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SALT LAKE CITY — It was another rivalry classic.
BYU went ahead 20-0 in the first half, but Utah battled back, made a game of it, and held on to edge the Cougars, 35-27 late Saturday night.
But calling it the eighth-straight loss for BYU (6-6) — or the eighth-straight win for Utah (9-3) — doesn’t do it justice to the announced crowd of 46,017 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, or thousands more watching at home. Saturday night was a grind, a battle, another moment in the rivalry series that nears its 100th episode that won’t soon be forgotten.
"It hurts, and it's supposed to hurt, and that's OK," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "We have another game to prepare for. We’re going to learn as much as we can from this.
"I think it’s supposed to hurt."
Eleven of the past 13 rivalry games have come down to one score or less, and Saturday wasn’t any different.
Here are three things that the Cougars can take away from another loss in the series — and none of them are moral victories.
You wanted a fast start?
Zach Wilson hit Neil Pau'u with a 10-yard touchdown strike after the Cougars’ first drive of the game, but Skyler Southam’s extra-point attempt was tipped wide to give BYU a 6-0 lead with 10:55 left in the first quarter.
It was the first time BYU took a first-quarter lead in the rivalry series since 2010, and the Cougars’ first first-quarter touchdown since John Beck started at quarterback in 2006.
Southam made up for his missed PAT after Wilson found rhythm on the next drive, going downfield and hitting Matt Bushman for a 26-yard score with 3:57 left in the quarter.
BYU forced three-straight three-and-outs to open the game, and outgained the Utes 153-15 in the first quarter. The Cougars went up 20-0 on Matt Hadley’s 1-yard touchdown plunge in the final minute of the half, taking a 20-point lead on the Utes for the first time since 1996.
It was everything BYU wanted in a start, scoring touchdowns on three of its first seven possessions, while holding Utah to four punts, a missed field goal and a fumble in the first half, giving the Cougars all the energy they needed to break a seven-game losing streak in the series.
"I think the energy was different," Bushman said. "We had it on offense, and we had the defense not knowing where to line up or what to do. We came out with energy, we came out with fight, and we were playing hard-nosed football. We were getting a push on the offensive line; we just need to keep that up through the fourth quarter."
But midway through the third quarter, BYU started to run out of gas. Utah scored via Julian Blackmon’s pick-six on the Cougars’ first offensive series of the half, and it was off to the races.
"We didn’t get the push we had coming out of halftime," Bushman said in a moment of honesty. "That pick-six, we easily could’ve bounced back from it, but it took some energy out of the sideline. We need to learn how to control the lead."
No moral victories
With all the advantages of the Pac-12 — bigger stage, more television money, increased revenue, higher-rated recruits — Utah trailed 20-0 at halftime, and BYU held the Utes to 86 yards of offense.
Still, Utah scored 28-unanswered points in the second half — all after running back Matt Hadley went down with an ankle injury — to pull away for the 8-point win.
Sitake doesn’t believe in moral victories, and he’s taught his players not to believe in them, either. But this team is not lost in the college football arms race, if Saturday's result is any indicator.
Just a true freshman, Wilson scrambled for a game-high 73 yards — even while taking three sacks — and Hadley had 64 yards and two scores on the ground. Utah’s rushing trio of Jason Shelley, Armand Shyne and TJ Green averaged just 3.52 yards per carry through three quarters, and finished with 155 yards on the ground — edging BYU’s 153, even as Hadley missed the fourth quarter.
The former Corner Canyon standout completed 20-of-29 passes for 204 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and ran for a game-high 73 yards.
"Zach’s a warrior," wide receiver Micah Simon said. "The way he prepares, the way he takes coaching and applies different things. He’s got a really bright future, and I’m really excited for him."
Wilson has three more years' worth of rivalry games. Lopini Katoa, the Cougars’ lead running back who missed the regular-season finale with an injury, does as well. So, too, do four of five offensive linemen, five of the Cougars’ eight pass-catchers, and a few key defensive players like defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga and linebacker Isaiah Kaufusi.
BYU will get better in years to come. So, too, will the Utes.
But this rivalry isn’t going anywhere.
"I believe that our team is really close, and this just made us a closer team," Sitake said. "We just have to keep working on it. As hard as it is right now with the outcome of this game, my job is to think positive and build on this — and we get another shot at Utah next year.
"We play them in the first game. We’ll be ready for that."
BYU still has a lot left in the season
Eight-straight losses in a heated rivalry series stings. It’s supposed to sting; that’s why it’s a rivalry.
But the Cougars can call this season a success — and there is still room for optimism, especially if they can go pick up a win in a bowl game to end the season.
After the disastrous 4-9 campaign of 2017, BYU clinched bowl-eligibility with last week’s 45-10 victory over New Mexico State. While the Cougars aren’t guaranteed a bowl game (their official bowl tie-in in San Diego folded prior to the season), there is little doubt that ESPN — which owns and operates the majority of college football bowl games, and has an exclusive broadcasting deal with the Cougars — will leave the Cougars in the cold.
The Frisco Bowl in Frisco, Texas, only has one conference tie-in, the American Athletic Conference, and several other bowl games will likely be left without conference tie-ins due to an insufficient number of teams that qualified for the 6-6 benchmark.
So while it’s not a guarantee that BYU will play in the postseason, the larger question is not if, but when, the Cougars will play.
“We’ve got a lot of young talent,” said linebacker Sione Takitaki, who had a game-high 13 tackles and three tackles for loss. “I’m a senior, but I feel comfortable with all the young talent we’ve got. It’s good to see them early in their career. They can learn from these things, and when they get into situations like this, they can learn from it.”
