Just as many of us feel that last night was a major inflection point in the future of the United States, I believe this week's rivalry game will have major consequences going forward. This game is more important than any other rivalry game we've played in over a decade, maybe ever.

Utah has been riding high on Whittingham for about 20 years. It's the best span Utah football has ever seen. They've owned the rivalry, owned P5 status and resources, and have turned the state of Utah more red than ever before. Utah has been very close to landing a proverbial KO punch to BYU's football program. When it looked almost inevitable that BYU might be out for the count long term, they miraculously swung back in 2021 by beating Utah to end the 9 game losing streak and getting called up to the P5 ranks. That alone didn't save BYU, nor did it really change the narrative, but it sure did do some damage and leveled the playing field. Even so, Utah was supposed to breeze through the XII this year and BYU was supposed to finish towards the bottom, a continuation of the decade+ advantage Utah has had. As we all know, BYU has gotten up and been landing some major punches of their own. Utah is down. BYU is having a marvelous run. This week is BYU's opportunity to land another major blow to Utah and potentially knock them down indefinitely. A BYU win assures a start of a new streak, a 5+ year drought for Utah. BYU's XII, playoff, and national championship hopes will remain alive. The tide will have officially turned and if Whittingham does retire after this year like has been rumored, Utah will have a tough time recovering long term. The momentum will be with BYU and with BYU's fan support and equal P4 status, I don't think Utah recovers. The pendulum will be on BYU's side for the foreseeable future, probably long term.

BYU needs this win bad. If heaven forbid Utah wins, ruining our special season, it'll be a longer, tougher road to getting back on top officially. Even though, I see BYU getting there eventually, it'll just take a few more successful years now that we have equal playing fields.

No pressure cougs! Land that haymaker for us this week and send Utah back where they belong.