The 103rd edition of the Holy War between BYU and Utah took place on Saturday night. And while it may not go down as one of the best games in the storied history of the rivalry, it was close throughout, had controversial calls and no-calls, an ejection, and a lot of trash talk.
For the 9th time in the last 12 editions of the Holy War, the outcome was decided by a single score.
The game started out with neither team getting much headway in a scoreless first quarter, as both quarterbacks looked a bit rattled. With this being Bear Bachmeier and Devon Dampier's Holy War debut, it wasn't surprising that things started slowly.
By the early 2nd quarter, BYU found its footing and scored the game's first touchdown, taking a 7-0 lead.
On their very next drive, Utah drove down into BYU territory, and was in range for a tying field goal. Inexplicably, the Utes went for it on fourth down with seven yards to go, and Devon Dampier misfired on a pass to Tobias Merriweather, and the Utes turned the ball over on downs, losing three points that would be costly to them later.
BYU punted on their next drive, and Utah hit paydirt at the 3:24 mark, tying the game 7-7. The Cougars would go three and out once more, but forced a fumble on the punt to recover immediately and turned that into a field goal to take a 10-7 lead into the half.
As with the first quarter, the third came and went with no points from either team, as the defenses continued to have their way with the offenses. Jack Kelly of BYU created havoc, with seven tackles (five solo), plus a sack on the night, while harassing Utah QB Devon Dampier in the pocket much of the night.
Ultimately, the 12 penalties on Utah, the two turnovers, and the fourth quarter ejection of star defender Lander Barton were too much to overcome for the visitors.
While Utah did get some points in the fourth and briefly took a 14-10 lead, the Cougars had an answer for every Utah threat. BYU's Parker Kingston answered with a 12-yard touchdown run to give BYU a 17-14 advantage.
A costly interception on the next drive turned into a BYU touchdown and a 24-14 lead.
After some late heroics, including a touchdown and a late field goal brought Utah within three points, the Utes attempted an onside kick, but a Ute player was hit by the ball before it went the needed 10 yards, making it BYU's football.
The Cougars were able to run out the clock and prevail 24-21, marking their 3rd straight Holy War victory, helping to erase the sting of nine consecutive losses from 2010-2019.
With the win and a loss by #7 Texas Tech earlier in the day, the BYU Cougars (7-0) are poised to rise from their #15 ranking, and more importantly are in the driver's seat in the Big 12 with a 4-0 conference record, and their meeting with the Red Raiders in two weeks looms large for a CFP berth.
Utah (5-2) drops their 2nd game of the season and likely is out of the running for the Big 12 title, having lost to both BYU and Texas Tech.
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