Before I get started, I was thinking about an argument we had last year about whether BYU was P5 worthy or whether they were a great mid-major. With BYU coming in at 34th all time in the football rankings and with every P5 conference saying that BYU is a P5 equivalent and with BYU’s record of 11-11 vs: the Pac 12 and 6-1 over Ok and Tx, I would have to say BYU is not only P5 worthy, but would rank in the top 4 of any of the P5s with exception of maybe the SEC.
As for Utah, every poll out there has this as a very tight game and favors Utah 24-21 BYU give or take a few points. Few prognosticators have BYU coming out on top considering that BYU starts a Sr at QB and Utah has a JC transfer
The only think I will agree on with national polls is that the game will be close…it just always is.
How will BYU respond to Utah’s running attack? In the SUU game, the Utah front line did not impress me that much and if they have to kick the ball away 5 times, like they did in the SUU game, Utah will lose. Williams and McKormick are very similar to the Zona running backs that BYU faced. SUU contained the Utah running attack, does not look great for Utah. BYU was 24th nationally against the run last season and this year they are even better. Advantage BYU
As for the passing attack, Utah QB Troy Williams was 20 of 35 and is a dual threat, as was the Zona QB, Solomon. BYU had little problem with him, picking Solomon off 3 times if you count the 2 point conversion. BYU seems to be better at pass defense as advertised. Advantage BYU
BYU vs: Utah’s defense.
We have Hill and Williams, both seniors and both lethal. Utah has a top 5 line in the nation. They are big, they will push our Oline around. Utah’s LBer’s are average. Can we run on them? Depends on if Utah fills the box like Arizona did. BYU was up by 2 scores most of the game so Detmer was not trying to score but grind out clock and keep Rodriguez’s offense off the field. BYU will do the same if we can get up 2 scores on Utah. I see Hill throwing a lot of underneath stuff when Utah loads the box and I do think that BYU can run on Utah, Williams is just that fast. advantage Utah
BYU’s passing game…This will be the difference in the game. Trinniman is impressive, catching anything in his hemisphere. We did not see much of Kurntz or Jeurgens but I think that will change big time in the Utah game. still advantage Utah
Lastly, Special Teams. Utah has top punter, Mitch Wishnowsky, a potential all American. We have Linehan, I will take our guy. His punts were all inside the 10. They kicker missed a FG as did our starter…Here comes Jonny.
Punters and kickers cancel out.
With such evenly matched teams, we have to go to the intangibles:
At Utah, give Utah 6 points.
Turnovers, advantage Utah by a mile
BYU will be able to run the ball, Utah won’t advantage BYU by a mile.
Sr leadership at QB, give BYU 9 points.
BYU 24-21 Utah.