Tailgate/Game Notes

The 2nd Annual Utetailgaters.com Chili Contest was a tremendous success!  Thank you to all who submitted entries (9 total).  Everyone certainly stepped up their games this year as there were many worthy of the title.  The tailgate got started early at 8am with Randy McCracken arriving to cook up breakfast on his new Coleman camp stove.  Randy whipped up some scrambled eggs & hash browns which I'm sure are unequaled in taste and appearance.  Troy Chilton arrived a short time later with his trademark hot chocolate to warm those of us up there for the cool morning.  Most other tailgaters began arriving between 10am and noon.  With  nearly 50 tailgaters lingering around, the chili contest began and the results were announced a short time after.

1st Place - "Tip's Touchdown Chili" (Bryan Tippetts)

2nd Place - "Chili Blanco" (Diane Shaw)

3rd Place - "Vodka Squirrel Chili" (Randy McCracken)

The other chili entries were: "BYU Sucks Chili" (Marc & Aimee Hardy), "Michael Richards White Chili" (Matt Short), "Chipotle Turkey Chili" (Landon Clark), "Cougar Balls Chili" (Mike & Bonnie Clark), "Ute Veggie Chili" (Erin Clark), and "Ute Champ Chili" (Alicia Peterson).  One entry deserves mentioning and that was Randy's 3rd Place entry.  After last year's "Tequila Elk Chili" which honestly was an insult to chili, he redeemed himself this year and for that he deserves this week's Tailgater of the Week!

The game began with them Cougars marching down the field and scoring on their first two possessions to take an early 14-0 lead over the Utes.  Then the Utes calmed down and punched back by scoring 24 unanswered points to lead 24-14 through the end of the 3rd quarter.  The excitement was just beginning as BYU took a 27-24 lead in the 4th quarter and left 3 minutes on the clock.  QB-Brett Ratliff drove the Utes down the field and a 15 yard TD pass to WR-Brent Casteel seemed to seal the victory 31-27 with 1:19 remaining.  Unfortunately, BYU was lucky enough to drive the length of the field and scored the winning TD with no time left on the clock to win 33-31.  This marked the end of one of the greatest Utes to ever suit up and that was "Mr. Everything", DB-Eric Weddle.  Weddle filled time at each of the following positions during his career: CB, FS, SS, QB, WR, RB, KR, PR, and Holder.  It's expected he'll be named the MWC Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year.  Congrats on a tremendous career and thanks for the memories #32!

Just wanted to thank everyone who made it out to the tailgates this year as well as those who stick around to help the clean up (it's much appreciated!).  Make sure to check back to the site (for progress photos) during the off season as we'll begin work on an RV trailer that we hope to debut next season!  Thanks again & GO UTES!.