BYU looking for five wins in a row
The unranked Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars will be looking to extend their winning streak to five as they play the no. 20 ranked Utah Utes on Saturday 27 November in Salt Lake City.
Utah’s season to date
The Utes began their season as many teams would love to, winning their first eight games. Pittsburgh, University of Nevada – Las Vegas (UNLV), New Mexico, San Jose State, Iowa State, Wyoming, Colorado State and Air Force all fell victim to Utah’s
potent offence.
The streak was snapped on 6 November by Texas Christian University (TCU) who embarrassed the Utes with a 47-7 victory. It did not stop there though as Utah fell the following week to Notre Dame, 28-3, leading many Utes fans to be looking for answers as their
once potent offence was reduced to 10 points in two games.
Last weekend’s 38-34 victory over San Diego State exposed the Utes for what they really were, which is not a team destined for the top five rankings, especially with a less than impressive showing against the Aztecs.
They have no chance of catching TCU for the Mountain West Conference (MWC) title, but will be in a bowl game come December.
BYU’s season at a glance
The Cougars season started out with a victory over Washington, but BYU stumbled over the next four games, which turned out to be losses. Air Force, Florida State, Nevada and Utah State all took care of business as the Cougars defence allowed 27 or
more points in the losses.
BYU came back with an impressive victory over San Diego State, 24-21, but fell back into the loss column the following week against TCU.
Since the loss, the Cougars have come on strong, winning their past four games over Wyoming, UNLV, Colorado State and New Mexico, which leads into this Saturday’s season finale.
Keys to the game
Utah and BYU are both bowl eligible and neither team can catch TCU for the conference title, so this game will be about the rivalry and who will have the momentum going into the bowl season.
Utah will need to draw on their strength, which seems to be coming back from first quarter deficits as it did last weekend against San Diego State. Quarterback Jordan Wynn led the Utes offence to 362 yards through the air with a completion percentage of 63.6.
Wynn should be ready to see a lively Cougar secondary as they know his strength lies in his arm. However, despite the strength in Wynn’s arm, the Cougars defence has allowed only 2047 yards through the air, good enough for third place in the MWC.
The rivalry
These two teams have met 85 times in the past with Utah leading the series with a record of 50-31-4, but four of the last five games were determined by a touchdown or less. These teams have always been in the same conference and always have played
on the final game of the season, but that will be changing next season with BYU becoming an independent school and Utah moving to the Pac-10, which will turn into the Pac-12.
"It just seems like it matters a lot to the coaches, the players, the players' families and the fans," Cougars coach Bronco Mendenhall said according to espn.go.com. "It's almost like claiming your place as worthy to be in the rivalry. You don't want to be
the team or the coach that has a lopsided game."
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