was ranked and both had their struggles that season. The BYU defense especially struggled that season. The two teams even had very similar results vs TCU. I do agree that the team and fans entered the game with too much confidence against what would prove to be a very evenly matched Utah team.


The better comparison would be to the 2006 game. Utah had once again struggled to a mediocre record, BYU was ranked and playing very well on both offense and defense. And BYU came out and immediately smacked Utah in the mouth (which goes against the other point you made).


Of course the biggest difference between both of those and now is there doesn't appear to be a hidden gem in Ratliff hiding on their bench. Both Wilson and Rose have looked awful, and their o-line doesn't look anywhere near as tough and hard-nosed as it was back then. The Utah defense is about the same, though, and Kyle's definitely going to have those guys as fired up as he can get them.