A large percentage of the players have never been exposed to the rivalry, and they might see utah as not much of a threat this year especially if we are favored in this game. They have no emotional investment, and no reason to feel like they absolutely have to beat the Utes more than anyone else. Kalani will not try and get the players to have any hostility or aggressiveness towards utah just because they are the Yewts.
I feel like a lot more of the Yewt players have already grown up with the rivalry and knowing that part of KW's identity is very much anti-BYU will go all out in this game not caring much about any respectability or decency. They also have a bye week to kind of reset their outlook a little bit and recognize they can salvage something out of their season with a win against us. I would feel much better about the game if we both went straight into it.
Having said that, I feel like this team is different, and that not being that emotionally invested in beating the Utes shouldn't override the fact that we are a much better team who are disciplined and not overwhelmed by anything. We have also the ability to become very emotionally invested in anything that has to do with winning.