'The Utes had one of their most memorable seasons ever,' writes sports columnist GordonMonson. 'It just ended the wrong way.'
— shined into the dark shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains at the Rose Bowl on Saturday evening, there was a mix of sadness and gladness in the hearts of the Utes walking off the field, pride intact, a punch absorbed, daubers down, tears flowing.The Pac-12 champions endured the pain of defeat on this occasion, properly hauling with them, somewhere deep down, fulfillment in what they had heretofore accomplished, but also a strange mix of what had been left out on the iconic field.
, beloved teammates, beloved brothers who had moved on to wherever it is that the dearly departed go.What was a loss in the historic Rose Bowl supposed to come in?That’s the joint component to what the Utes so openly declared after the deaths of TJ and AL — that they were playing for something bigger than themselves. They were playing for their friends. Maybe both sides of that deal aren’t recognized or underscored enough.
What’s written in the history books may not have been the main swing thought they had as they approached the tee’d ball against the Buckeyes, that centering instead on the immediate business at hand, but … so let it be done, so let it be written. Covey then did what he’s done what seems like a thousand times before — he herked-and-jerked, wriggled-and-wiggled, burned-and-churned on a return, this one on a kickoff, for 97 yards to jack Utah’s lead to 28-14. Remarkably, there was still 8:17 left in the first half.
Another Utah answer — this time a field goal after a 59-yard move down the field — put the Utes up 10.Even with the back-and-forth, and that long-held lead, it felt as though Utah was barely hanging in, desperately hanging on, shovels-full of turf under their fingernails. Barnes is a freshman walk-on from Milford, a kid from a small high school, from a pig-farming family. Could this be an unlikely showbiz finish?Their celebration ended, as the defense failed again, with a Buckeye field goal in the final seconds.
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