A tale of mishaps — six turnovers for Utah (three interceptions and six fumbles overall) and three turnovers for BYU with two Cougars being ejected. It was by no means a pretty game, but Utah took this year’s rivalry game, its sixth win in a row over BYU, 20-19 after the Cougars failed to complete a two point conversion in Rice Eccles Stadium on Saturday night.
“This rivalry has had so many of these types of games where it comes down to the last play,” said head coach Kyle Whittingham.
Sunia Tauteoli came away with two interceptions, one a pick-six, for the Utah defense. Troy Williams finished the game with one touchdown and three interceptions on 14-of-23 passing for 194 yards.
“Wasn’t my best game,” Williams said. “I was struggling, just one of those games. It wasn’t going my way tonight.”
It looked as if the Utes were starting off where they left off in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl; even Whittingham thought so. Sunia Tauteoli picked off Taysom Hill on BYU’s opening play and he returned it for a touchdown. Only thing is, Utah started to resemble BYU from December’s meeting and started to turn the ball over.
On Utah’s first offensive stretch, Raelon Singleton had the ball popped out and the Cougars took over. After getting away with one fake field goal attempt, the BYU offense eventually did attempt a field goal and it got on the scoreboard with Utah leading 7-3.
The Utah offense was about to get rolling after Williams hit a couple of receivers, but Joe Williams fumbled the ball for the second straight game. BYU couldn’t find its way into the endzone though, and the Cougars settled for another field goal.
After a few plays from both sides, Troy Williams threw an interception, the Utes’ third turnover. However, BYU failed to get any points from this.
After the Utes got a first down, Troy Williams kept his cool under pressure and he connected with Tyrone Smith for 49 yards to bring the Utes to the 19 yard line. After a few more plays, Troy Williams fell victim to that pressure and he threw another interception, Utah’s fourth turnover in the half. The Cougars then went all the way down the field and Hill escaped the Utah defense for a 39 yard touchdown, giving BYU a 13-7 advantage.
Utah nearly gave the ball away a couple of times on its next offensive drive, fumbling and recovering the ball two times. Troy Williams seemed to get some nerves under control and he connected with Tim Patrick for a 21 yard touchdown right before halftime to give the Utes a slight 14-13 lead.
“I think that was huge — the offense was struggling at that time and I think that touchdown got us over the hump,” Patrick said.
Both teams failed to get anything going on their opening second half drives. Troy Williams eventually took a shot downfield and he found an open Tim Patrick for a 39 yard gain. However, Troy Williams nearly gave the ball away after he fumbled. Andy Phillips then came out to extend the Utes’ lead to 17-13.
BYU was moving the chains, but Tauteoli got his second interception, but Utah had to punt the ball back on its next possession. Then, as BYU was getting into rhythm, Reggie Porter picked off Hill.
Troy Williams was aiming for Demari Simpkins late in the third quarter, but Kai Nacua hit Simpkins and he was thrown out of the game for targeting, Immediately after, Troy Williams threw another interception, but BYU’s Austin McChesney was also flagged for targeting, and he was thrown out of the game as well.
The Utah defense kept the BYU offense at bay, but on the Cougars’ punt, Bobbie Hobbs fumbled it away, resulting in Utah’s sixth turnover. BYU failed to capitalize on it and on Utah’s next offensive stretch, Zack Moss started to take over the show in the fourth quarter.
Moss broke out for a 17 yard rush and later for a 10 yard gain. The team continued to put the ball in his hands and it worked. Troy Williams then found Singleton for a 10 yard gain and the Utes were on the 21 yard line. They settled for a field goal and took a seven point lead.
BYU took control of the ball and Hill lead his team. He ran in a seven yard touchdown, but the Cougars fell short of the Utes’ 20 points after failing at the two point conversion. Whittingham says if he were in Kalani Sitake’s position, he also would have gone for the win rather than the tie.
“I would have done the exact same thing if I were in his shoes,” Whittingham said. “First year coach and a chance to win the game right there on the spot, I think he made exactly the right call.”
Utah is now 2-0, and it close its nonconference schedule next weekend on the road against San Jose State.
@kbrenneisen