PROVO — It’s no secret that the BYU-Utah rivalry has long been known for being unpredictable. Since 2003, seven Holy War games have been determined by one touchdown or less, with two of those contests ending in overtime. Rational pregame predictions seem to go out the window when it comes to the 117-year-old showdown, and last-second dramatics frankly have come to be expected.
In the end, the 2013 version of the Holy War was no different. Once again, the game was decided by a single touchdown, with the outcome hanging in the balance during the final play. As for this year’s surprise factor, it was the clutch play of the Utes’ secondary.
In the first three contests of the season, Utah’s defensive backfield was certainly a weakness. After losing many key players to graduation a year ago, it was known that 2013 would be a rebuilding season in that area of the field, something that definitely showed early this year.
Saturday was different. After battling their way back in the second half to pull the score to within seven, 20-13, the Cougars got the ball at about midfield with 32 seconds left. At that point, anything seemed possible, if only because crazier things have happened in the history of this emotional rivalry.
In those final moments, the Ute secondary stepped up as it covered receivers and batted down passes, forcing four consecutive incompletions from BYU quarterback Taysom Hill to end the game and seal the fourth straight victory for Utah over BYU.
“We knew what was at stake for our whole team and we just wanted it badly,” said Utah senior defensive back Michael Walker, whose interception late in the fourth quarter marked the first takeaway for the Utah secondary on the year.
While the Utah secondary shone especially bright down the stretch, it had played well throughout the game. After the Utes effectively stopped the run early on, Hill took to the air on a handful of deep pass plays and it seemed as though the Cougars had found the Utes’ Achilles’ heel. But after each big BYU completion, Utah responded with stops and at halftime the Cougars were still scoreless.
In the second half, the Ute defense continued its solid play, especially in the red zone, holding BYU to two field goals in the third quarter. In the fourth frame, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Utah put the Cougars in great field position, and two big pass plays led to a one-yard rush by Mike Alisa for BYU’s first and only touchdown of the night.
But after that touchdown, the Cougars would not come close to scoring again, due in large part to big plays in the defensive backfield.
“This defense has a heart and I can feel it when I’m on the field,” Utah senior defensive back Mike Honeycutt said. “We play as a unit, and I love every single kid on that defense. I knew going in that we were going to make big plays.”
Hill finished the game with 260 passing yards, but he completed only 18 passes on 48 attempts. Many of those incomplete passes were the result of solid coverage by the Utah secondary.
“The secondary play,” said Utes’ head coach Kyle Whittingham, “ … was by far the biggest improvement overall.”