Utah-BYU: Cougars stumble into rivalry game, while favored Utes look to extend streak

Provo • Winless against rival Utah since 2009, BYU was supposed to finally break through this year. That’s how the thinking went in the offseason among those who favor blue in the state’s most intense college football rivalry.

The Cougars have been eagerly awaiting the Utes’ first visit in four years to LaVell Edwards Stadium, and the quarterback who engineered a spirited comeback that fell just short in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl matchup, junior Tanner Mangum, returns with the fire he displayed his freshman season.

What’s more, the Utes’ six-game stranglehold on the Cougars was almost halted by a failed two-point conversion attempt last September at Rice-Eccles, and 16 of those red-clad players left for the NFL. Also, the man hired to revive a stagnant program, former BYU fullback and ex-Utah defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake, had brought a new confidence to Provo, and was making inroads on closing the talent gap with his former employer.

More belief came when BYU finished 36th, and Utah 37th, in the final Jeff Sagarin College Football Ratings last January.

Then the 2017 season started.

The Cougars looked inept offensively and mediocre defensively against Portland State and LSU, while Utah displayed new offensive weapons Darren Carrington and Tyler Huntley and the same stingy defense for which it has been known under Kyle Whittingham in an easy romp over North Dakota.

Suddenly, the Cougars’ chances of winning don’t look nearly as good as they did when camp began in late July. Saturday’s kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN2 and the Utes are a two-point favorite, after the week started with the Cougars favored by a point or two.

“I am grateful we can learn from [the LSU loss] and then try to improve and get better this weekend,” Sitake said. “That’s the focus now — not so much on the rivalry. We know the proximity and history and everything that is involved. We know that. But there are other things that are keeping us focused right now, and that is being more efficient on offense and playing together as a team.”

Utah’s focus, meanwhile, is squarely on the Cougars and extending the streak. It has probably been that way for most of the summer. The Utes toyed with the Fighting Hawks, showing just enough of new offensive coordinator Troy Taylor’s scheme to keep fans happy but saving plenty for a Cougar defense that has not been able to get off the field on third down.

“Like coach Whitt said, ‘we don’t lose to those people down South,’ Huntley said. “So we’ve got to come out and win. That’s what it means to me.”

Carrington said he began hearing about the rivalry from his future teammates before he even joined the Utes.

“Guys that are from here and have been around this rivalry since they were young, this is very intense to them,” said the former Oregon receiver. “Tyler [Huntley] — we’re not from here — but we know how much it means to them, so it means just as much us. We’re going to go out there and ball for them and all the fans.”

One of those Utah natives, defensive tackle Filipo Mokofisi of Woods Cross High, has told the newcomers to expect a different BYU team than the lifeless one that showed up in the Superdome last week and gained just 97 yards while never crossing midfield.

“We know that they’re going to come out with a different fire, especially this week against us,” Mokofisi said.

Those comments echoed the pre-game sentiments of Whittingham, who is 8-3 against his old school.

“When you play a rivalry game, it almost doesn’t matter what’s transpired before that because it’s its own entity,” Whittingham said. “Things seem to happen in that game that don’t happen at any other point in the season.”

BYU’s players say they’re ready to put the shaky start behind them and turn their season around.

“It is like a big chess match, you know?,” said Mangum, who will have to play better than he did against LSU or Portland State for the Cougars to have a chance. “They are a good team, but we are confident in our abilities, too. We are a good team. So we are excited for the challenge.”

How hungry are the Cougars to get the rivalry going in the other direction?

“About as hungry as you can get,” said senior linebacker Matt Hadley.