More than just bragging rights on line for No. 9 Cougars in Saturday’s rivalry game

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More than just bragging rights on line for No. 9 Cougars in Saturday’s rivalry game

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham and BYU head coach Kalani Sitake hug at the end of the game as Utah defeats BYU at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018. The No. 9 Cougars will be back at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday night to put their unblemished record on the line against the 4-4 Utes. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Jay Drew · Deseret News

Sat, Nov 9, 2024 ·

6 min read

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Having grown up in Sandy, which was one of those supposed Mason-Dixon lines in the BYU-Utah rivalry for years until it swung more in Utah's direction the past decade with the Utes going to the Pac-12 and the Cougars enduring independence, BYU's Crew Wakley and Brayden Keim heard plenty of smack talk in their neighborhoods and schools.

Although BYU's starting safety and starting right tackle say they were never diehard BYU fans, they did lean toward the blue because Wakley's grandfather, Ron, and Keim's father, Mike, played for the Cougars.

About the only thing at stake for BYU in the rivalry games in the 2010s was bragging rights, while the Utes had bigger fish to fry and oftentimes let the Cougars know it.

Well, things are a bit different — actually, a lot different — now with both schools in the Big 12 and on more equal footing in terms of funding and the ability to land top talent, through recruiting or the transfer portal.

Saturday's renewal of the rivalry at Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium (8:15 p.m., ESPN) is evidence of that. The No. 9-ranked Cougars (8-0, 5-0) seemingly have more on the line than the Utes (4-4, 1-4), who are only trying to save their season after four straight losses and get revenge for the 26-17 loss at BYU in 2021 that snapped their nine-game winning streak in the series.

"This is probably their Super Bowl," BYU receiver Chase Roberts said of the Utes. "They don't have a lot to lose."

Meanwhile, BYU has a ton to lose — its perfect season, its top-10 ranking, its perch atop the Big 12 standings and, most importantly, its dream of making it into the expanded College Football Playoff.

A case could be made that the stakes in the rivalry game have never been higher for BYU since it won the national championship in 1984.

That year, the Cougars were ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 and were 10-0 heading into the Nov. 17 game in Salt Lake City. Utah was 6-4-1 and looking to play spoiler, just as the Utes are this year. It was a dogfight from start to finish, as Utah scored first on a Molonai Hola touchdown run and closed the gap to 17-14 late in the third quarter before Robbie Bosco's 4-yard touchdown pass to Kelly Smith gave BYU the 24-14 victory and preserved its unbeaten season.

A case could also be made that the stakes were sky-high for BYU the last time the Cougars won at the U., the 2006 game when John Beck threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Jonny Harline with no time remaining on the clock to give BYU a 33-31 win. The Cougars were 10-point favorites that year, and needed the win to clinch the Mountain West title, but Utah refused to roll over after falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter.

The pressure is clearly on the Cougars, who have drawn some national love this week after they were ranked ninth in the inaugural CFP rankings of the 2024 season. They've been disrespected, a lot of national and local writers have opined. Utah would like nothing more than to derail BYU's momentous season, as Roberts noted.

"We know it is a rivalry game. There has definitely been a little bit of amped-up energy," Roberts said. "But we have always had that energy (this season) and we come out to practice every day with excitement and love towards each other and I mean, it has been working. We are 8-0 going into this game, so we are going to do the same thing we have been doing and go 9-0 this week."

It won't be easy, regardless of Utah's situation as a team with a foundering offense that has not announced publicly whether Isaac Wilson or Brandon Rose will start at quarterback after both were used in Utah's 17-14 loss at Houston two weeks ago. Utah's defense is top shelf, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick mentioned several times the past two weeks since the Cougars downed UCF 37-24 in Orlando, Florida.

Utah's defense "is for sure the best one we've played yet. Yeah, they are really good, the No. 1 scoring defense in the conference," Roderick said. "They are very good, like always. … They don't have any weaknesses. Really good personnel. Very good at what they do. Very well coached."

BYU is just 15-34-3 in Salt Lake City, and this is the first conference matchup between the instate rivals since 2010, another game that showed just how difficult it has been for BYU to win at Utah. The Cougars led most of the way, but heavily favored, No. 22-ranked Utah took a 17-16 lead with just over four minutes remaining, then blocked Mitch Payne's 42-yard field goal attempt with four seconds remaining after Jake Heaps had driven the Cougars to the Utah 22.

BYU also came close to winning at Rice-Eccles in 2012 (24-21), in 2016 (20-19) and in 2018, when it blew a 27-7 lead and watched Utah's superior depth take over in a 35-27 loss in Zach Wilson 's freshman season.

Heaps, Taysom Hill , Tanner Mangum and Wilson never beat the Utes in their careers, while Jaren Hall arguably made his career legendary with the 26-17 victory in Provo three years ago.

It will be into that pressure-cooker that BYU's Jake Retzlaff steps Saturday night . He's talked to the last man to do it in Salt Lake City, John Beck, and says he will be ready.

"I play with enough emotion as it is. I just try to remove the emotion from the rivalry and attack it like a football game. It is not something that the fans want to hear, but it is the truth," Retzlaff said. "That is how you go win these games — you remove that intense emotion out of it, and you just go play ball and keep executing like we have done all year."

1018fbccougars.spt_SGW_03616.jpg — BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff celebrates after scoring a rushing touchdown as BYU and Oklahoma State play at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

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