BYU vs. Utah: Score and Reaction for 2015 Las Vegas Bowl

The Holy War rivalry returned Saturday after a one-year hiatus, and while the BYU Cougars staged a furious comeback, the No. 22 Utah Utes came through with a 35-28 win in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada.

BYU scored 28 unanswered points to close the gap and out-gained Utah, 387-197, but five turnovers and 35 points allowed in the first quarter were too much for the Cougars to overcome.

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall's successful tenure at BYU didn't end as well as he and Cougars fans had hoped despite the remarkable effort. Saturday's game marked his final contest as BYU's head coach after he signed on to become the Virginia Cavaliers' new head coach two weeks ago.

The game couldn't have gotten off to a much worse start for BYU, as it turned the ball over on each of its first five possessions.

It started with a fumble by freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum, which the Utes took advantage of with a one-yard touchdown run by junior running back Joe Williams.

On the Cougars' next play from scrimmage, Utah deflected Mangum's pass, and senior defensive back Tevin Carter intercepted it, returning it 28 yards for a touchdown. ESPN College Football shared the replay:

Carter again picked off Mangum on the ensuing drive and returned it 33 yards to the BYU 1-yard line.

Williams punched the ball in for the second time, and it was quickly 21-0 in favor of Utah just six minutes into the game.

Just when it seemed as though things couldn't get any worse for the Cougars, the Utes notched another pick-six less than two minutes later, when junior defensive back Dominique Hatfield took an interception 46 yards to the house.

As Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports pointed out, the turnover parade was uncharacteristic of BYU, considering how infrequently it had given the ball away during the regular season:

The Cougars looked to finally get something going on their fifth drive of the game, but it ended like all the others when freshman running back Squally Canada fumbled the ball away.

Utah quarterback Travis Wilson cashed in on another BYU mistake with a 20-yard touchdown scamper to help make it 35-0 just over 10 minutes into the game.

After that score, ABC's Brent Musburger had a humorous and fitting line regarding the plight of BYU fans, via Will Brinson of CBS Sports:

The Utes held a 35-0 advantage when the first quarter mercifully came to an end, which was the best offensive start to a bowl game in a decade, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Carter Williams of the Deseret News provided a look at the first-quarter drive chart for both teams, and BYU's wasn't pretty:

Terrell Williams of CougarAccess.com speculated that playing under a lame-duck coach severely impacted BYU's effort and execution in the first half:

The players may have had their minds on their incoming head coach for the 2016 season.

Per ESPN's Joe Schad and Adam Rittenberg, via ESPN.com news services, the Cougars and Oregon State defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake agreed to a deal Saturday that will make the former BYU fullback the program's next headman.

Despite all the distractions, BYU had every reason to be motivated for the Las Vegas Bowl, as Utah senior defensive tackle Seni Fauonuku talked some trash prior to the game.

As seen in this video from Matthew Piper of the Salt Lake Tribune, Fauonuku called the Cougars a "dirty team":

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Seni Fauonuku volunteered for the welcome dinner dance-off, then asked for a mic and told "dirty" BYU to play clean. pic.twitter.com/BqGgmjPK5q

— Matthew Piper (@matthew_piper) December 17, 2015"

Rather than rising to the occasion, however, BYU played its poorest half of the season by a wide margin.

The Cougars finally gained some momentum entering the locker room, though, as they orchestrated a 13-play, 97-yard drive, which Mangum capped off with a three-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Remington Peck. With the point after, it was 35-7 at intermission.

That carried into the second half as BYU forced Utah to punt on its first series of the third quarter. The Cougars found the end zone once again when freshman running back Francis Bernard scored from 10 yards out to cut the lead to 35-14 with the ensuing extra point.

Utah seemed poised to punt from its own 28-yard line on the next drive, but it caught BYU by surprise with a fake punt that saw Ray Guy Award winner Tom Hackett run for 21 yards.

