Football ends all around Utah

This archived article was written by: Ryan Nelson

The football season is at its end, and there have been many upsets and crazy endings to a lot of games. With bowl games coming up within the next couple months, means that the teams are awaiting their bowl bid. This season has had many ups and downs for a lot of teams in Utah, from the Utes not making a bowl game to the Aggies being the best in the state. It’s been a pretty wild ride for a lot of the players, along with the coaches. Let’s see how some of the football teams did this year.
The University of Utah finished their season with a record of 5-7 in the Pac-12 Conference. They weren’t able to make it work with their away games as they were 1-5 on away games. Sadly this wasn’t a good enough record to make it to a bowl game this year, which ended their nine-straight bowl game streak. They have, however, had great success in winning bowl games over the years, they went to BCS game in 2009, the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Alabama, which they pulled away with a win.
Their last game, being the only home Pac-12 game that they won on the year, which is not like the Utes. In the past they have done a lot better than they did this year. A lot of people say that it was due to the fact that their team was young. I would agree on that and also add that they didn’t really have a solid QB to take control of them team.
Travis Wilson who was the QB did well, but cannot play under pressure, which cost the team in the end. Fans hopes are high though for this next year with some new QBs coming in. This is Coach Kyle Wittingham’s eighth season leading the Utes. He has done a great job and has led the Utes to many bowl game and throughout his coaching years, has led the team to a pretty good record over the years.
With a record of 7-5, Brigham Young University ended their regular season ranked third in the independent conference. They had enough wins to make it to a bowl game. They are head over to San Diego to play in the Poinsettia Bowl against San Diego State University. Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall has led the team for seven straight seasons and has had success. The Cougars made many bowl game appearances over the years, and have pulled out some wins.
They, like Utah, had struggles with who could really lead the team in the QB position. They didn’t have a solid QB throughout the season, and just like the Utes, they have some promising candidates coming in this next year. Over the past years, they have stayed with about 12 wins and 3 losses, and occasionally ending in the Top 25. They have done well in bowl games as well, and they are the only team in Utah that has a national championship under their belt. That was before the BCS, and we all know how the BCS sees teams in Utah.
Utah State University, perhaps the best team in the state this season, ended their regular season with a great record of 10-2. They were ranked No. 1 in the Western Athletic Conference, and were also ranked 24 in the Top 25, according to the BCS standings on ESPN.com. They also are going to a bowl game this year which will be the Potato Bowl in Idaho. They are going up against the Toledo Rockets from Ohio.
Head Coach Gary Anderson has lead this team to an amazing season; this is his fourth year as head coach and he has really pulled the team through. Over the years, the Aggies haven’t been the team that’s really talked about in college football for Utah, but this year they made their point and finished better than either Utah or BYU.
Weber is next up; they finished their season with a record of 2-9, not as well as they would have hoped. Weber State is in the Big Sky Conference and finished 12th in that. Head Coach