After more than 50 years of watching football it pains me to say it, but Alabama came to play in the 2008 BCS Sugar Bowl and Utah came to win the Sugar Bowl. Guess what happened? Utah made Alabama look like half the team it is, winning convincingly, 31-17.

Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban did not help their cause. After guiding Alabama to a perfect 12-0 record before losing to Florida 31-20 in the SEC championship playoff, Saban announced to the world that his club remained the only team to go undefeated in a regular season. “BCS conference”.

The Utah Utes, who entered the Sugar Bowl with the nation’s only undefeated record of 12-0, were offended by Saban’s comment and then proceeded to take it out on Saban players, who were not prepared to win the Sugar Bowl. against Utah.

As the legendary Lou Holtz would say, Utah isn’t as good as the Utes looked in the Sugar Bowl, and Alabama isn’t as bad as the Crimson Tide looked in the Sugar Bowl. The Utes were totally focused, and the Crimson Tide had zero focus, as evidenced by the 3 quick touchdowns Utah scored to take a 21-0 first quarter lead.

A third-down sack by senior quarterback John Parker Wilson on Alabama’s first possession gave Utah the ball and Ute senior quarterback Brian Johnson completed 5 straight passes for 19, 14, 22, 7 and 7 yards as Utah scored before Alabama could turn around and get into proper coverage.

On Alabama’s second possession, John Parker Wilson (you always sound bigger with 3 names) quickly threw an interception and Utah had the ball at the ‘Bama 32-yard line. It didn’t take long for the Utes to score again, putting them up 14-0.

A second sack on third down on Alabama’s third possession got the ball back to Utah and Johnson led his Utes down the field and found senior wide receiver Bradon Godfrey on an 18-yard touchdown throw, making Utah the 21-zip with more time to play. in the 1st trimester.

At this point, some of the powerful Crimson Tide players began to realize that they needed to stop sulking about their loss to Florida or the final score could end up 84-0. Utah had no such lapse in mental attitude. The Utes were on their game like a bee on honey, and everything tasted sweet as success. Utah’s defense would record 8 sacks and 2 steals. The Ute offense would slice and dice the Crimson Tide defense like a blender demonstration by a peddler at the county fair.

While Alabama would start to fight back with 17 unanswered points, making it 21-17 early in the second half (probably after a big halftime speech or a reprimand from coach Nick Saban), there really was no fighting in ‘Bama. From the beginning. .

In a word or three, forget about John Parker Wilson, who was no match for Utah’s Brian Johnson. Johnson was 27 of 41 for 336 yards and 2 TDs with zero interceptions. Johnson was named Most Valuable Player and finished his career as Utah’s winningest quarterback (26-7 starts). Senior wide receiver Freddie Brown caught 12 of Johnson’s 27 completions for 125 yards.

Neither team had a running game. Alabama entered the game averaging over 196 rushing yards, but the Utes stopped them in their tracks, holding the Crimson Tide to 31 yards on 33 carries (that’s what 8 sacks will do for you). To say that the Utes dominated both sides of the line would be an understatement.

But enough of what Alabama didn’t do. Utah deserves high praise. I have been a fan of Alabama football since the glory days of Bear Bryant, Joe “Willie” Namath and Kenny “The Snake” Stabler. That being said, it’s doubtful Alabama would have won the Sugar Bowl even if the Crimson Tide were in their game; Utah looked so good.

It’s not hard for me to understand why Alabama was favored by 10.5 points in this game. The Tide played 5 AP Top 25 teams and beat 4 of them before reaching the Sugar Bowl. Utah played and beat 2 Top 25 teams. Alabama’s strength of schedule was much tougher than Utah’s. That’s not to say Utah wasn’t a great team; it just means that many poll voters and soccer fans didn’t realize how good it is.

Trampling Alabama in a Tuscaloosa mud hole, Utah made history by becoming the first team from a non-BCS conference to win 2 BCS bowl games. The Utes beat Pittsburgh in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl under Urban Meyer before Meyer became head coach of the Florida Gators. Utah was left out of the BCS national championship game in favor of perennial powers Oklahoma and Florida.

Florida would win 24-14 over Oklahoma to ultimately be declared the 2008 National Champion. There’s no arguing about this; the team that wins the BCS national championship game is the national champion, period.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, quarterback Brian Johnson and the rest of the Utes wondered, “What else do we have to prove?”

Utah even lost the top position in the final AP Top 25 poll when Florida was declared number 1 and Utah number 2. Utah received 18 first-place votes but could not surpass Florida’s 48 first-place votes. The drumbeat of a national championship playoff series grows louder each year the BCS system is implemented. Kyle Whittingham was honored as the BCS Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association.

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley