI's points. Will have something to build on as they prepare to meet Washington.

Hope both teams win this weekend.

Thanks for your comments. It is nice to discuss football with someone who follows football and happens to like BYU. I am a person who follows football and happens to like the U.

I hope BYU can tie up the loose ends and beat Washington.

Both teams have shown they have the talent, however too many mental mistakes for both teams.

Looking for a showdown in November. Go Utah.

Must be slow at the Maverick at 1:00 AM. Obviously BYU's game against a top 10 high school team didn't leave much to talk about.

Let the whining and excuses begin.

Nobody does it better than a Ute.

Mark, it is a figure of speech. Of course a real, military trained soldier didn't go down. You probably actually think the enemy is named "Charlie": don't you. Go Utah.

Congrats on the win, Utah.

However, if you ever want to be taken seriously - as a team and a conference, you need to "seize the opportunity". You had the chance to beat us by 28 points and really make a statement. But in my opinion you choked and barely squeaked by.

The talk at Michigan is not how you guys beat us. Rather it is about how bad Michigan is. I agree with what is being said. Although you topped us in the score, the real story is how bad Michigan is.

Hopefully we will give you a Michigan-esk game the next time we play.

Now go enjoy your time beating up other WAC foes and leave the national scene to the teams and conferences that really matter.

i coach freshman ball down here in cedar city, and we tell our boys to be warriors and to go out and battle each and everyday. we have position battles everyday in practice and if the starter gets beat, he is out. competition is the only way to improve and being warriors and going to battle is the best way to get it done. people need to chill out, its no disrespect at all to the military.

Big win for the Utes, now they have to aviod yet another collossal meltdown!!! I dont worry about injuries to the defense as much as i do the offense. I hope louks sore knee isnt much of a problem. As for you cougar fans, I wuggest you quit worrying about the Utes and worry about Norm Chow and a decent UCLA team!!! Go Utes

Which team has lost twice to UNLV (AT HOME!!!) in the last 10 years, Utah or BYU?
that would be byu
Stellar effort coogs!

Every down - every practice, and it's much more legitimate than the Billion Dollar Bullying going on in the Middle East. Why don't you correct "W" and his bunch, explain the "dying" principle to them, over barrels of oil. Leave Sports alone, you Monday morning quarterback.

Would the byu & um trolls just crawl back in their holes. Go talk smack on the Washington web sites. Come back in November - well, maybe not, since byu will be 8-3 (utah 11-0) & nobody will care anymore.

“…Witt [sic] and his team should attend the funeral of the next soldier from Utah who goes down in a real battle.”

Judging by the number of military casualties resulting in a fatality in this war, and in factoring the number of recruits that actually come out of Utah, I'd say Whittingham and his players would be in for a looooong wait.

As a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, I am not the least bit offended by coaches referring to their players as soldiers, so I don't know why you would be.

you are not the real Ernest. That was a very poor impersonation.

Which team beat UCLA last year and then threw it all away and embarrassed themselves and the MWC by getting shut out 27-0 by UNLV the worst team in our conference?

That would be utah.

Count on them doing something similar this year too.

Which Utah was shutout by a UNLV team that won only ONE conference game last season?
Stellar effort!

To HawkeyeUte:
Don't let the hall monitor's job go to your head.

To Utah Man:
The Utes played a good enough first half to weather the 2nd half meltdown in Ann Arbor. Utah will breeze through the rest of September, with only a minor speed bump at Air Force. Oregon State lost their opener at Stanford and will be no better than 1-3 when they visit Utah, in other words, a cupcake. Utah's next test (thanks only to onside kick-gate) won't come until Octobor 11th in Laramie.

"the national scene to the teams and conferences that really matter"

Unfortunately for the Big Least, the little Ten, and the ACC, the teams and conference that will really matter this year are Utah, BYU and the MWC.

yoot fans crack on Northern Iowa, a very good team, and build up Michingan, a very weak team. Go figure. It's good for a laugh.

Wow - amazing how people find things to fight and argue about. The soldier reference, the mud slinging between fans - get a grip, folks!!!

Now, regarding the points of this article: I hope the backups can step up in Kenape's absence. Hopefully, the ends can help. Paul Kruger is an awesome player. Corbin injured his shoulder? Man, what is going on with the Ute QBs? How serious is it?

My hope is that the Utes will keep a consistent effort each week to avoid letdowns. If they do that, this will be a great year. (Oh, and they better fix the blocked kicks and penalties!!!!) GO UTES!!!!

What is your school fight song, FAIL to the victors? Utah nearly gave you the game and you just couldn't get it done. RichRod and the Wolverines will bounce back some other day. Our little conference deserves some love too!

