Crushing.

That's how BYU junior defensive end Jan Jorgensen described Saturday's 48-24 rivalry game loss at Utah.

"Everything was on the line," Jorgensen said. "A conference title, a chance to go to a BCS bowl game. To lose the way we did was crushing."

The way BYU lost was by turning the ball over six times while Utah's offense played almost flawlessly.

"I told the team after the game that they learned a valuable lesson today regarding what turnovers can do in a critical game," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "One is too many, two is certainly too many. Three makes it very difficult to win and twice that amount, you really don't have a chance."

The victory will send Utah (12-0) to a BCS bowl game, while BYU finished 10-2 in the regular season for the third straight year.

"We had the potential to have a great season, and we're disappointed," BYU junior wide receiver Austin Collie said. "Each year we want to get better but we ended up in the same spot, 10-2. We didn't win the Mountain West Conference championship and that was our main goal coming into the season. To not win it, to have two losses and find ourselves right back where we were last year, it's a little disappointing."

BYU junior quarterback Max Hall, who threw five interceptions and fumbled once, defended the Cougars' 10-2 mark.

"We only lost two games and in my mind, that's a successful season," Hall said. "I'm proud of my guys. We going to go out and try to win a bowl game now.

"Both TCU and Utah did a nice job of finding ways to limit our offense and turn it over. I'm going to watch film on it. I know I've got a lot of things to learn. Luckily for me, I get one more shot at these guys next year and I'm looking forward to it."

• Bowl talk: Utah (12-0) is qualified for the BCS and a candidate for the Fiesta or Sugar Bowl. The Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 20) will select the next MWC team and will choose between second-place TCU (10-2) and third-place BYU (10-2). While TCU defeated BYU 32-7 this season, the Cougars have sold out the Las Vegas Bowl in three consecutive seasons. Las Vegas is scheduled to take the fourth choice from the Pac 10, which may not have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all their commitments.

The Poinsettia Bowl (Dec. 23) will probably take whoever doesn't go to Las Vegas, leaving Air Force (8-4) for the Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 31) and Colorado State (6-6) for the New Mexico Bowl (Dec. 20).

BCS selections don't come out until Dec. 7, so most MWC fans won't know where their teams will be going bowling until then.

• Receiving marks: Collie had 10 catches for 104 yards against Utah, giving him 95 catches for 1,419 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2008. Collie is second in the country in receiving yards per game at 118.25, behind Kenny Britt of Rutgers (119.1). The BYU mark of 100 catches in a season - set by Jay Miller in 1973 - could be broken in the bowl game.

While tight end Dennis Pitta caught just two passes for 33 yards on Saturday it was enough to send him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Pitta now has 78 catches for 1,025 yards and six touchdowns.

The last time BYU had two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season was in 1990, Ty Detmer's Heisman Trophy year. Andy Boyce (1,241) and Chris Smith (1,156) both surpassed 1,000 yards that season.

• Rankings: BYU dropped from from 16th to 20th in Sunday's AP poll and from 14th to 19th in the USA Today Coaches poll. Utah stayed the same in the human polls (8th in AP, 7th in USA Today) but moved up from seventh to sixth in the BCS standings.

• On the ground: BYU rushed for 216 yards against Utah, the most yards allowed by the Utes all year. TCU rushed for 213 yards against Utah on Nov. 6. Harvey Unga's 116 was the most allowed to one rusher by the Utes as well, surpasing the 106 yards turned in by Wyoming's Devin Moore and TCU's Aaron Brown.

• On the way out: San Diego State head coach Chuck Long has been fired, even though Athletic Director Jeff Schemmel gave him a vote of confidence earlier this year. San Diego State beat UNLV 42-21 on Saturday for its second win of the season but Long was just 9-27 in three years with the Aztecs. Long is the second MWC coaching change in the past week. New Mexico's Rocky Long stepped down after 11 years at the helm on Monday.

• Trickeration: BYU scored twice against Utah on innovative plays Cougar fans hadn't seen this year.

BYU's first touchdown came in the second quarter on a third-and-1 at the Utah 23. Hall spun out from behind center and pitched the ball to Harvey Unga, who took the corner and ran in untouched for the score. The second bit of deception also came in the second quarter on first-and-goal from the Utah 2. Hall walked to his right as if to give instructions to wide receiver Austin Collie. Unga took a direct snap and turned left end for an easy score.

• Not in our house: BYU did not perform the pre-game "Haka" as it has done the past three seasons. Mendenhall said it was because the Cougars ran out of time due to Utah honoring its seniors before the game started.

"The 15-minute clock run out, that was what happened there," Mendenhall said.

Just to make sure, though, Utah players crossed over to BYU's side of the field before the game in an attempt to taunt and intimidate the Cougars. Coaches and game officials separated the players before anything serious could happen and no penalties were called.

In the post-game interviews, Utah quarterback Brian Johnson said BYU doing the Haka in the Utes home stadium was "disrespectful."

• Extra Points: Utah has the longest winning streak in the country at 13 games. ... BYU outgained Utah 419 yards to 415. ... In BYU's two losses this season (TCU and Utah), Hall has thrown seven interceptions and no touchdowns. ... One of the leaders in the country in third down conversions, BYU was just 4 of 12 against Utah. ... The attendance at Saturday's game (46,488) was the second-largest football crowd ever at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at ddickson@heraldextra.com