The three injuries that we could not afford (in order of game-ending injury):

(1) Isaiah Kaufusi - Left the game at 13:49 in 3rd quarter. This Kaufusi didn't light up the stat sheet, but my goodness, I watch the replay and he plays effective coverage on the outside, he contains the run game and I can't tell you how excited I am to see him develop. But his loss was especially tough because we had little depth at LB at this time during the season. Could not afford to lose him. We went from IK to a 5th stringer who had a difficult time reading the coverage. Everything just opened up after he left the game.

(2) Corbin Kaufusi - Left the game at 1:25 in 3rd quarter, came back in the 4th and played sparingly, but he wasn't the same. Corbin played killer, especially considering he wasn't even supposed to play this game.  He set the edge well, kept the QB and RB's from getting around him. He played really well. He put off 3 surgeries to play. According to his mother, the doctor's told him that he couldn't hurt himself any further, so he said he really wanted to play. Unfortunately, it actually did hurt him worse, but he appears to have recovered and is playing well for the Saints. You talk about toughness; he gutted it out. I love Corbin Kaufusi for playing and for his attitude of team over self. Stands out in a world full of Bosa's who put self over team.

(3) Matt Hadley - Left the game at 14:48 in 4th quarter. This was probably the most significant injury. Had he not been injured we may have been able to run the clock out. Our offense sputtered after he left. And the play in which he left, we had a beautiful screen set, could've gone all the way. Chase Hansen made what could be called the play of the game by just clipping Hadley's back leg enough to tackle him and that ultimately injured Hadley. As you may recall, Hadley played RB in high school and broke the rushing record. He had phenomenal vision, he wasn't the fastest player, but he made something out of what seemed like nothing because he had vision.  Riley Burt tried but he wasn't what Hadley was. He often ran into the back of the line. There is more to RB than speed and you need to look no further than Matt Hadley to see this.

I've asked myself a number of times what it was that has given Utah the most luck this past decade and it just seems at some point it has got to end. I know they make some of their own luck, but they have gotten so many breaks that have been just enough to give them victories.

I will say that I don't get why Utah is being pimped so much as this all-world team. The biggest loss that team suffered was Hansen. You cannot replace a Chase Hansen, he played so well in that game 13 tackles, 3 TFL. Their defense is going to suffer as a result of him graduating. I think that Utah team is going to be good, but the spread is 4.5 points. BYU has been practicing with an edge because they know who they play first. BYU returns more players than Utah, so why are they so favored? I'm looking forward to a BYU victory 31-24.