Records aside, Cougars expecting 'a battle' with in-state rival Utah State

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PROVO — Like most non-local recruits, former BYU quarterback Ty Detmer didn’t know much about the battle for the Old Wagon Wheel between BYU and Utah State before his playing days commenced in 1987.

He learned pretty quickly what the in-state rivalry meant, though, with a bench-clearing brawl as a sophomore in 1989.

“It was always a battle,” Detmer said just a few days before the Cougars and Aggies will meet for the 86th time Saturday at 8:15 p.m. MST. “It’s one of those games where everybody is intertwined in-state. It helps in recruiting, it helps in everything.”

Like Detmer, Garrett Juergens had no idea what the Old Wagon Wheel meant prior to walking on at BYU. But the senior wide receiver now looks at the antique trophy every day in the corner of the BYU football offices in Provo, a spot he said “looks good over there” before the Thanksgiving weekend matchup.

“I’m not going to lie; I didn’t know what the wheel was until a couple of years ago,” said Juergens, a Houston native. “Even with the BYU-Utah rivalry, I had to be in Utah to really understand it.

"Both teams, especially Utah State, keep it as a respectful rivalry. The wheel has gone back and forth, and in my time here, we’ve beaten them and lost to them. You can’t take them lightly. It’ll be a good game.”

BYU leads the all-time series that dates back to 1922 with a 47-35-3 record, but the Aggies began the rivalry with the upper-hand. Utah State was 21-13-3 in 37 years when the two teams competed in the same conference, first in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference from 1922-37, and also in the Mountain States/Skyline Conference from 1938-61.

More recently, the series has swung BYU’s way — but by narrow margins in recent meetings. The Cougars won the most recent meeting 51-28 in Logan last November, but the Aggies won the last meeting in Provo, 35-20 on Oct. 3, 2014, to snap a 17-game road losing streak that dated back to 1978.

What happened recently to make the series as competitive as it has been, including two games in Provo decided by three points apiece in 2011 and 2012? BYU defensive coordinator (and former Utah State running backs coach) Ilaisa Tuiaki attributes much of the rise to former Aggie head coach Gary Andersen.

“I know when Gary was there, he did a really good job recruiting in-state kids, and I think that is what it is about,” Tuiaki said.

“The amount of in-state kids makes it work. All the kids know each other and have played with each other, so that is really where it became competitive.”

Even the non-Utah recruits understand quickly the heated matchup that exists between Cougar and Aggie.

“I’ve faced them a number of times, and they always bring it,” said BYU quarterback Taysom Hill, who hails from Pocatello, Idaho. “I expect to play really hard; they’ve got some good talent on their team. I expect nothing less.”

BYU’s regular-season finale previews a Dec. 21 matchup with a yet-unnamed Mountain West opponent in the Poinsettia Bowl. For the 3-8 Aggies, Saturday’s game will terminate the regular season.

But the Cougars won’t take their in-state foe lightly; Utah State has lost four of its eight games by a touchdown or less — a feeling BYU players remember well after their 1-3 start to the season by nine total points.

“They are a tough team that has had a lot of close games,” defensive lineman Sae Tautu said. “It’ll be a good game.”

There’s a little bit of luck in every college football game. Sometimes, the ball doesn’t bounce the right way — and that’s certainly been the case for Utah State, BYU coach Kalani Sitake said.

“They’ve had some bad luck in some games, so we can’t focus on the result of those games but on the great things they’ve done,” he said. “They can hurt us through the air and also through the run game, and they do a great job in pass defense. They’re well-coached, and special teams is great. We’re expecting a great team to come into our stadium.”