GAME BLOG: Utah 31, Oregon State 28

FINAL - Utah 31 Oregon State 28

If Louie Sakoda ran for mayor of Salt Lake City, he would win in a landslide vote. Sakoda hit a 37 yard field goal as time expired, helping Utah advance to 6-0 on the season and keeping their BCS bid alive. Brian Johnson led the final scoring drive after Utah's defense held Oregon State to a quick 3-out. Johnson threw clutch passes of 7, 8 and 16 yards to put Sakoda in field goal range.

It appeared that the the Utes were going to lose this one when OSU QB Moevao hit Brady Camp to go up 28 - 20 with just 2:18 left to play. That is when Brian Johnson woke up from a game long funk. His stats on the final 2 drives: 7-8 91 yards and a TD. Oh, and he did run in the game tying 2 point conversion.

1:29 4th Quarter
Are you kidding me? Really? No. No way. It is not possible. After being manhandled for much of the 2nd half, Utah marches down the field in 4 plays, scoring on a 25 yard pass from Brian Johnson to Bradon Godfrey. Johnson runs in the 2 point conversion to tie this game up. Rice-Eccles Stadium is electric right now.

Score: Utah 28, Oregon State 28

2:18 4th Quarter
Oregon State is running the play-action about as good as you can. After stopping Rodgers on 3rd and 3, Utah gives OSU a free 15 yards on a facemask penalty credited to Paul Kruger. Now Oregon State has the ball in Utah territory and can continue to run down the clock. What a bad break for the Utes.

Facing a 3rd and 9, OSU runs the screen pass to perfection, gaining 41 yards and putting the Beavers inside the Utah 5 yard line. Looks like this game, as well as any BCS dreams for the season, are over. Moevao completes a 2 yard TD pass to Brady Camp. Want to guess what play they called? Yes, you are right, play-action pass. Drive summary: 11 plays, 80 yards, 6:35

Score: Oregon State 28, Utah 20

8:53 4th Quarter
After gaining 1 first down, Utah is again forced to punt. The offense is looking just flat out bad right now. Oregon State's defensive line is simply overpowering Utah's offensive line, creating havoc for Utah's running game.

Meanwhile, Oregon State's offense is in sync right now, moving the ball at will. After 2 passes, the Beavers are already in Utah territory. Facing a 3rd and 7, Utah LB Mike Wright bats down a pass. Utah catches a break as Johnny Hekker's punt goes out the back of the end zone for a touch back.

Matt Asiata breaks a huge run on the right side, rushing for 38 yards and giving Utah great field position. Facing a 3rd and 5, Johnson throws another incompletion. Rather than kicking a 52 yard field goal, which is in Sakoda's range, Utah chooses to punt... in a game this close and with the offense playing as poorly as it is, I would have taken the points.

Score: Oregon State 21, Utah 20

End of 3rd Quarter
If the refs are going to call a false start, they need to make sure they blow the whistle so that all the players stop. Both teams kept playing and Utah gets called for a 15 yard personal foul penalty...

Utah's defense forces an OSU punt, but Utah's offense has completely fallen out of rhythm, and nets a loss of 1 yard after 3 plays, forcing a Louie Sakoda punt.

OSU PR Sammie Stroughter fumbles the punt, but the Beavers recover. Beavers go straight to the pass, gaining 18 yards to open the drive. Utah's defense is getting very tired out there, and OSU is capitalizing on that fatigue.

Paul Kruger hits Moevao on 3rd and 10, knocking the ball loose, but he doesn't realize it as the ball is behind him. OSU recovers the ball. Justin Kahut tries a 46 yard field goal, but it goes wide left. A missed scoring opportunity for the Beavers, but the way their defense is playing, Utah probably won't move the ball past mid-field again.

Score: Oregon State 21, Utah 20

10:57 3rd Quarter
Johnson continues to make mental mistakes. This time it costs the Utes. Johnson fumbles the ball after a 4 yard gain on the outside. He was hit by Slade Norris, and Pernnell Booth recovers the fumble.

OSU capitalizes on the great field position. After 2 passes from Moevao to Sammie Stroughter and Shane Morales, RB Rodgers runs it in from 7 yards out. 2 point conversion fails.

Utah's defense did not play well with their backs against the wall that series. Utah gets a bit of luck to go their way as KR David Reed fumbles the kick return but Utah recovers.

