How Utah football’s poor decisions cost the Utes a win against BYU

Provo • Rivalry week tends to produce a lot of bad decisions.

And this year’s BYU-Utah game was ultimately decided by poor decision-making. In a 24-21 victory, BYU wasn’t great between the ears, but the sheer number of unforced errors from the University of Utah made it impossible for the school up north to win this game.

Let’s just list them out:

• First, and most important, the fourth-down decisions.

The Utes going for it on fourth-and-1 from the 12 was defensible, even in a tie game ... but it didn’t make sense to make it a 50-50 proposition by running a freshman to the outside.

Utah did later run Devon Dampier inside on a fourth-and-3, but it might have been better to give the ball to a bigger, tougher runner there who could make progress after first contact. Instead, Dampier went down after getting only 2 yards.

But going for it on fourth-and-7 from your own 28? Illogical. I don’t care that Dillon Curtis missed the practice field goal before a BYU timeout; the odds of getting 7 yards were too low. To make the decision worse, calling a pass play to Tobias Merriweather when he and Dampier have yet to build any sort of chemistry this season also doesn’t make sense. Naturally, the timing was off, and Merriweather couldn’t bring the ball in.

BYU got in the action too by going for it on fourth-and-5, up 10 with 2:19 left. It didn’t end up costing the Cougars, but three additional points would have forced the Utes to drive the whole field twice, making their comeback campaign that much more difficult. As it was, the Cougars were one onside kick away from disaster.

• Mana Carvalho’s muffed punt was a rush of blood to the head. It was a short punt, and Carvalho didn’t seem to realize it until too late — at which point he tried to sprint up to the ball and dove to try to make the catch. It was a low-percentage play that led directly to a Cougars field goal. Remind me, did those three points end up mattering?

While we’re talking about the punt return unit: How in the world did the Utes get two holding flags on clear fair catch punts? There’s such limited upside to grabbing jerseys on those plays and a clear downside.

• Safety Tao Johnson seemingly just ... letting go of Bear Bachmeier while he had him in a bear hug for a sack. Did he hear a whistle or something? And then Lander Barton coming in way late to hit Bachmeier after the pass was released, making helmet-to-helmet contact. Barton got himself disqualified for the game and for the first half of next week, and it was very, very clear that they missed him at the linebacker spot after the ejection.

Somehow, on one play, one Ute lacked persistence, and one Ute had too much.

• Kicking the onside kick just 5 yards when 10 yards is the requirement. Yes, the onside kick is always going to be a difficult play to convert, but you have to at least give yourself a chance.

• Costly false starts, delay of games, and illegal substitution penalties at key moments for Utah. A defensive holding flag also overturned a BYU turnover.

Look, there are going to be mistakes made in a football game. Dampier’s fourth-quarter interception is, to me, an example of an acceptable mistake: Dampier was trying to make a play on a second-and-long situation, and a freshman receiver ended up being beaten over the top by a BYU senior captain. It happens.

But mistakes of the type listed above are simply unacceptable. The Utes’ coaches had seven days to prepare for this game — and I guarantee you they were thinking about playing BYU in the offseason, too. As a result, Utah’w out-gaining BYU on the night simply didn’t matter.

Sharrieff Shah’s special teams unit was a liability for Utah in both decision-making and execution. Offensive coordinator Jason Beck’s playcalling on the game’s most important plays might’ve made you wonder if he owed his alma mater a favor. And Kyle Whittingham’s fourth-down decision-making wasn’t fun for Utes fans — it’s costing his team wins year after year.

Changes will need to be made — not necessarily to staffing and personnel, but to their approach.

Because if things go on like this, the big-game losses will continue, Whittingham’s sterling legacy will be tainted, and Utah’s position in the college football hierarchy will be squandered.