By Justin Crandall
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As Utah players and fans celebrated a 12-0 season with an emphatic win over its rivals, BYU was left to wonder what could have been.
In a game that may have been closer than the 48-24 score indicates, BYU''s six turnovers were all the difference.
'Turnovers were the name of the game,' BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. 'Without the turnovers, it is a completely different game.'
Utah came out strong in the opening minutes behind the play of quarterback Brian Johnson, moving the ball easily down the field to take a quick 17-3 lead early in the second quarter.
Johnson completed a scoring strike to Brent Casteel and running back Matt Asiata bulled in from five yards for the first scores.
BYU responded by feeding the ball to running back Harvey Unga, whose two scores brought the Cougars even with the Utes midway through the second quarter. Unga''s hard running was a bright spot for BYU as he totaled 116 yards on 15 carries, including the two touchdowns.
After a Louie Sakoda field goal put the Utes on top 20-17, things started to unravel for the Cougars.
BYU regained possession with less than two minutes remaining in the half, with a chance to tie or gain its first lead.
In Utah territory on a 3rd-and-three play, BYU quarterback Hall found an open receiver over the middle - the only problem being that Joe Dale was wearing a red jersey. Dale intercepted the first of his two Hall passes with no Cougars in the vicinity.
'That was my fault, and they were able to go down and score, so that was really a momentum builder for them,' Hall said.
It was only the start of a horrific day for Hall.
Johnson found David Reed in the end zone three plays later for a 27-17 halftime lead.
BYU still came back in the third quarter with chances to take control of the game.
After a defensive stop, Hall capped a scoring drive with an 11-yard draw up the middle to bring BYU within three at 27-24.
On its next possession, Utah was forced to punt, and BYU once again had a chance to take the lead.
Cue the magic, only this time it was on the side of the Utes, as Hall''s next interception started a string of five consecutive Cougar drives stopped by turnovers to end the game and BYU''s quest for its third MWC title.
'All we were trying to do the whole game is get to him as fast we could,' Utah defensive end Paul Kruger said of Hall. 'Get pressure on him and take him out of his game.'
Kruger recovered a fumble and also hauled in an interception, returning it 30 yards to set up the nail-in-the-coffin score, when Asiata connected with Chris Joppru in the end zone to push the lead to 41-21 in Utah''s favor.
The Utes tacked one more touchdown on after Hall''s fourth interception, to double BYU''s point total before regaining possession one last time to take a knee as fans rushed the field.
The junior from Mesa, Ariz., accounted for all six of BYU''s turnovers, adding one fumble to his five interceptions and finished 21-of-41 for 205 yards with no touchdowns. He did, however, post a career high 42 yards on the ground.
'One is too many, two is certainly too many, three is going to be very difficult to win,' Mendenhall said about the turnovers. 'Twice that amount, and you really don''t have a chance.'
Fourth year Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham concurred with his rival''s sentiments.
'Six turnovers was really the key,' Whittingham said.
The rivalry now has a new number to go along with fourth-and-18 and 33-31. The magic number is six - the number that will haunt BYU and its quarterback when their chief rivals are celebrating an undefeated MWC championship season and BCS bowl berth.