Brigham Young @ Utah preview
Rice-Eccles Stadium
Last Meeting ( Nov 28, 2009 ) Utah 23, Brigham Young 26
A few weeks ago, the Utah and BYU football teams looked as though their seasons were headed in the opposite direction of where they stand now.
The Utes (9-2) will try to overcome a disappointing stretch that cost them a potential BCS bowl berth and BYU (6-5) will try to continue what seemed an unlikely turnaround when the teams meet Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The Mountain West Conference rivals will meet in the last game of the season for the final time in the Deseret Duel Rivalry Game. They have been in the same conference for 51 years - in the MWC since its 1999 inception, in the Western Athletic Conference for the previous 37 years and three years together in the Skyline Conference.
Next year, Utah will be heading to the Pac-12 while BYU will compete as an independent. The teams were headed in the opposite directions for much of this season as well.
No. 22 Utah started the season with eight consecutive wins and reached as high as No. 5 in the rankings before hosting No. 4 TCU (11-0) on Nov. 6 in one of the season’s most anticipated games.
TCU drilled Utah 47-7 at Rice-Eccles Stadium to derail the Utes’ chances for a BCS bowl game. The sting carried over the following week as they lost 28-3 at Notre Dame.
Looking at a potential third straight loss last week, the Utes rallied for a 38-34 win over San Diego State after trailing 27-10 in the second quarter. Utah secured its fourth consecutive nine-win season under coach Kyle Whittingham.
BYU appeared headed to a lost season after a nationally televised loss Oct. 1 to Utah State dropped the Cougars to 1-4. However, they have responded to win four straight and five of their last six to become bowl eligible.
The Cougars are averaging 42.3 points per game and 243.8 rushing yards behind J.J. Di Luigi, Bryan Kariya and Joshua Quezada. They will try to move the ball against a Utah run defense that is ranked No. 10 in the FBS at 108.1 yards per game.
Utah has posted some lofty offensive numbers as well. Last week, sophomore quarterback Jordan Wynn led a revived offense that had been held to one touchdown the previous nine quarters. He threw for a career-high 362 yards and two touchdowns as the Utes amassed 500 yards of total offense.
Utah is No. 14 in the country in scoring offense at 37.3 points per game and averages 414.6 yards of total offense per game.