Basketball Referee KO'd During Tip-Off

College basketball official David Hall doesn't remember much about the overtime of the #8 Wichita State and #25 Utah game.

After tossing the ball for the overtime tip off Hall took a elbow to the noggin and went down.

#8 Wichita State Won't Be Undefeated This Year, #25 Utah Takes Care Of Shockers 69-68 In OT

Wichita State ran the table last year in the regular season, not this year.

You would think the Shockers were destined to pull it off against Utah.  Down by nine late in the second half Wichita State went on a 11-0 run to take a 60-58 lead until Tekele Cotton fouled the Utes Dakarai Tucker with :19 left.

Tucker hit a pair of freebies to sent the game into overtime 60-60.

The game stayed tight in overtime but Utah prevailed when Delon Wright nailed the game winner with :14 left in overtime to give the Utes a huge victory over Wichita State 69-68.


"I knew I had to make a play," Wright said. "I looked for Brandon Taylor but he wasn't open and I found a way to get into the lane and make a shot."

"It was tough," Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "Our guys just hung in there."

In Krystkowiak's first year at Utah iin the 2011-12 season the Utes won only six games.  Methodically Krystkowiak has increased the win total and talent.

Wednesday night in Salt Lake City was the opportunity the Utes were looking for to get a signature win over Wichita State.

"It's a surreal feeling to see the way this program has turned around a complete 180," Dakarai Taylor said. "I was so hyped out there."

"It was just a gritty game with two teams going at it all night," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "They were just one point better."

The Shockers had won 35 straight regular season games before the loss to Utah.

Wichita State didn't have a comfortable night shooting only 38.1 percent from the field and had a hard time buying a basket in the overtime going 2-7 from the field.

Utah had four players in double figures and shot 42.9 percent from the field and out rebounded Wichita State 40-37.

"This is huge for us and huge for our program." Delon Wright said.  "This is the type of game we have always lost in the past and this time we found a way to get it done,"

Lesson: Don't Celebrate Too Early, Hang On To The Ball...

((HT: ESPN))

The short version of this play...

Offensive player thinks he has a touchdown
Offensive player celebrates too early

Defensive player recovers ball
Tries to run the other way
Fumbles on his own...

Teammate recovers and this happens...


Travis Wilson's pass was complete to Kaelin Clay for 78 yds
Clay fumbled, and it was recovered by Oregon's Erick Dargan
Erick Dargan fumbled
It was recovered by teammate Joe Walker, who then returns for 100 yds and the score

Got all that...???!!!

Field Goal Fest Goes To The Sun Devils 19-16 Over Utes

The kickers were the star of the show at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona Saturday night.

Utah's Andy Phillips was good from 50, 36 and 44 yards in regulation time

Arizona State's Zane Gonzalez was good from 20, 45 and 30 yards in regulation time but missed a 50 yarder in the second quarter.

With the game going into overtime and both offenses having an off night the game would come down to the kickers.

Utah received the ball first in the OT period and this is when Andy Phillips picked the wrong time to miss a field goal.

Phillips' kick sailed wide left.

When Zane Gonzalez had a chance to nail the game winner in overtime he did.  His 36 yard field goal split the uprights and the Sun Devils were winners over the Utes 19-16.


"Zane is a big time kicker"  Arizona State head coach Todd Graham said.

“We were extremely confident."  Arizona State defensive back Jordan Simone said. "He's the best kicker in the country. We believe that and he believes that, and he proved that tonight."

While Gonzalez was celebrating his good fortune he was also looking toward the other locker room and feeling for Andy Phillips.

"Andy Phillips is a great kicker." Gonzalez said.  "I don’t know if any of you know about him, but tremendous respect to that guy. He’s a great kicker. I just hope he doesn’t be too hard on himself tonight.”

"No one is harder on themselves than I am on myself for not putting the ball through the uprights." Utah kicker Andy Phillips said.

In A Day Of CFB Upsets #8 UCLA Gets Stunned By Utah

In a week of college football upsets that began out West Thursday night in Eugene, Oregon it ends
down the West Coast in Pasadena, California.

"We said, ‘Hey, have you seen what’s going on last Thursday with Arizona and Oregon, and the upsets that were taking place?’" Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "We have a chance to be right in that same conversation. Our players knew it. They knew that there were upsets going on.”

