BYU, Utah football meeting in the Clash that everyone predicted, only in reverse

Perhaps the surest sign of anomaly in the Beehive State was the return of the scariest weekend on the state’s sports calendar – the “Holy War.” Families are once again divided by divided loyalties. Bumper stickers have gotten a little more shine. With greater consistency, red and blue sweatshirts dot the aisles of grocery stores and envelope centers like a bag of patriotic M&Ms.

However, the annual meeting between the BYU Cougars and the Utah Utes does not resemble the matchup that was expected months ago when it was added to the schedule after a three-year hiatus.

It’s a national title contender, as everyone expected, but it’s not the team anyone said it would be. Even stranger, the quarterback taking a starring role Saturday is not the one who until recently appeared in local television commercials, but a Jewish signalman who is producing converts of a different kind at the school sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints.

“Weird” is just one way to sum it up.

“The seasons have turned out completely differently than expected at the beginning. I think it shows that these preseason rankings and thoughts don’t mean much,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham quipped this week. “You have to go out and play the games and as the season progresses things happen that change the trajectory of teams. That’s exactly what happened this year.”

It was something like a Crazy Friday In this situation, the football fortunes of the two programs, located less than 50 miles apart, are headed in completely opposite directions this year.

The Utes were the preseason favorite to win their new league, the Big 12, and were widely believed – both internally and externally – to have a good chance of making the College Football Playoff in the first year of an expanded field . As with other contenders, preparations to host a first-round game at Rice-Eccles Stadium were discussed by the administration, and local sports talk radio didn’t hold back in dreaming about the possibility of one of the toughest venues in the country hosting a blueblood The game could host the playoffs in cool winter weather.

However, what could have gone wrong in Utah since then has happened.

Veteran quarterback Cam Rising made just three starts after sitting out the entire redshirt season last season because of a knee injury suffered in the Rose Bowl. He initially missed several games due to a hand injury and then had to sit out the season due to a leg injury suffered in an away game at Arizona State on October 11th. The offense was anemic after the season opener against Southern Utah, ranking 105th overall in the FBS in scoring and second-to-last in the Big 12 in third downs converted. After six years in charge, coordinator Andy Ludwig resigned on Oct. 20 following a 13-7 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs, and the program is now in the midst of a four-game losing streak (the longest since 2017).

The perfect antidote to the Salt Lake City nightmare was a dream season in Provo.

The Cougars are 8-0 for the fifth time in school history and remain one of only five teams in the country undefeated. They landed at No. 9 in the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s first ranking of the season – good enough for a top-four finish and a possible first-round bye – and could legitimately claim to be one of the most improved programs in the season Landes is coming off a disappointing 5-7 debut last season as a power conference team that posted five double-digit losses in league play.

Should they triumph at Rice-Eccles on Saturday night for the first time since 2006, it would ensure the team fully doubles its preseason outright win prediction of 4.5 from sportsbooks and keeps BYU atop the Big 12 standings, for which it was originally selected 13.

“In college football, especially as you get closer to the end in November, it becomes a test of how you’re going to finish,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “You can’t rely on anything – college football is unpredictable. There is great equality at this conference and we have said that from the beginning.”

One of the driving forces behind the Navy Blue and White’s resurgence was the play of QB Jake Retzlaff. Retzlaff, a junior college transfer from California, went winless in his four starts for an injury-plagued team last year but has significantly elevated his play this season. His yards per attempt nearly doubled and he scored 18 touchdowns – one more than the team had all of last year.

Retzlaff was also an eye-catcher. He led a first down in the fourth quarter to help beat the SMU Mustangs, rushing 75 yards in 62 seconds before throwing the game-winning touchdown to Darius Lassiter to secure a memorable win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Add to that the fact that he’s the Cougars’ second-leading rusher, and to outsiders the junior is no longer just a fascinating story as the first Jewish quarterback to play at BYU, but also the driving force that could help create the conference’s first title of the program since 2007.

Also helping is the defensive resurgence under Sitake and 49-year-old coordinator Jay Hill, who shockingly suffered a heart attack just two days before the season opener. It was a frightening moment for everyone involved, but the former Weber State head coach quickly recovered and the event brought the team closer together. Although BYU hasn’t had to take on many transfers this summer, it ranks in the top 20 in points allowed (up from 86th in the FBS a year ago) and has one of the stingiest pass defenses in the country. Notably, the team’s 14 interceptions came from 11 different players, highlighting its strength.

On paper, that would seemingly give the visitors a big advantage in the first Holy War, which comes with matching Big 12 logos on both uniforms. In practice, however, this rivalry was anything but easy. The last four meetings in Salt Lake City have seen an average margin of just over a field goal, and in one game fans stormed the field three times.

“There are a lot of emotions and a lot of equality between the teams. A lot of the records don’t matter,” Sitake said. “I think there is a lot of pride in both sides and the tradition. We will do our best.”

There are plenty of players competing against old high school teammates, and the crossover between the two coaching staffs adds another layer that few series in college football can match.

Whittingham is a former BYU linebacker who was a star player under the legendary LaVell Edwards, while Sitake spent nearly a decade in red as an assistant under his good friend Whittingham. Both Cougars coordinators coached at each school, plus both Hill and defensive line coach Sione Po’uha played in the game as former Utes. Five Utah assistants are graduates with plenty of experience at the school in the South, including defensive coordinator (and future head coach) Morgan Scalley.

Maybe that’s why, despite opposing momentum, BYU is ahead by just four points in a series in which Utah has won nine of the last 10 meetings.

“It’s unusual and hasn’t happened in a long time,” noted Whittingham, who will be in charge of the program for the 250th time Saturday but has lost to his alma mater just once in 20 seasons at Rice-Eccles. “But that’s our driving force.”

It’s a strange situation with the Utes facing BYU in a crucial matchup. But whether it’s a holy war or not, maybe it’s a given in the city at the moment.