It’s hard to fight off the hand wringing. Whittingham is an outstanding defensive coach with excellent players, and he’s been a thorn in our side in this game for three decades. Over that span, he always makes it close when he’s not kicking our keister. Points for Ute opponents have been tough to come by all year. I expect more of this on Saturday.

We have not won at their place since 2006 on a miracle play and before that, 2000 on another miracle. Before that, 1998 on a last second botched chippy Ute field goal attempt. I was there for that one, sitting on the top row of their student section, dressed in blue.

There’s probably a bit of PTSD. They’ve owned scoreboard on this game for over two decades. My best guess is buckle up. It’s going to be edge-of-our seat stuff again this year.

And also kind of awesome when we win.

This time, WE have much of the coaching staff and brain trust who walked their sidelines during their run of dominance. These are good coaches, both tactically and in their connection with and preparation of their players. In Jay Hill, we too have a master strategist running our defense. Whittingham is coming after Jake Retzlaff with a talented and tough bunch of athletes to rattle him into the mistakes that will give Utah the victory. And while he’s doing that, Jay Hill will be doing the same thing to either a true freshman 5’11” Ute QB facing his best opponent. Or a former 3rd stringer who will be making his first start, trying to solve the same high stakes riddle.

Advantage BYU

This time, we’ve already played and beaten smash-mouth style, P4 opponents, both at home and on the road. Maybe the Utes are even tougher. We are tough too. Many of our best players have never lost to Utah. Many are not from the area and have no built-in mental blocks, etc. about the mystique of the Utes. We’ve played a difficult schedule, and we are 8-0. About to go 9-0.

BYU 24 Utah 14