Pittsburgh vs. Utah Add Comment    Sep 03, 2010

Utah takes the first game of the season from nationally ranked (15) Pittsburgh.  I had the opportunity to attend this game.  It was a great game for the opener.  First quarter was quite boring until Shaky Smithson decided to fumble a pass he caught.  That was a real momentum killer in my book, but hey, its going to happen from time to time.  The Utah defense preformed well enough to hold Pittsburgh.  Later in the game, a great defensive stand again, a punt to Utah and Shaky, well he got a little shaky.  He decided with every Pittsburgh player around him to nonchalantly touch the football so they could grab it and regain possession.  Two strikes in football and you are out.  Shaky did not play until the second half.  Pittsburgh scored on that possession.  Then come the Utes, two great defensive stops, two great offensive drives.  14-7 and all look great.  Then Utah has the ball again, on the three yard line.  Wynn decides that blowing out a team would be silly, so he thrown an interception, or a pass to the other team.  Our player nowhere to be seen.  Anyway, second half and Utah lights up for a moment and score.  Then the rest of the game was penalties, turnovers and flat play.  It looked like Utah thought they would just be fine.  Pittsburgh never gave up, tied the game and took it into overtime.  Ok, so overtime, the rookie (true freshman) intercepts the ball; Utah regains, and put in a chip shot for a field goal.  So really you can go anywhere to get the highlights and see the box score.

Important here is my take.  The defense was awesome.  Aside from one freshman mistake that cost six points, the defense did their job; they played very well and kept Utah in the game.  Not enough can be said about how they did.  Offense was a bit silly at time, not looking like a well tuned machine.  Wynn looked at times like he did not want to be there.  Throwing the ball way over the head of the receivers, or at their feet for no reason.  It almost looked like he was hurt, but I noticed in pregame warm ups he was doing the same thing.  Utah left a lot of points on the field, and could not convert.  Penalties were another issue.  Silly things.  I admit the refs had their share of playing favorites, it was obvious, but Utah let themselves play poorly.  Special teams were horrible.  I mean horrible.  It was embarrassing.  The kicker had height, but no distance.  Punter looked like he was writing a book before he kicked it.  Coverage was not there, they looked afraid to hit anyone. Giving Pittsburgh great field position all night.  Bottom line is that Utah won; they beat the 15^th ranked team in the nation playing a poorly as they did.  That says a lot.  An underachiever beat that high ranked team underachieving!  The score should have been 34-7.  Easily 34-7!  A lot of work to do, but a lot of the young guys played experienced.  That was nice to see.  Utah has a real chance to go undefeated this year.  It will just take fine tuning and confidence.

Article written by

Jeremy Vick