Facing a 4th and short near midfield, Utah elects to go for it and Johnson picks up 2 yards on the QB sneak. Johnson continues to try to throw the deep ball, which is not his strength. After getting the first down on the keeper, Johnson throws 3 straight incompletions to force the punt by Sakoda.

Score: Oregon State 21, Utah 20

Halftime - Utah 20 Oregon State 15

On one carry, Oregon State RB 'Quizz' Rodgers gained 33 yards. On his other 10 carries the Utes have limited him to only 27 yards. His big play potential is the reason that Oregon State is only down 5 points at the half. Brian Johnson is holding the ball way too long in the pocket. He needs to throw the ball away if he can't find an open receiver. For the half, Johnson went 5-11 for 80 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. His counterpart, OSU Lyle Moevao went 9-15 for 159 yards and 1 TD.

In the second half, Utah needs to continue to get Brent Casteel the ball. His explosiveness on the field should counteract the speed of the OSU defense.

Defensively, look for the Utes to continue to plug up the middle, trying to keep Rodger's rushes to minimal gains (if not loses). That will continue to leave the Utes in one on one coverage down field, which the Beavers have exploited so far. Still, the Beavers are primarily a run first team, so look for the Utes defense to primarily play to stop the run.

Note: Tonight's attendance is the 3rd largest in Rice-Eccles Stadium history.

1:13 2nd Quarter
Hats off to Utah's defensive line and linebackers. They have been key in slowing down OSU RB 'Quizz' Rodgers.

Derrick Shelby hit OSU QB Moevao, forcing a fumble to which Nai Fotu recovers. Utah again has great field position.

OSU is putting 8 guys in the box to stop the run (4 linebackers and 4 linemen). This should open up Utah's wide receivers and put them in favorable one on one match-ups. Utah tries the running back pass, but Mack's pass is just out of reach of WR Brent Casteel. 3 plays later, Utah runs the QB-WR option to perfection, with Johnson pitching it to Casteel who takes it in from 12 yards out.

Oregon State doesn't take long to respond. Two huge plays from 'Quizz' (33 yard rush, 27 yard rec.) takes the Beavers all the way down to the Utah 25 yard line. Moevao then hits WR Shane Morales for a 24 yard TD pass. 2 point conversion fails.

Score: Utah 20, Oregon State 15

7:04 2nd Quarter
Utah's defense holds OSU to a 3 and out. Moevao and "Quizz" Rodgers almost hook up for a nice play but Moevao overthrew Rodgers on the flat. Rodgers would have had at least 15 yards as there was no Ute within 10 yards of the play. OSU is still trying to run the ball to the outside, which Paul Krueger is doing a nice job of not letting anything get past him.

Utah QB Johnson has gone cold. He has missed his last 6 passes. But then again, it seems like right when you make a statement in regards to a player's performance, he comes out and makes a huge play. This time Johnson hits WR Brent Casteel for 40 yards on 3rd and 9.

Well, I must now eat my words. Johnson makes a nice scramble away from 2 OSU defensive linemen and throws it to Freddie Brown, who was standing in the back of the end zone wide open. No one was within 10 yards of him. Johnson did a nice job of checking off his receivers until he found Brown wide open from 14 yards out. Let's see if Utah can keep the momentum.

Score: Utah 13, Oregon State 9

11:30 2nd Quarter
Not the start to the 2nd quarter the Utes wanted. Brian Johnson is intercepted by safety Al Afalava. Johnson telegraphed is pass the entire route. Instead of dumping the ball off to an open Darrell Mack, Johnson chooses to throw it over the middle and Afalava picks it and returns it for a TD. Johnson needs to check down his receivers until he finds an open WR. He can't force the ball into multiple coverage. Extra point by Justin Kahut is missed.

Utah KR David Reed steals the momentum right back for Utah. Reed returns it 79 yards giving the Utes great field position inside OSU territory (15 yard line).

With excellent field position, Utah still can't get a touchdown. Direct snap up the middle is not working due to the size of the OSU defensive line. Utah's OL is not able to get the push like it does against teams with smaller defensive lines.

Score: Oregon State 9, Utah 6

End 1st Quarter
Holding penalty against the Beavers negates a nice run by "Quizz" Rodgers that would have put them in Utah territory.

Utah LE Koa Misi is able to bat the ball down on the 3rd down pass attempt. After a high snap on the punt, Johnny Hekker boots it 56 yards and the Utes take over on their own 8 yard line.

Eddie Wide is dropped for a 6 yard loss on their first offensive play. Utah ends up going 3 and out, losing 6 yards. Sakoda has to punt with his heels near the back of the end zone.

