UTAH SURVIVES PITT IN OVERTIME AS FRESHMAN BLECHEN STEALS THE SHOW

Going in this game was regarded as "The Best Match Up of the Night", and Pitt @ Utah last night did not disappoint. Utah at home in Salt Lake City is a force to be reckoned with, and Dave Wanndstedt and Pitt found that out first hand last night.

The home crowd was amped and the play was a bit sloppy at times, as the officials really worked it out last night calling 33 penalties. After a scoreless 1st Quarter Dion Lewis opened the second quarter with a TD run, and Pitt was letting the home crowd know about it.

(Photo courtesy of AP/Steve C.)

Overall though, the Utah Defense which ranked very close to the top of Mountain West Conference last year was on point again last night. Utah held Pitt to a lousy 5-14 on 3rd Down Efficiency, and Dion Lewis was effectively done for night

While Jordan Wynn did have one interception in the end zone last night, he still had a very effective outing for Utah. He threw for 283 yards and 3 TDs on the night. While he will need to bring up the completion percentage as he had just 58.3% last night, but I credit the Pitt D on making things difficult for Wynn, who in the end really made things look easy last night.

The Red Zone was a very tough place to be last night for Pitt, and one can not go far in describing last night's Defensive effort without mentioning the true freshman, Brian Blechen. He came up big last night in overtime, as Tino Sunseri rolled right on the first play in OT and stared down his receiver. Blechen made a move on the ball and set his team up for the win by picking off the pass. It was over right there. Utah took possession and muscled it down the field setting up the game winning field goal by Joe Phillips.

(Photo courtesy of AP/Steve C.)

In a losing effort, Pitt's #22 Antwuan Reed (CB & Special Teams) played big. He blocked a punt late in the 3rd Quarter and recovered a fumble. He did get toasted on a big play, but his effort on the night helped keep Pitt in the game. Dion Lewis put up some decent numbers. He got 25 touches and produced 75 yards and 1 TD.


It was truly a wild finish, and it lived up to the hype. Make no mistake, nobody wants to play Utah this year, especially at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, UT where the Utes have won 18 in a row.

I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it is going to be bigtime when TCU comes to Salt Lake November 6th.

PAC-12 CONFERENCE DIVISIONAL BREAKOUTS

Nothing official has come out yet about the Divisional Breakout of the upcoming Pac-12. I have been reviewing possible scenarios, and the new Pac-12 conference alignments are going to be very interesting. Expected to start in 2011, the Pac-12 welcomes the Colorado Buffaloes and the Utah Utes, so things are changing fast under Conference Commissioner Larry Scott. Preserving historical match-ups and long standing rivalries are a must.

The divisional breakouts for the Pac-12 could go a number of ways. Check out CF Daily's Pac-12 divisional breakouts.

UTAH Battles Back Against Cal in the Ponsiettia Bowl

The game opened up last night with California (minus Javid Best, who is still recovering from season related injuries) jumping out to an early lead 14-0. All looked lost early on for Utah, but the Utes stook to their gameplan and hung in their. Relying on execution and a stout Defense, Utah battled back.

Led by some early hard hits from the senior safety, Robert Johnson, the message was sent that if you come across the middle, then you are going to get hit.

As the game wore on, it was apparent that Utah was executing and scoring and overall this was an overmatched Cal defense. Cal appeared to be on its heels. This could just as much a tribute to Utah offensive scheme and playcalling last night. They were moving the sticks at will some times. The first half was capped by a dagger of a touchdown which came with 43 seconds left in the half. This late score put the Utes up by 10 points going into halftime.

In the end, the Robert Johnson led defense was too much for Cal. A late tipped ball Johnson led to an interception and a score. On the next drive Johnson interecepted a deep pass down the sideline and the game was all but over at this point. The Mountain West proved once again it can play with a "bigger" conference.