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

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)
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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TEMPE, AZ – NOVEMBER 03: Quarterback Tyler Huntley #1 of the Utah Utes drops back to pass during the first half of the college football game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ – NOVEMBER 03: Quarterback Tyler Huntley #1 of the Utah Utes drops back to pass during the first half of the college football game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

2. Utah’s returning offensive players will have big games

Utah star quarterback Tyler Huntley makes his return against the Cougars after breaking his collarbone against Arizona State last season. Before he went down, Huntley threw for 1,788 yards and 12 touchdowns and added 304 yards and four scores on the ground.

Not only that, but before he got injured he beat Stanford, USC and UCLA. This is Huntley’s last year playing in this game and he’d love nothing more than to end his Utah career with a win over the hated Cougars.

Much like Huntley, running back Zack Moss was having an outstanding season before injuring his knee in practice before facing Oregon. Before his season-ending injury, Moss had over 1,000 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns including a 211-yard, three-touchdown performance against UCLA. Moss is a senior as well, and would like to go out with a bang over the Cougars.

Britain Covey, injured against Washington in the Pac-12 title game last season, is expected to be ready in time for The Holy War. He led the team in receptions last year, and is Huntley’s go-to guy.

All three of these guys know what’s on the line in this game. For Utah, it’s more than just bragging rights and state supremacy. The Utes are a legitimate Pac-12 and sleeper playoff contender.

This game won’t mean much in the Pac-12 South race, but if they want to reach the College Football Playoff, the Utes have to go undefeated because they don’t have the schedule to endure a loss, so these three need big games, and they will have them.