16 – It took Utah 16 seconds to score the first touchdown of the game, a pick-six by Sunia Tauteoli. At that moment, it seemed like the crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium was in for a repeat of last year’s Las Vegas Bowl where Utah scored 35 points in the first quarter off a handful of BYU turnovers.
6 – However, that was not to be the case. The game was turnover-filled, but most of them came from the Utes. Utah turned the ball over six times after not giving away any turnovers in the last three games against BYU. Normally, Utah hasn’t been able to overcome losing the turnover battle, but Utah’s defense was able to limit BYU’s ability to capitalize off those turnovers.
53 percent – That was Taysom Hill’s completion percentage, whose passing struggles against the Utah defense were a big reason that BYU wasn’t able to score more points off of Utah’s turnovers. Hill only averaged 4.5 yards per attempt, and he threw three interceptions and no touchdowns.
35 percent – BYU converted only 35 percent of uts third-downs, compared Utah’s 50 percent. Utah’s offense gave BYU plenty of opportunities to take over the game, but its defense didn’t allow BYU to take advantage. In the first half, where four of Utah’s six turnovers took place, BYU averaged only 22 yards per possession.
2 – In back-to-back plays, a BYU player was penalized and ejected for a targeting call on a Utah receiver. The calls were highly controversial. TV commentators (and even many Utah fans) didn’t think either call was justified. The ejection of Kai Nacua was especially impactful, because up until that point he had recorded two interceptions and one fumble recovery.
10 – Utah had three running backs who ran the ball 10 or more times. Joe Williams (10 carries for 26 yards), Troy McCormick (10 carries for 62 yards) and freshman Zack Moss (12 carries for 58 yards) were able to average 4.5 yards per carry as a group (the same amount that Taysom Hill averaged on each passing attempt). Going forward, Utah appears to have a good rotation of players who can run the ball (although Joe Williams’ ball security remains a concern as he added another fumble to his resumé).
11:21 – With 14:08 left in the fourth quarter, Utah started a drive from its own 10-yard line. That drive, which featured a heavy dose of downhill running from Moss and Williams, took 11 minutes and 21 seconds off the clock. In a game plagued by penalties, sloppy play and turnovers, Utah was able to close out the game with a slow methodical march down the field, limiting the chances for another game-losing turnover. The drive ended with a field-goal that gave Utah a seven-point lead, and it left BYU only a couple minutes to drive down the field.
249 – Number of times you’ll hear a BYU fan say that BYU is the better team, but the Cougars just got “screwed by the refs.”
0 – Number of people on Utah’s roster who have lost to BYU.
1964 – The last time that Utah won six games in a row against BYU.
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