OSU takes over on the Utah 43 yard line. So far, OSU has been putting the game on the shoulders of QB Lyle Moevao. RB Rodgers only has 4 carries so far... not sure why OSU is choosing to go with the pass vs. the run. Oregon State goes 3 and out. Utah takes over on their own 10.

Score: Utah 3 Oregon State 3

5:14 1st Quarter
Johnson is sacked on the first Ute offensive play. Johnson took way too long in the pocket and took a vicious hit from RE Slade Norris. Luckily, he held on to the ball.

Johnson has looked sharp so far on his passes, threading the needle between defenders. Utah is using a plethera of runners, with Johnson, Eddie Wide, Matt Asiata and Darrell Mack all running the ball on the drive.

Utes get the ball deep into Oregon State territory before they stall on the drive. 13 plays, 68 yards and taking over 6 minutes off the clock, Louie Sakoda hits a 33 yard field goal to tie up the game.

Other than the sack allowed on the first play, the Utes did a good job offensively on their first drive.

Score: Utah 3 Oregon State 3

11:47 1st Quarter
Utah won the coin toss and has elected to defer till the 2nd half. Let's see how Oregon State's offense can move the ball.

Oregon State is not afraid to go deep early. Oregon State calls 6 passing plays to only 1 running play, and it paid off early. QB Lyle Moevao competed passes of 6, 43 and 15 to put the Beavers in field goal range. Kicker Justin Kahut connected from 37 yards out. If not for a Mike Wright sack on 2nd and 6, the Beavers would have probably put it in the end zone.

Score: Oregon State 3 Utah 0

Meanwhile, Utah has been controlling their own destiny. Utah is off to its best start (5-0) since their BCS busting season in 2004. Utah's defense looks impressive, ranked 5th in the nation for total defense and rushing defense.

In game questions: Can Utah's rush defense slow down Jacquizz Rodgers? Can Utah minimize mental mistakes (costly penalties, turnovers)? How will OSU QB Lyle Moevao perform against the Utes' secondary?

My Prediction
Oregon State will get off to a fast start - OSU will be riding high after their upset of USC. Look for Utah to make a big mistake early in the game, resulting in OSU points. Utah will then regroup and control the game with Asiata and Mack churning out first downs and Johnson making plays with his arm. Utah will force OSU to make mistakes as they try to catch up, giving Utah great field position for much of the 2nd half.

MY PREDICTION: Utah 37, Oregon State 24 . Let me know what you think. Post your predictions/questions in the comment board.

Keys to the Game for Utah

• Control the ground - Mack and Asiata need to have a big rushing day (125-150+ yards combined)
• Play 4 quarters of football - Utah can't have a mental letdown to let the Beavers stay close
• Minimize mistakes - Utah is tied for 7th in the MWC in fumbles lost per game (6). The Utes need to improve their ball control, keeping OSU out of short field opportunities.

Keys to the Game for Oregon State

• Run up the middle - With 2 starting DTs out with injuries for the Utes, their biggest weakness is right up the middle.
• Pressure Utah QB Brian Johnson - if given the time, he will pick you apart. Johnson is also more turnover prone when he feels pressure.
• Capitalize on errors - Utah has been generous with giving ball to opponents. Create short fields for your offense and let Jacquizz Rodgers punch it in.

Utah Miscellaneous Stats

• Utah is off to a 5-0 start for the first time since its 12-0 season in 2004.
• Utah joins Fresno State as the non-BCS teams with the most wins against BCS schools since 2000 (14). Utah is 14-10 against BCS teams since 2000 (not counting a 2001 win over South Florida, which was not in the Big East at that time) and 9-3 since 2004.
• Since 2003, Utah is 5-2 against the Pac-10 (4-0 in Rice-Eccles Stadium), with wins over California (2003), No. 19 Oregon (2003), Arizona (2004, 2005) and UCLA (2007). Losses were to UCLA (2006) and Oregon State (2007).
• Utah leads the league in pass defense (171.2) and total defense (231.4). The Utes rank second in rushing defense (60.2), opponent first downs (62), opponent third down conversions (30.9%) and opponent fourth down conversions (40%).
• Nationally, Utah ranks fourth in opponent first downs (62), fifth in total defense (231.4) and rushing defense (60.2), and sixth in tackles for loss (8.60).
• Utah is out-scoring its foes 55-3 in the third quarter

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