Utah Football: 3 bold predictions for The Holy War vs. BYU in Week 1

By Dante Pryor | Aug 28, 2019

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - NOVEMBER 24: Head coach Kalani Sitake of the Brigham Young Cougars meets with head coach Kyle Whittingham of the Utah Utes after the Ute's come from behind 35-27 win at Rice-Eccles Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images) /

3. BYU will jump out to an early lead

I would love to say “throw out the records in this one, it’s a rivalry game” but since it’s Week 1, there are no records yet. The Utes have the advantage all over the field on both sides of the ball, but BYU will jump out to an early advantage.

The game is in Provo at LaVelle Edwards Stadium so expect the crowd to be full with a sea of blue and white Cougar fans waiting to take down the hated, yet talented, U of U.

It would be no surprise if head football coach Kalani Sitake and his offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes will have some early tricks up their collective sleeves. They can’t afford to sit back and be conservative. Utah has the best defensive line in the Pac-12 and maybe the in the entire country. Not only that, the Utes might have the best offensive and defensive line combination in the country, so the Cougars can’t just sit back and play it safe.

I expect some reverses, jet sweeps, halfback passes, or maybe Sitake draws inspiration from Dan Mullen and we see a fake punt or fake field goal early.

If Brigham Young has any chance at this game, they must take chances early and hope they pay off.

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