On Saturday, Sept. 10, Utah took on its in-state rival BYU, and came away with a 20-19 victory against the Cougars.
Though Utah managed to win, the game was filled with fumbles and interceptions, both for and against Utah.
“We definitely dodged a bullet turning the ball over six times,” said head coach Kyle Whittingham. “That speaks to our guys’ resiliency, toughness and hanging in there, and we did get a few takeaways, but I’m proud of our guys”
Sixteen seconds into the first quarter, Sunia Tauteoli managed to intercept BYU’s Taysom Hill’s pass and he returned it for a touchdown, giving Utah a 7-0 lead.
“I felt like I was just doing my job and the ball came to me,” Tauteoli said. “So if the ball came my way, I had to key [in] on those opportunities and make something of it. I felt like the schemes that we put out put me in the right position to play.”
At the beginning of Utah’s drive in the first quarter, Troy Williams threw a completed pass to Raelon Singleton, but the Cougars forced Singleton to fumble the ball and BYU recovered. This led to a field goal for BYU and it made the score 7-3 in favor of Utah.
Joe Williams soon fumbled the ball and BYU recovered it. This allowed the Cougars to start their drive with decent field position. BYU got another field goal as a result.
Though the second quarter was not lacking in fumbles, none resulted in a turnover for BYU. However, the Cougars picked off a pass by Troy during the Utes’ drive and returned it for 11 yards.
“Troy [Williams] is still learning,” Whittingham said. “People forget that he has had one college start. He has some things to learn.”
Troy soon threw another interception which lead to a touchdown for BYU. BYU took a 13-7 lead.
During the second half, Tauteoli intercepted his second ball of the night, but the Utes couldn’t get anything going. After BYU took possession, the Cougars threw another interception, which was picked off by Reggie Porter. However, Troy would soon throw another interception.
“I was struggling,” Troy said. “It was just one of those games. It just wasn’t going my way tonight. Defense had our back tonight. All the credit goes to them.”
Though the third quarter saw many turnovers, neither team managed to score, with Utah taking the win at the end of the game.
“The game, as far as what it was like playing in it, was just very intense,” Tauteoli said. “As a defensive player, you want those opportunities to land on your shoulders. If we are called on, we need to perform, so I felt like this game was very exciting.”
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