The Utah Utes came to the Rose Bowl and thanks to an Andy Phillips 29 yard field goal with 34 seconds left shocked UCLA 30-28 capping off a week where the college football spun out of control.


“I’m proud of our players and our coaches." Whittingham said.  "That was a gutsy performance. It was a tough, hard-fought win."

"Obviously, this is a disappointing loss." UCLA head coach Jim Mora said.  "My hat is off to Utah. They played a great game and beat us. We all take responsibility for that loss."

UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns.

In a close game Utah was able to put together the final scoring drive late in the fourth quarter.

Behind the rushing of Kendal Thompson and Devontae Booker the Utes were able to put together a 10 play 63 yard drive that took just under four minutes to set up game winning kick by Phillips.




"I’m trying to put our guys in position to win." Whittingham said.  "It’s a great job by our players. I can’t say enough about them."

“And Andy Phillips, I mean, what more can you say about him? He’s got ice water in his veins."  Whittingham said.

Oh, Stanford... You, Too...

((HT: KSL-TV))

Utah held Stanford off at the end in Salt Lake City and beat a top-five team for the first time at Rice-Eccles Stadium in school history.

Stanford allowed a first quarter touchdown for the first time all year, and Ty Montgomery became the third Cardinal player to run for a 100-yard kickoff TD- the first since 1994...

Here's the first half highlights...


And a more complete version...
((HT: ESPN/Pac-12 Network))

OSG COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Thursday Night Previews

North Carolina at South Carolina

Forget about Jadeveon Clowney, all eyes will be on North Carolina's offensive tackle James Hurst who will be matched up on Clowney.

"Obviously it's the biggest match-up in my college career." Hurst said.  "I do think about it all the time.  Everytime I do a football activity it's related to that match-up."

Hurst is one of the best offensive lineman in the ACC and is on the pre-season Outland and Lombardi trophy watch lists.  Thursday night he's going up against a freak of nature.

South Carolina will win this battle.

Ole Miss at Vanderbilt

This game should be appointment TV for your Thursday night.  Ole Miss and Vandy are two teams who a eager to have a seat at the big boy table within the SEC.

Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze will try to run as many plays as possible on offense and gas the Commodore defense.  You can bet Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin will be in the ear of an SEC official making sure the Rebel offense doesn't have an advantage.

"When the ball is snapped I want everyone set." Franklin said.  "We went back and looked at (film of game vs) Ole Miss last year and there were probably 10 to 12 plays we they snapped the ball their offense wasn't set. The officials had a hard time keeping up with the pace to get into position to do that."

"So as long as everyone is playing by the same rules and this isn't Canadian football where people are running toward the line of scrimmage when they snap the football, I'm good with that."

Franklin would be good with a loss and that's what should happen.  Ole Miss will get it done in Music City.

USC at Hawaii

Southern Cal quarterbacks Max Wittek and Cody Kessler will play against Hawaii.  This should be a Trojan blowout.

Utah State at Utah

If your looking for a Thursday night upset this might be the one. Last year Utah State won in Logan.

"Utah State is a very good opponent." Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "They have most everyone back. They have a new head coach and a lot of the same assistant staff. We expect that they are going to be every bit as good as last year and we have a big challenge ahead of us."

Those of us in the OSG HQ are calling and upset.  Utah State makes it two in a row over the Utes.

OSG High: 3 Dead In Fatal New Mexico Rollover Includes TAMU And Utah Players (UPDATED)

((HT: MyFoxDFW/KRQE-TV))

Three teens including a freshman football player at Texas A&M died in a car accident in New Mexico just north of Albuquerque near the town of Cuba.

Polo Manukainiu was driving back from Utah Monday night. He was a two-time all-district defensive end for Euless Trinity High School.

Before the trip he tweeted, "22 hour drive back to Texas on no sleep. Oh my," around 5:30 local time Monday afternoon.

On his twitter feed, there were those who wished that he would be careful including one message that said: Pull over & get some sleep. We don't need another tragedy. Be safe & God bless. #gigem

According to Emmanuel Gutierrez of the New Mexico State Police, five people were in a Toyota SUV (pictured right, thanks KRQE-TV) at the time of the crash. Two of them were ejected and the cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Utah football recruit Gaius Vaenuku and current Euless Trinity player Lolo Uhatafe were also killed. A fourth unidentified person has been airlifted in critical condition. The condition of the fifth person is unknown.

