that BYU plays. Oklahoma State was a bit of an outlier, but it also was good for the experience of the defense and DC.

Multiple coaches this season, in their post-game pressers, have commented that BYU defense specifically did things to take them out of their game plan, or did things that they weren't expecting to confuse them and get them off balance.

UCF is a great example of that. BYU's defense specifically took away the QB run on the read option. That was one of the first things that Gus Maltzahn said in his postgame remarks. They made UCF very one-dimensional with RB Harvey being their only viable threat, because the pass coverage was lock-down against a mediocre passing QB. So they ended up holding UCF way under their average rushing yards per game.

I'm confident that Jay Hill can dial up a game plan to neutralize Bernard in the running game. The BYU defense has been near the top (and even was #1 in the country for a while) in pass-efficiency defense, so I am confident that they will also be able to limit Utah's passing game by scheming to take away Kuithe in the offense as much as possible. With Money Parks out (Utah's biggest deep threat and return threat), it limits Utah's main offensive weapons to Bernard, Kuithe and Singer.

My confidence level for this game is much higher than it has been in past rivalry games because of the consistency and efficiency of the BYU defense. Take care of the ball on offense and play sound, smart defense and I'm thinking 27-17 BYU wins.