Where Are They Now? Matt Allen

I, too, praise Quinn for keeping this blog running and for the unique insight that is given daily. Not only that, but thanks to him for taking the TIME to do it.

Quinn tried to elicit my assistance a couple of months ago and I agreed to help out with the blog, only to subsequently become engulfed in my studies and not get an opportunity to contribute.

I probably could have made time if I really stretched myself, but I didn’t. Quinn DOES make the time and DOES stretch himself! We all appreciate what is being done here.

This is Matt Allen and I really miss playing BYU football on Saturdays (and sometimes Thursdays). I miss doing the Haka before the game. I miss calling the coin toss and seeing Nate Meikle out there with his microphone and head set doing KSL’s dirty work.

I miss the green grass, the blue stands, the yellow flags and the red-faced opposing coaches. I miss the BBBBBBB-YYYYYYY-UUUUUUU-COUGARS late in the second half.

I miss signing autographs (although I did sign someone’s scriptures and a pass-along card the other day at church). I miss Coach Mendenhall coming into the locker room jumping up and down after a big win!

I miss the players most of all, but its fun to see their names and comments pop up on this website every once in a while.

I am now removed, physically, from Provo. My family and I are living in South Pasadena, Calif., while I am attending Physical Therapy school at USC.

Every time I tell people that I go to USC, they ask me if I’m a Trojan fan now. I tell them that it’s hard to convert when the program that I put so much energy into over the past five years has an identical record as this perennial powerhouse.

Needless to say, I’ve made a lot of BYU fans out of my classmates. That being said, I regretfully have only been able to watch a few BYU games this year as Time-Warner Cable doesn’t carry the MTN. Thank goodness for Greg Wrubell on KSL.com.

Here in California, we have learned to live with the smog and the traffic, and ignore all the “No on Prop. 8″ protests. We actually really love it here.

This is a very important week for all of us, and while I have so many great memories of my playing days that I would love to reflect on right now, it would be inappropriate to mention anything other than the BYU/Utah rivalry past and present.

Above I mentioned things that I really miss about donning the Y on my chest on the weekends.

However, there are also some things that I do NOT miss, and most of them revolve around this week. For instance: I do not miss trying to ignore all the hype created by the fans and media.

You hear it said all the time and I know it is annoying, but as a player it really is just another game. So much is made of this rivalry by the outside that the minute you give into hype, your focus is gone and it’s difficult to not get distracted.

However, now that I’m on the other side, it is easy to see what the fuss is all about. All I want to do now is read more about what this coach may have said or what ward these two opposing players grew up in together. As a fan, it’s awesome!

I also do not miss the irritating phone calls, text messages, and emails I received from cowardly, anonymous Ute fans (not players) telling me (in their own derogatory descriptive words) how BYU was going to lose.

Many of our players started receiving these gestures immediately following our game the previous week (we literally had not boarded the airplane to come back to Provo before our phones started ringing) and continued to receive them right up until game time the next week. Yeah, I don’t miss that at all...GET A LIFE!

I will never miss playing games at Rice-Eccles Stadium. In fact, if I never make it back there again, it’ll be just fine with me.

Aside from how they treat our fans (many of you will know more about that than myself), the Ute faithful have a definite impact on the game. Some players will tell you that they can completely ignore the crowd while they play.

That is impossible up there. First of all their “fight” song is annoying! All of their fans are in red , which color has been proven to elevate one’s heart rate by just looking at it.

And just when your heart starts pounding, your ears begin ringing from the deafening crowd noise. The loudest opposing stadium I have ever played in (the only time I’ve ever heard anything louder was the earthquake that erupted after we converted on fourth-and-18 last season).

I have never felt like fans were able to impact our players’ execution on the field. But not being able to hear your own voice clearly as you yell at the top of your lungs to the player lined up next to you, wears on you after a while.

One of the best moments of my life was when that noise was silenced! Johnny on his knees with a ball in his hands. For just a fraction of a second there was no sound at all. I still remember that moment as if time were standing still.

The silence was broken by the overjoyed celebrations of the Cougar faithful in that stadium. A vast minority in that venue, but their voices were proud representations of cheers being hollered in unison all across the nation.

I’d give just about anything to be back on the field listening to those cheers again this Saturday.

Go Cougars!