The Utes still ended up punting, but it helped flip field position, which Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune felt was pivotal:

The scoring stagnated for the rest of the third quarter, but the Cougars made things interesting with less than 11 minutes left in regulation, when Mangum threw a five-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to junior wide receiver Nick Kurtz to push the score to 35-21:

Jared Lloyd of the Daily Herald gave Mangum credit for hanging in there after such a tough start, which is something BYU didn't do under similar circumstances in a 54-10 drubbing at the hands of Utah four years ago:

In an attempt to stem the tide, Utah went for it on fourth down from the BYU 40-yard line with five minutes remaining, but the Cougars stuffed the Utes, which gave them great field position to work with as time continued to tick away.

BYU took advantage as Mangum connected with Devon Blackmon on a 45-yard bomb, before Mangum finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown run.

That helped pull the Cougars to within seven points with a mere 3:23 left on the clock.

Although Utah's offense was missing in action for nearly the entire second half, it rose to the occasion when it mattered most by grinding out two first downs on the ground to run out the clock and preserve the win.

With the victory, Utah secured its first 10-win season since 2010. Even more impressive, the Utes improved their record in bowl games under head coach Kyle Whittingham to a remarkable 9-1.

Although the season was disappointing for the Utes after having lost three games despite looking like College Football Playoff contenders early in the campaign, it ended on a high note with a huge rivalry win, which breeds plenty of confidence entering 2016.

Things are more uncertain at BYU as the program braces for a regime change for the first time since 2005.

Even so, the Cougars have plenty to build on after showing so much fight during the Las Vegas Bowl.

Postgame Reaction

While Utah ultimately survived and finished its season with the 35-28 win, Whittingham wasn't exactly thrilled with the way the game played out.

As seen in this video provided by ESPN.com's Chantel Jennings, Whittingham characterized the closeness of the contest as "ridiculous" after the Utes jumped out to a 35-0 lead:

Mendenhall was seemingly on the opposite end of the spectrum as he made it clear that his team's effort in his final game as BYU head coach meant a lot to him, per Piper:

"

Bronco Mendenhall: "I'm not sure I've ever been more proud of my team."

— Matthew Piper (@matthew_piper) December 20, 2015"

He was so proud, in fact, that the near-comeback moved him to tears:

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A teary-eyed Mendenhall: "We did lose the game, but I'm taking with me a pretty good going-away present by watching them try that hard."

— Matthew Piper (@matthew_piper) December 20, 2015"

According to the Las Vegas Bowl's official Twitter account, Mendenhall also reflected on his time at BYU, and what he believes the next head coach is in store for:

"I think I've left a program that wins about nine games a year, a team that has good grades," Mendenhall said. "There's a good foundation for someone that wants to come in and put their stamp on (the program). I appreciate the opportunity and fans for their support."

Mendenhall will move on to a Virginia team that needs a spark in order to compete for ACC titles, and BYU's resolve Saturday may bode well for the Cavaliers’ future.

As for the Utes, Whittingham reiterated his disappointment during the postgame press conference by criticizing his team's performance from the second quarter on:

"

After 35-0, Kyle Whittingham grades Utah as "very average" in the 2nd, "pathetic" in the 3rd and half the 4th, "pretty average" at the end.

— Matthew Piper (@matthew_piper) December 20, 2015"

Whittingham was still able to take some positives from this game and the season, though, as he believes Utah can build on what was a better-than-expected campaign, per Patrick Kinahan of 1280 The Zone:

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Kyle Whittingham: "We were co-champs of the South after being picked fifth." "The program is trending in the right direction"

— Patrick Kinahan (@PKKinahan) December 20, 2015"

A victory in a rivalry game as significant as Utah vs. BYU is always big, and the Utes can take solace in the fact they did come out on the winning end.

Utah certainly needs to make some improvements if it sees itself as a championship contender in the Pac-12 next season, and using the Las Vegas Bowl as a learning experience, Whittingham seems committed to making that happen.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.