The Holy War 2012

Nate's new job comes with a few great perks. Not only do we have great benefits, but we are also now privy to season tickets to all the University of Utah sporting events. But, if we are being honest, I prefer to watch my games up in the club seats with my in-laws rather than mingle down in the bowl with the "commoners." It is always a good day to be a Burk, but it is especially good to be a Burk on game days. With Utah being in the Pac-12 now, most of the games this season have late kick-offs. The kids and I join Nate at his tailgaiting party before the games and then meet up with his parents in the box right before kickoff. While some games are more enjoyable than others, my favorite game each year is one known throughout the country as "The Holy War."

I am a competitive person by nature. I can appreciate a team looking to exert their dominance over their opponent. It's good old fashioned competition at its best. I personally find it amusing that most Utah fans think BYU's fan base is nothing than "a bunch of self-righteous zealots." BYU, on the other hand, believes that all Utah fans are a bunch of "classless godless liberals." And those are only the more mild insults I have heard over the years. Although I appreciate all the "Max Hall hates me" t-shirts and other slogans that serve as punchlines, that still isn't my favorite part. I love the rivalry simply because anything can happen. And once again, this year did not disappoint.

I left with the kids shortly after halftime. It was late and the kids were beyond done. By the time I got home and put the kids into their beds, I was able to catch the last two minutes of the game. Not in my wildest dreams did I think those two minutes would be crammed full of such odd and dramatic events. Here is the official excerpt from Wikipedia because despite my best efforts, I would not be able to explain the craziness.

"With less than 30 seconds remaining, BYU quarterback Riley Nelson successfully drov into Utah territory on 4th and long with a 40 yard pass to wide receiver Cody Hoffman. On what was thought to be the final play of the game, Nelson's deflected pass fell incomplete as time seemingly expired and the Utah fans rushed the field. The pass, however, was shown to hit the ground with one second left, giving BYU an opportunity to kick a field goal from 51 yards (once the fans had been cleared from the field of play). On the attempt, the kick was blocked, the ball recovered by BYU, and the runner subsequently tackled. However, Utah fans rushed the field, this time before the play was over, thus earning a penalty that gave BYU another chance at a field goal, this one from only 36 yeards. That attempt was unsuccessful, however, when the kick hit the post and went awry. Utah won the game, 24-21."

A simple break down of the number gives us:

30: the amount of seconds remaining on the clock

4: the quarter this all took place

3: the number of opportunities BYU had to win/tie the game

2: the number of times the Utah fans rushed the field prematurely as well as missed field goals

1: the number of teams who went home crying

By the end of the game, I was laughing so hard I fell off the couch. Perhaps even more entertaining was listening to the announcers on ESPN try to make sense of this fiasco. You couldn't have asked for more exciting and better ending to a football game. . . that is unless you happen to be a BYU fan.