'Cats In The Bag

The Utah Utes pushed the nation's 2nd longest winning streak to 17 games with a 27-24 victory over the Arizona Wildcats. It was closer than some liked, but all in all it was a huge positive as Utah as the guys who they've asked to fill big shoes this year were ready for the task.

The Utes had the 'Cats on the verge of a blowout with 27-10 lead in the third quarter. But, to Arizona's credit, they fought back with two unanswered scoring drives to cut the margin to three points. In fact, they had the ball and were driving towards a tying or winning score when the drive stalled near the Utah 40. With only about three minutes left in the game Arizona coach Mike Stoops opted to punt the ball back to Utah on fourth down instead of going for it. Bad decision? His team had two straight scoring drives to serve as momentum. Utah's running back Quinton Ganther then ripped off two long runs and Utah ate all but about 30 seconds of game clock before pinning Arizona deep in their own territory.



Some Ute Game Mumbles...

• Running back Quinton Ganther is in for a big season. He gained 137 yards rushing, 50 yards receiving, and scored one TD. Especially as Utah entertains teams that are less physical than Arizona, Ganther should run them over.
• QB Brian Johnson looked awfully nervous early in the game. Luckily, those nerves didn't produce much in the way of bad decisions. As the game wore on his athleticism and decision making showed why Ute fans should be excited. He is no Alex Smith, but he is on his way to being a very good Brian Johnson.
• Bad day for the Stoops brothers. Hours before the Utes beat the Mike Stoops led Wildcats, the Bob Stoops led Oklahoma Sooners were upset at home by TCU.
  
• Instant replay is now a Mountain West thing. It didn't take long to try it out either. Early in the game Utah quarterback Brian Johnson was hit while throwing. The ruling on the field was a fumble and Arizona would have been poised for a quick lead. Luckily for Utah and the confidence of their young QB, the play was reversed.
• From the "When I say I'm explosive, I mean that I'm explosive" category, Utah freshman Brent Casteel took the ball 59 yards for a touchdown and later make a great catch in traffic. Casteel had taken some heat for being a little young and little over confident when he mentioned something about a future heisman run during an interview. This guy is going to make many a big play in the years to come.