Reaction is starting to pour out of College Station...

"Heart hurts waking up to news about Polo.. I think I speak for everyone on our team when I say we love you brother you will be missed," A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel tweeted.

Manukainiu was a two-time All-District 6-5A defensive end in high school, and helped lead his team to an undefeated regular season as a senior. The redshirt freshman was a recreation, parks and tourism sciences major.

More when we know more...

1600 UPDATE: It appears, according to NMSP, that the older brother of Lolo Uhatafe was driving the SUV. 18-year-old Siaosi Uhatafe, and his father, Salesi were the two who were injured.

The New Mexico State Police said the driver, Siaosi Uhatafe, was the only person in the vehicle who was wearing a seat belt.

Here's reports from NBCDFW from Euless...


“We lost a terrific young man,” Texas A&M head football coach Kevin Sumlin said. “Polo was loved by his teammates and coaches. Anyone who came in contact with him was struck by his sense of humor and smile. My heart aches for his mom and family members.”

“Everyone who knew Gaius is heartbroken today,” said Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham. “He was the kind of young man who lit up a room and his future in football and life had no boundaries. Words cannot express our devastation over the loss of Gaius. This is a sad day not only for University of Utah football, but for everyone whose lives Gaius crossed or would have crossed but for this tragedy. Our hearts go out to Gaius’ and Salesi’s families, and to the Texas A&M coaches and players. We are praying for the speedy recovery of Salesi and his father.”

USC's Matt Barkley Bounces Back VS Utah, Throws For 3 TD's And No Interceptions

Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley had a lot to prove Thursday night against Utah.  The stench of a stinker of a performance against Stanford has lingered. 

In Salt Lake City Thursday night the Trojans found themselves down two touchdowns to open to game to the fired up Utes.

Barkley didn’t make the same mistakes he did against the Cardinal nor did he throw an interception.  Barkley was just locked on to his receivers.

In the 2^nd half alone Barkley threw three touchdown passes of  23 yards, 6 yards and the hat trick was an 83 yard bomb to Marqise Lee that doomed Utah. USC heads back home with a 38-28 win and a 4-1 record.

"The quarterback [Barkley] played really well, to go on the road versus a defense that can give you some problems.”  USC head coach Lane Kiffin said. “To complete over 70 percent of his passes, no interceptions, no sacks, three touchdowns and was maybe two catches away from a huge night, it's good to see; because we all know what happened the last time we went on the road with our offensive line. So, back-to-back no sacks, it was good."

Come on Kiffykins, call you quarterback by name not just “the quarterback”.  Barkley did a nice job in a hostile environment and led the Trojans to a well earned win on the road. 

Here’s the highlights from Salt Lake City.  (Thanks KSL-TV)
Southern Cal’s D.J. Morgan rushed for 46 yards against Utah and offered his thoughts after the game. (Thanks USC Athletics)

Utah State Upsets Wynn-less Utah

We had a real bona-fide upset between two in state rivals Friday night in Logan, Utah.

Aggie running back Kerwynn Williams plunged into the end zone from a 1 yard to give Utah State at 27-20 overtime win over the Utes- Utah State’s first win over Utah in 12 years.

“It was an amazing job by a tough-minded group of kids,” said Aggies Utah State head coach Gary Andersen, “... I don’t have a lot to say. I guess I’m kind of speechless on this one.... It’s a great day to be an Aggie and I’m just proud to be those kids’ head coach..”

Anderson spent 11 years as an assistant at Utah before taking over at Utah State.

"They out coached us, both sides of the ball and special teams. They played harder than we did. It was even a miracle that we were in the game after our first-half performance." -Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said after the game.

While the Utes lost the game they may have lost more. Ute quarterback Jordon Wynn left the game in the second quarter with an injury to his non-throwing arm following a hard hit. It was the same injury that ended Wynn’s season last year.

Jon Hayes replaced Wynn and went 12-26 passing for 154 yards and one touchdown.

Here’s a game reports from KSL-TV Salt Lake City, UT