Utah used a 15 play drive spanning nearly six minutes to set up a chip-shot field as time expired, giving the Utes a 30-28 win on Tuesday night over their bitter rivals BYU in the latest edition of the Holy War.
Utah ran for 199 yards on 40 carries, with Micah Bernard and Dijon "Mustard" Stanley toting it 29 times for 186 yards, and they pounded out yards on a final drive that saw the offensive line set the tone. The Utes ran the ball nine straight times, rotating the backs with fullback Hunter Andrews to work down the clock in a tight game.
On third and 2 from the BYU 4 yard line, Cam Rising was able to pick up the first down and stay out of the endzone with a QB draw play. With BYU down to just one timeout and the clock inside the final two minutes, Rising took a knee three times in the middle of the field, setting up Cole Becker to split the uprights as time expired and give Utah their 8th win on the season.
"BYU only had the ball for about eight minutes, and they still scored 28 points on the day," Coach JasonUK said after the game. "They hit us for some big plays in the passing game, and had a massive kick return touchdown. We knew we had to keep their offense sidelined as much as possible, and giving them the ball back just wasn't something we could risk."
Utah got an early interception inside the BYU 20 yard line, but could only turn it into a field goal. That was one of two drives that stalled out near the goal line, as Utah continued to have problems converting in the redzone. But they got touchdowns when they needed them, and were able to do just enough to get the victory.
Rising played a mistake-free game, completing 15 of 19 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns. One of those TDs came when BYU lined up on third and short in a goal line set, leaving Damien Alford wide open. Rising took the snap and immediately hit him on a streak in the endzone from 12 yards out. "That one surprised me, especially since we called timeout because they gave us that look and we couldn't get into a pass play quick enough...and then they did it again."
Coach Jason also praised Coach BruisedBagel, whose offensive gameplan gave Utah problems. "They hit us short, long, intermediate, and their QB hurt us a few times with his legs as well. They had us guessing quite a bit, and their speed is a real problem."
Utah has now secured a likely 6-win season in Big XII play, given Iowa State is unlikely to be able to play, and that means Coach JasonUK will meet his goal for the season. When asked about his plans, he remained coy. "Right now, our only focus is our trip to UCF. We have no pressure on us, so we can come out and play loose and see what happens."
BYU Could not stop the run against Utah, as the Utes ran the ball 40 times for 200 yards. The game was back and forth the whole game with BYU taking a 28-27 lead in the last few minutes of the game. Unfortunately, they could not get a stop on the Utah backfield as they ran down the clock and kicked a game winning field goal to win the game. After pulling off the upset last season, the Cougars we're hoping they could repeat the result, but they came up just short losing 28-30 on a game winning field goal.
Offensive Player of the Game
Parker Kingston -
2 Receptions, 62 Receiving Yards, 1 Receiving TD, 2 Kick Returns, 128 Return Yards, 1 Return TD
Defensive Player of the Game
Harrison Taggart -
11 Tackles, 2 TFL
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