Counting Down the Mountain West 2000's Decade Greatest Players: #4 Brian Johnson QB Utah

by Jeremy Mauss on Jan 3, 2010 1:08 PM PST in Best of the 2000's

The countdown of the top 10 list of players of the decade started out with the honorable mention list and now we are moving to the fourth the best player of the past decade.

#4 Brian Johnson QB Utah (2004-2008)

All time winner for a QB at Utah (27)
All-MWC Second team (2005)
MWC Offensive player of the year (2008)
All-MWC First team (2008)
2009 Sugar Bowl MVP

Some may see this spot is not worthy as Max Hall who was fifth on the list, because of the conference titles and passing records. However, Brian Johnson was a clutch quarterback and won several come from behind games as well as demolishing heavy favorite Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl win may have never happened because Brian Johnson had to redshirt in 2006 after tearing his ACL in late 2005. That knee injury slowed down his running abilities which he was very good at, but that injury allowed him to be able to study more.

He was an exceptional player and was the backup to Alex Smith during Utah's first BCS run in 2004, and he played in that game. His career was shortened and lengthened by injuries: the 2005 ACL injury extended to the 2008 Sugar Bowl win, but in 2007 he separated his shoulder and missed almost half of the season.

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Was Vanquish the Foe asked for their opinions? This seems a little Ute favored here:) I just have a hard time understanding how the best TE the country has ever had is just an honorable mention, the best WR the league has ever seen is #6, and I’m not saying Max Hall is the greatest (personally I am surprised he’s not an honorable mention) but to have Johnson who turned up less wins by 5 and really is only on here based on 1 performance, the Sugar Bowl, is #4 on the list ahead of the before mentioned Cougars? Don’t get me wrong, the Sugar Bowl is a big stage but so was Dallas against OU. The way things are heading I’m not going to be surprised if A. Smith gets the #1 spot… let’s be honest guys, just because his team went undefeated it does not make him great.

Not trying to pick a fight just trying to spark some conversation.

by vaughnzipper on Jan 3, 2010 5:07 PM PST reply actions

Brian Johnson's ranking wasn't all about stats.

He was the leader in the Mountain West’s biggest game in history. (at that point in time, probably still is) The spark from the Sugar Bowl created sooo much buzz for the conference. He’s one of the most influential figures that the MWC has ever had.

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by Michael Rueckert on Jan 3, 2010 5:34 PM PST up reply actions

I did not consider anyone at Vanquish the Foe

But the main reason is the Sugar Bowl performance because Hall did not make it. The reason for Pita being an honorable mention because he was a tight end that is why, and while he was that good it was hard to put him in the top 10. with two of the top 10 being multiple AA defensive players. This was not easy and I think in one of my final drafts had Pita in until I remembered Dontrell Moore from New Mexico who had four straight 1,000 yard seasons. Smith will be number one but come one he is the best player this decade he picked apart every defense he played and yes going undefeated gets you a nod over a non-undefeated team. Had the Utes lost the Sugar Bowl BJ would be near the bottom if on the list.

BYU and Utah both have 3 on the list when it is all done. The only player I should have put on was Harvey Unga who I completely spaced on and should have been honorable mention or replace the SDSU player Kirk Morrission.

Honestly Utah has had a great decade as has BYU with only I think each school having one losing season.

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by Jeremy Mauss on Jan 3, 2010 6:17 PM PST up reply actions

The difference with the 3

Is that Johnson is #4, Weddle #3, and Smith is #1. Now if we were doing the top 10 Utah has had then that makes sense, but MWC? I’m afraid Kruger is #2, just a guess. I hope it’s Hughes though.

Moore was good but both Unga and Stailey are the 2 best RB’s produced out of the MWC… hands down. They were dominant and their production shows it.

Memory may make Smith #1 in Utes eyes but if we are to go based on stats he’s not even top 5 in MWC history for a single season. Plus, he only had one good year out of the 2 he played. So to crown him the best in the MWC is a pretty big stretch.
Comp – 214
Att – 317
Yards – 2952
% – 67.5
TD’s – 32
Int’s – 4
His TD to Int is great but he didn’t even crack 3,000. And nobody can say that it’s because they ran more because as a team they didn’t even reach 700 yards rushing. Was he good? Sure. Best? No way. If you’re crowning QB’s (not #1 on this list necessarily) it’s almost laughable that a BYU player didn’t get it. My vote: John Beck. If we took each of their best years Beck collected 1,000 more yards, had a higher completion %, and he did it all while BYU produced a 1,000 yard rusher. If we had him these last 2 years we would have been a completely different team and we would have been BCS. Unfortunately he was stuck in a tough period at BYU. He racked up insane yards and he did it in a rebuilding period, not just a year, but 3 years of BYU rebuilding. Beck was the man and I’d take him as my qb anyday over Smith or Johnson.

Here’s where I collected the stats

by vaughnzipper on Jan 4, 2010 11:26 AM PST up reply actions