Being a true Ute fan is akin being a cubs fan. You love them no matter what. You love them inspite of themselves, mistakes, meltdowns and all. When they finally pull their heads out, it makes it all the sweeter.

no one is building up michigan but there is absolutely no comparison between northern iowa and michigan. like it or not. utah won in the big house. theres no taking away from that. something probably no mountain west team will ever do again.

Re: please 1:07 a.m. and anonymous 8:05 a.m.:

Ute fans whine about injuries, BYU fans whine about referee bias. Severe, impactful losses to your team or convenient conspiracy theories to justify a loss? Which one do you think is more legit?

That's right Keep it up, Northern Iowa is a much better opponent than Michigan. Why do you even open your mouth? Who cares about BYU vs. N. Iowa?

Let us enjoy winning what will likely be the biggest game (from a national audience standpoint) of the year for us. I'm not going to sit here and talk up Utah State or Weber State in the next few weeks and act like beating them is the same as BYU beating Washington or UCLA. What a joke.

Now, back to the real conversation...

Ute fan i would talk about playing a lesser opponent. You have been playing a High school team from logan for the past how many years. Byu has them on there schedule this year because they begged them to put them back on there schedule. Also Utah is playing the mighty Weber State. So before you talk about which opponents Byu is playing you need to take a look at your tough schedule.

All fans whine about all of those things, regardless of the sport or team. Not just unique to utes or cougs, though it does get annoying (from both sides)

Way to go both Utah and BYU! Keep up the winning season and let two great teams play the last regular season game.

Stay healthy and play well!

Um, both teams play in the MWC, so be definition both of your schedules are weak and pathetic. Also, I don't think people are making fun of your schedule, but rather the comparison that BYU beating N. Iowa at home as being just as big as Utah beating Michigan on the road. That's a different animal no matter how you slice it.

Similarly, when Utah is playing Weber State, and you guys are playing a Washington or UCLA, I would hope that the Utah fans won't compare beating Weber State to you guys beating a PAC 10 team on the road. Talking up your team is fine, but it just loses all the fun when you start saying N. Iowa @ home = Michigan on the road. Come on, let's get some non-conference wins for the ol' MWC, I'm sick of being the national joke of a conference!

USA Today Coach's Poll just came out. Utah #23 BYU #15. Good for both. It looks as though BYU is in for a tough one against UCLA in Provo. Norm Chow will come to Provo licking his chops. For all those down playing the Utah victory over Michigan you are overlooking a couple of things. Michigan beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl last year with Florida starting Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow. Granted Michigan's offense is down this year but the defense is virtually the same. To Michigan Fan: Utah has been in the MWC for ten years now, not the WAC.

"utah won in the big house. theres no taking away from that. something probably no mountain west team will ever do again"

Utah did the MWC proud with a win in the Big House. You're right, it was a significant accomplishment, even if it was against a less than stellar Michigan team. Unless Michigan agrees to a home-and-home series with BYU, BYU will never have an opportunity to match Utah's accomplishment.

As far as the OOC game with the most significance to the MWC this season, that remains to be seen. TCU's game with Oklahoma or BYU's game with UCLA could prove to be much more significant than Utah's game with Michigan.

Once thing is certain, if BYU and Utah are both undefeated (and probably both ranked in the Top 10) on November 22nd, their game will be the most significant game in the history of the MWC, and in the history of the rivalry.

Actually BYU does know about breaking into the big boy games. They did it more than a decade ago when the BCS was called the Bowl Coalition. And their victory over a very good Kansas State team that year was way more impressive than Utah beating a pathetic Pitt team that was only in the Fiesta Bowl that year by virtue of winning the ALWAYS overrated Big Least. if Utah plays any of the other big boys that year like Texas, Michigan, USC, Auburn or Oklahoma, they get pummeled. You all know it, too. Great year for the Utes, but they got the luckiest draw ever for the bowl game.

Rank..Team..(1st-place votes)..Record..Points..Previous Rank
1. Southern California..(23)..1-0..1,462..2
2. Georgia..(20)..1-0..1,442..1
3. Ohio State..(10)..1-0..1,385..3
4. Oklahoma..(2)..1-0..1,344..4
5. Florida..(3)..1-0..1,295..5
6. LSU..(3)..1-0..1,202..6
7. Missouri..1-0..1,197..7
8. West Virginia..1-0..1,035..8
9. Texas..1-0..1,030..10
10. Auburn..1-0..962..11
15. Brigham Young..1-0..629..17
21. Fresno State..1-0..269..25
23. Utah..1-0..158..NR
25. Illinois..0-1..92..19
--. UCLA..1-0..91..NR

Since UCLA has a bye this week, and they're only one point behind Illinois in votes received, they're certain to be ranked by the time BYU plays them in two weeks.

