Utah Utes Beat BYU Cougars 54-10 in Annual "Holy War"

Anyone who has followed the annual in-state football game between the University of Utah and Brigham Young University knows that last Saturday's matchup between the two schools was anything but expected. I, including most cheering for one or the other, expected a hard fought defensive struggle that would most likely be decided in the final minutes of the game.

Both teams just hadn't shown enough offensively to warrant substantial confidence. 

What transpired in the confines of Lavell Edwards Stadium Saturday night was something most Utah fans have been waiting a lifetime for. Kyle Whittingham's team produced the largest margin of victory for a Utah team in the "Holy War" since 1922 as they cruised to a 54-10 victory.

While I can give an analysis of Utah's win over the Cougars and outline each drive and what happened, I am not going to bore you. 

All that needs to be said is that the Utes kicked the crap out of the Cougars. I would ask that you don't look at the stat sheet or read the box score if you didn't watch the whole game from start to finish. That can't and won't paint a picture of what happened Saturday night. Yes, the stats would suggest that BYU wasn't that far off when compared to Utah, but there could never be a more inaccurate statement. 

The Utes dominated in each facet of the game and completely destroyed the will of each and every BYU player, coach and fan. 

It was exciting to see what the Utes are going to have to offer in the next couple of years. They seemed to dominate almost every matchup on both sides of the ball. Even when Utah started to substitute players in and out midway through the third quarter, they still kept the Cougars in check.

It was clear Saturday night that these programs are moving in completely opposite directions. The Utes are increasing their talent pool each and every year and are looking more and more like a team that will be challenging for PAC-12 titles and Rose Bowl berths in the near future. 

The Cougars on the other hand seem to be a team that, while talented, can't get their act together.

They can't run the football. Their quarterback is in denial about their lack of success. Their play-calling is atrocious and their head coach is more concerned about what he is going to say at his next church meeting than how his team is performing. I would be extremely concerned if I was a BYU fan. I wish that BYU would just man up, accept defeat to a far superior team and move on. 

I understand that BYU didn't play their best game and committed countless turnovers that resulted in Utah points. But the thing that most BYU fans are overlooking is that the Utes didn't play perfect either. The Utes allowed the Cougars to move the ball in chunks and offensively couldn't punch it in to the end zone for touchdowns on several occasions. 

This game easily could have been 75-3. But thanks to extremely conservative play calling in the second half on the part of Norm Chow, the Utes didn't run up the score. I understand that when you see a score of 54-10 that is hard to believe, but honestly Utah was running almost the same play over and over again to try and run out the clock and reduce the pain of those witnessing the massacre, but BYU just couldn't stop the Utes offense. 

Unlike the Jim McMahon days where BYU was throwing bombs deep into the fourth quarter even when his team was up by 40, the Utes didn't even complete a pass after the 10:59 mark in the third quarter! They didn't have to. All they did was hand the ball off and let "The Wolf Man," John White IV, go to work. 

What I took from this game is not that Utah is going to run the table and never lose another game this season, but rather that the Utes are just much better than BYU. Nothing more. They have more talent at almost every position. Utah's coaches are better and with the way BYU's fans left five minutes into the second half, you have to say the same about Utah's fans over BYU's. Why would a team want to perform in front of a group of "Pharisees and Sadducees"?

In all honesty, I would even rather take Jordan Wynn over Jake Heaps. Despite Heaps talent, he can't command an offense and transition his talent into points and wins. 

In terms of recruiting, Utah will continue to bring in quality talent both in-state and out each and every year while BYU will be limited to their "special kind of player."

I believe that this is the kind of defeat that is going to shift the direction of the rivalry. Much like the way the Cougars dominated the Utes in the 1970's and 1980's, Utah looks poised to beat the Cougars for years to come.