Once a November staple with conference-title hopes usually on the line, the Utah-BYU game now is a non-league September matchup with little more at stake than Beehive State bragging rights. The latest installment of the Deseret First Duel is set for Saturday in Provo as the Cougars host the Utes.
This will be the fifth straight September game in the regular-season series – the teams also played in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl – after a run of 92 straight October, November and December matchups that ended when Utah left the Mountain West for the Pac-12 Conference in 2011.
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TV: 10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN2. LINE: BYU -1
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“You just play them as they unfold as your schedule dictates so we don't have a lot of control over it right now,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, a BYU graduate, said at his weekly news conference Monday. “I think given the circumstances with the conference we are in, and the situation with the two schools, I think (the game) fits best right where we are at. I don't know how you could play it late in the season.”
This will be second game and first road test for Whittingham’s Utes while the Cougars will be playing in their third game – and second home contest – following a 20-6 win over visiting Portland State and a 27-0 neutral-site shutout loss vs. No. 13 LSU last Saturday in New Orleans.
ABOUT UTAH (1-0)
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley made his first career start in the Utes’ Aug. 31 opener and was intercepted on his third pass of the game but impressively righted the ship to throw for 227 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 70 yards and two more scores in a 37-16 win over North Dakota of the FCS. “What you saw after those first couple series is what he’s all about,” Whittingham told the media. “He’s going to get better and better as the season wears on and as he gets more comfortable and settled in.” Huntley also has plenty of help in running back Zack Moss (22 carries-128 yards-TD vs. North Dakota) and wide receiver/Oregon transfer Darren Carrington (10 receptions-127 yards-1 TD) and a defense which limited the Fighting Hawks to 55 yards on 28 rushing attempts.
ABOUT BYU (1-1)
The Cougars enter the contest with offensive concerns after being limited to 97 total yards and six first downs by the host Tigers. Quarterback Tanner Mangum has yet to get untracked at 28-of-51 for 296 yards, one TD and one interception so far while Squally Canada and the BYU rushing attack have similarly been bottled up with 166 yards on 49 attempts in the two games. Defensively, linebacker Fred Warner has totaled 18 tackles so far for a unit which has been much stouter against the pass (159.5 yards allowed per game) than the run (190 yards) so far.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Utah has won six straight and 11 of the last 15 games in the series after thwarting a BYU two-point conversion with 18 seconds remaining in last season’s 20-19 home win.
2. The Utes are looking for their first seven-game win streak in the series since 1957.
3. BYU DB Micah Hannemann will miss the first half Saturday after getting ejected for targeting vs. LSU.
PREDICTION: Utah 24, BYU 20