This has been a terrific weekend. Despite a shaky 3rd quarter BYU trounced UNI as expected.

Utah was fantastic. Going to the big house and beating Michigan brings instant recognition to the MWC and lots of talk of Utah as a BCS buster. Yes, Utah had its shaky moments as well and still managed to beat Michigan in their own house. Huge kudos to the Utes!

Now it's up to BYU to uphold its end and beat Washington and UCLA. With the UCLA victory over Tennessee, a win would be huge. If BYU can manage these two wins then the MWC can claim parity with anybody.

It is a great year to be a BYUtah fan.

Are kidding me? The Coug fans are focusing on the "soldier" comment in the article to cut down the Utes. What a joke! I thought it fairly common to use some military terms in sports.

Don't get so jealous Coug fans because the Utes beat one of the most storied programs in CF (yes, Michigan is in a transition period, however, most of their players are four and five star athletes and it was in the "Big House") and they got a fair amount of ESPN time even though the Cougs are ranked in the top 25.

The Cougs better be ready for the Bruins in Provo this year--they are looking pretty good. If the Cougs do beat U.C.L.A., it will help them out nationally after that great win by the Bruins over the Vols.

I think we're being too optimistic if we think that either team will be undefeated at the end of the season. Remember, we're talking about Utah and BYU here. There are several teams that could give them serious anxiety and if either team ends up undefeated, it will be a miracle.

I'm just hoping to repeat the same season we (BYU) had last year. I would like to see Utah do well so that the Holy War (was that a military reference?) will be that much better.

There is much that both teams need to overcome before we start talking about a perfect season...

Utah wanted to play and deserved to play in the BCS Championship game after a perfect 2004 season. Beating the pathetic Pitt team was not their choice, it was dictated by the BCS bowl people. We will never know whether Utah would have won the championship but with the way they played all that year my bet would be on the Utes.

The year BYU beat KSU in the Cotton Bowl, the Cotton Bowl was by then a 2nd-tier bowl, not a part of the coalition.

Sorry for ruining your day.....

Utes have cracked into the Top 25.

and lacking vision...

Michael Phelps started dreaming about winning EIGHT gold medals in the Beijing Olympics right after the games in Athens.

When, according to you, would be a good time for BYU/Utah fans to start dreaming of an undefeated/Top 10 matchup in November?

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

The train, and this season's non-BCS blockbuster story has left the station. BYU and Utah are on a collision course for an historic clash in November.

As long as both teams remain undefeated, this story will continue to build unprecented BCS-busting momentum.

Max Hall threw for multiple td's and had almost 500 yards and the league office gave the offensive player of the week award to Brian Johnson with 300 yards and 1 td.
That should tell you all you need to know about the two wins. It is silly to compare

All these posts made here and very few posting would be worth having a good sports talk with. Cougar fan trying to compair N. High School to beating Michigan in the big house is pathetic. BYU best forget about their opener and start getting ready for two Pac 10 teams. Washington looked horrible so BYU better beat them soundly or they just might drop in the polls. Lose to the Huskies and say goodbye to the top 25. The Utes will thump UNLV this weekend, do you so called sports fans think that they really will lose to Vegas this year? If you think that then you really dont know sports.

Did anyone read on ESPN with its top conference ratings? The MWC is in the top 5 and could be ranked #3 if BYU beats Washinton & UCLA and Utah beats its Oregon opponent. If TCU beats Oklahoma then the MWC will really be onto something. Go MWC and its top 3 teams! Go Utah & BYU in being unbeaten when they meet and lastly go UTAH!

You lose a lot of credibility by calling Northern Iowa, N. High School. This is the same look-down-their-noses-you-play-in-an-inferior-conference-so-you-can't-be-any-good attitude that the BCS conference fans have about non-BCS conference teams.

Get over your snobbery.

UNI may not be on par with the Top 25 teams in 1-A, but they're probably equal to or better than half the teams in the MWC and WAC.

UNI is certainly better than Utah State, Weber State, and UNLV.

I do disagree with some of the BYU zealots who are saying that beating UNI at home is equal or better than beating Michigan in the Big House.

There's no comparison, especially when it comes to gaining respect for Utah and the MWC, that Utah's win was huge; BYU's was "yawn" that's nice.

As a fan of both the Utes and the Cougars, I like to see both teams do well. If one of those teams has a chance to play in a BCS bowl or for the national title, that's the team I want to win. The more big wins accrued by the Mountain West, the better each team's chances of getting ranked. If the MW could go 100% against non-conference teams for a couple of years, then an MW team could actually be favored in a BCS bowl game.