Congratulations to everyone over at BlockU.com, and all other Utah fans on the Utes' blowout win over the Alabama Crimson Tide. The 31-17 scores is somewhat misleading, as Utah came out hot early on, building a quick 21-0 lead in the first quarter that forced 'Bama to play from behind all game long. Alabama would come as close as 4 points, whittling the lead down to 21-17, but Utah immediately scored again to make it 28-17, and put the game away, for all intents and purposes.

Brian Johnson finished with 336 yds passing with 3 TDs, and had several key runs in the 4th quarter to help run out the clock. This game has to put to rest the argument that the spread won't work against the speed of SEC defenses; Alabama has been soundly beaten in successive games by two teams running the spread single-wing offense, because the Tide's vaunted defense hasn't had an answer for this scheme. Conversely, the Tide's more "traditional" pro-set offense was stymied by the Utes' defense. Utah tallied 8 sacks, including a forced fumble and fumble recovery on 'Bama QB John Parker Wilson, and 2 interceptions.

This is Utah's second BCS bowl win and second undefeated season in the BCS era, but unlike the 2004 squad, this Utes squad was dominant on defense. The Utes gave up 289.2 yds per game, impressive an any season, but especially in the era of wide-open spread offenses that we are in today. Kyle Whittingham, the former Ute defensive coordinator who became head coach after Urban Meyer left for Florida following the 2004 season, is to be congratulated for this continued excellence. The Utes held Alabama to 208 total yards of total offense, stuffing Alabama's potent rushing attack, holding them to just 31 yards.

The bigger story to me, though, is the success of Utah's offense against Alabama's defense. The conventional wisdom in the SEC has been that spread offenses can't succeed in the SEC, because the team speed on defense is too great. Apparently, some SEC fans fancy themselves a minor-league NFL, because the same rationale is given by NFL apologists about the running the spread in the League (Incidentally, the 2007 New England Patriots proved this theory wrong, setting records for offense on the way to the only undefeated regular season since the League went to the 16-game schedule). The spread single-wing scheme gives an offense a potent passing game with a strong, power-based running game. I'm actually surprised more SEC fans haven't been quicker to embrace this scheme, given the love for power football in that conference. I guess it doesn't conform to their stereotype of "true football", where offenses need a FB and TB in the backfield, and playcalling is unimaginative and boring. The success of Utah against SEC powerhouse Alabama proves that this scheme is not only viable but can be incredibly successful in the SEC. After two consecutive games of their defense being torched by it, maybe now Alabama fans will believe it, too.