AllState Sugar Bowl Post Game Analysis

Utah's 31-17 win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl is not a good thing for me and the rest of the college football purists who believe in the current BCS system that separates the big-time teams from the San Jose State's and North Texas's of the world, as now I will not only possibly have to hear about Texas' right to share the BCS National Championship title with Oklahoma or Florida, but may also have to hear about Utah being deserving of sharing it and the need for a playoff system. There were really four keys to the Utes winning this game: Utah QB Bryan Johnson, Utah's no-huddle offense, Utah's pass rush and the Tide secondary consistently missing tackles.
Johnson really surprised me in this game, as his reads were excellent and he not only displayed a strong arm but also the ability to be a finesse passer. I thought he was goanna come into this game and throw the ball up in the air like I saw him do before this season, and because of that Alabama super safety Rashad Johnson and co. would get a couple of picks and win the game easily, but he really proved me wrong, and I think he's earned the right to be a 5th round pick in the NFL Draft this April because of his solid performance against a big-time SEC defense.
The Utah receivers also impressed me a lot. Freddie Brown (6 catches, 175 yards, 1 TD) ran great routes and looked to have hands softer than an Italian pizza makers, and Bradon Godfrey and Brent Casteel also displayed an impressive ability to run crisp routes, read defenses and get open throughout the game.
Alabama could not seem to handle Utah's no-huddle offense for some reason, and I don't understand why. They have good LB's and DB's, but on Utah's first drive they went down the field quick and no 'Bama LB's or DB's seemed to be in position to make a play on any of Johnson's passes. I know that Tide coach Nick Saban had his defense practice against a no-huddle offense in his bowl preparation, as he is one of the best coaches in college football and prepares for everything that his opponent could possibly come onto the field with seeing as he is a Belichick disciple and all, so he must have been just as surprised as I was that they couldn't handle it.
We should note that not only was Alabama without all-american LT Andre Smith (suspended, improper contact with agent), but Saban said that the team was also without their second best OL (I didn't hear who it was and there is no information on espn.com about it) in his postgame news conference, so this game clearly would have been different had Smith and this other guy been on the field, but you still have to give credit to the Utes D-line and LB's for getting such a good pass-rush on 'Bama QB John Parker Wilson throughout the game. Their stunts and DL shifts were very creative and caught the Crimson Tide's OL's off-guard time-and-time again, though 'Bama TE Travis McCall showed that he is not that good of a pass-blocker on that third-down play on the Tide's first possession of the game. Utes defensive coordinator Gary Andersen should do a great job at WAC Utah State if he can get his D-line to play like they did tonight.
Alabama's secondary missed tackle after tackle in this game, and that really cost them. They gave up a lot of big plays that could have gone for only 5-10 yards had their first player to the ball made his tackle, and could have probably forced a couple more punts. Bama CB Kareem Jackson was probably the biggest foe in this regard, but in general I saw a ton of arm tackles by UA LB's and DB's in this game. I bet that Saban works on tackling come the second or third UA spring practice in March. But with Alabama's bad tackling set aside, the UA DL sure didn't help R. Johnson, Jackson and Javier Arenas and co. in coverage, as they didn't get nothing on B. Johnson all night.
I love 'Bama wide receiver Julio Jones, as he has the body and physicality of a tight end combined with a great 40-time (I think I read somewhere that he ran something like a 4.2 last spring or back in his senior year of high school), but I'm disturbed at how many passes he's dropped this season in big games. I've seen him drop passes against LSU, Florida and now a couple against Utah. He should have caught that pass on the deep in route in the third quarter, but it bounced off the tip of his hands just like that deep crossing route he dropped in the first quarter. Jones has been a star receiver since high school and is definitely a future first round draft pick, but he needs to put a lot of work in this spring if he wants to cut down on his drops.
Alabama would have had a legit shot at winning this game in the fourth quarter if Leigh Tiffin would have made those two field goals earlier in the game, as it would have been 23-28 going into the fourth quarter, making it so Alabama could have tried to reestablish their running game which they virtually abandoned (Glen Coffee got only 13 carries and Mark Ingram saw only eight). They could have tried to run Coffee outside on a couple of HB toss or stretch plays to see if they might break a big run or two, but that couldn't happen due to Tiffin's inability to draw a kick in. Tiffin was one of the main reasons why current Jacksonville Jaguars quarterbacks coach Mike Shula got fired from Alabama in 2006 (see 3-4 missed field goals in close loss to Arkansas that year), and he kicked real good this year but didn't help tonight.
And last but not least, a shoutout to Utes QB/RB Matt Asiata and kicker Louie Sakoda. Asiata is probably the only samoan to sport a better hairstyle than the Steelers' Troy Polamalu with his long braids and did a good job of operating the wildcat offense for the Utes while also having some good rushes as an RB (he only had 29 yards on 13 carries but one of those rushes was that first quarter Utes touchdown), and Sakoda is a San Jose kid and the best kicker in the country.

Random Thoughts:
1) Utah probably has the most players of polynesian descent on their team not counting Hawai'i. I saw a huge number of Polynesian players on their sidelines and in the game, and it is no secret that the Utes have often tried to tap into the Hawaiian pipeline going back to the days of Urban Meyer (and possibly before that). Think Bruce McMackin wishes he could have a couple of players on his Rainbow Warriors team right now after getting stomped by Notre Dame 49-21? Plus I believe that the state of Utah has a somewhat large Polynesian population, though I cannot substantiate that. Utah definitely has more polynesians on their team than Oregon or Arizona, which would be the only other two teams that I could think of that sport a large number of Polynesians on their teams other than McMackin's squad (Southern Methodist might creep into the picture a little later now that former UH coach June Jones is the sideline general for the Mustangs).
2) Utah was definitely a better team than Alabama in the Sugar Bowl tonight, but their players were sure outclassed by the Tide. I saw a couple of Utes players acting like punks on the field tonight via trash talk (see Casteel) and unnecessary celebratory actions (see LB Stevenson Sylvester), whereas I saw Bama players giving Utes a hand after they were tackled and congratulating them after their win. Saban should be proud.
3) I don't know if Utah will get another trip to a BCS game next year, but they should be able to contend for another Mountain West Conference title in 2010 as long as whoever takes over at QB for Johnson is productive. They have to go to Oregon early in the season, but other than that they will probably just have to deal with BYU (without QB Max Hall) and TCU again in '10. They are definitely as big of a program as you can get while playing in a non-BCS conference (yes, bigger than Boise State), and should now focus on trying to get an invitation into the Pac-10 so as to make sure that coach Kyle Wittingham doesn't leave for a BCS school in the near future like Urban Meyer did for Florida back in '04 after leading Alex Smith and co. to an undefeated season and a Fiesta Bowl win over a hapless Pittsburgh team.