The Holy War returns to the gridiron when the (23) Utah Utes battle the BYU Cougars in LaVell Edwards Stadium this weekend. The match-up is set for Saturday, September 9th at 10:30 p.m. EST and can be seen on ESPN2. As of now, the Utah Utes are -2 point favorites to come out on top and the contest’s total rest at 45.5 points.
The Utah Utes come into this game riding a 37-16 victory over North Dakota. Yes folks, North Dakota, not the Bison. The BYU Cougars were completely stifled in their last outing, losing 27-0 to the SEC’s LSU. BYU desperately needs a win on Saturday or they will fall to 1-2 on the season. Last year, Utah won by a score of 20-19. Here’s something to consider, the Dog is 16-5 ATS the last 21 games in this series.
(23) Utah Utes (1-0)
The Utah Utes finished off with a solid 9-4 season in 2016. Unfortunately, they may regress a little bit this year as they have just nine starters back overall. Nevertheless, they did beat North Dakota in their opener by a score of 37-16, but the level of competition will sky rocket in this one.
New quarterback Tyler Huntley got his first career start and answered the bell. The rookie passer connected on 23 of 32 passes for 227 yards and one touchdown with one pick. He will be asked to manage this game carefully and allow the rushing attack for the Utes to do their thing.
Utah has just four starters back on offense and to make matters worse, leading rusher Joe Williams has departed. Now, Zach Moss who was second on the club with 382 yards and two scores will be asked to shoulder the load against the Cougars.
Last week, the new tail back lived up to his share. Moss scampered for 128 yards and a TD on 22 carries against the Flying Hawks. As the offenses’ focal point, he should get plenty of carries and end up having a productive season.
Wide receiver Darren Carrington II certainly did his part to contribute to the movement of the chains for the Utes. He was clearly Zach Moss’s favorite target, catching 10 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. No other Utah wide out recorded more than two catches in their season opener.
Once again, the Utes will rely on their bread and butter to pick up wins in and out of their conference. The Utah defense allowed just 23.9 points per contest and 22.3 points per game over the last to years. They also have 26 returning lettermen but just five starters back.
In the victory over the North Dakota on Saturday, they allowed only 238 yards of total offense, including just 51 yards via the ground. Last year, they were number one in the PAC-12 and 22nd nationally at stopping the run. Fortunately, to beat the BYU Cougars you must stop the run. In last season’s contest, the Utes won 20-19 and held the Cougars to 143 yards on the ground.
BYU Cougars (1-1)
The Cougars were 9-4 last season and they are expecting to have another solid 2017 campaign because they return 59 lettermen. Also, 13 starters will return for the Cougars for this match-up against the Utes.
To their dismay, the season did not go off with a bang. They had a mediocre showing at home against Portland State and then laid an egg against the Tigers. That offensive output won’t cut the mustard when they go up against the Utah defense this weekend.
The BYU Cougars did lose Taysom Hill from last year, but Tanner Mangum has experience and actually threw for 3,377 yards in his first year under center. Against a stout LSU defense, Mangum connected on 12 of his 24 passes for only 102 yards and a interception.
The BYU rushing attack was down right pitiful in their shut-out loss to the Tigers. The Cougars were held to minus 5 yards rushing on the evening. This has to be alarming for Cougar fans as the Utah Utes have had one of the better run stop defenses in college football over the past few years. It’s safe to say that BYU’s running back Squally Canada will have his hands full in this version of the Holy War.
Like in the running game, no Cougar wide out did much of anything on the national stage against the Tigers. Receiver Matt Bushman led the team with four catches totaling 44 yards. In fact, On the season, BYU is averaging just 10 points per game on 231 total yards. Yikes.
Defensively, BYU is holding their opponents to an average of 16.5 points per contest and just under 350 yards per game. Not bad considering they have been on the field quite a bit to start the season. Apparently, they will once again be asked to do the heavy lifting when the Utes march into LaVell Edwards Stadium for this match-up.
Prediction
This game is one that both clubs circle immediately on their schedule before spring ball even starts. To put it bluntly, these to schools really don’t like one another. BYU has struggled offensively to start the season and still look like their a work in progress.
The Utah offense seems to be average at best. although, they have a couple of players a key positions that are performing well two weeks into the year. I do think the Cougars will play some inspired ball, not wanting to fall below .500. I’m just not convince that will be enough to beat the Utes.
Both of programs will be led by their defenses once again. Also, both of these teams will look to try to impose their will through their running games. That’s exactly what the Utah Utes want to happen.
Sin City says the Utes are -2 point favorite and I couldn’t agree more. If your going to give me a field goal in a rivalry game with the team that fields the better offense and defense, I’ll take. So should you.
Also, I will look for this game to stay under the total, especially with the under going 7-2 in the last 9 meetings. I know it seems really low but last I heard Vegas knows a thing or two about a thing or two. Chose either bet and watch these two universities duke it out on Saturday night.
Trends
The Utes are 13-4 ATS in their last 17 non-conference games.
The Utes are 13-5 ATS in their last 18 road games.
The Under is 4-0 in the Utes last 4 games overall.
The Under is 4-1 in the Utes last 5 non-conference games.
The Cougars are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 home games.
The Cougars are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games.
The Under is 12-2 in the Cougars last 14 non-conference games.
The Under is 5-1 in the Cougars last 6 home games.
The Underdog is 16-5 ATS in their last 21 meetings.
The Road team is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 meetings.
