This year’s edition of “The Holy War” will impact not only who plays for the Big 12 championship, but whether No. 3 Utah and/or No. 9 BYU qualify for the 12-team College Football Playoff field.
The Utes (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) host the Cougars (7-1, 4-1) on Saturday in Salt Lake City as they aim to break BYU’s three-game winning streak in their series.
Utah is one of three undefeated FBS teams while BYU shares second place in the Big 12 with Texas Tech. This is the first time the Utes and Cougars have met as Top 10 teams.
“What makes it great is that it’s competitive,” said Utah coach Morgan Scalley. “Look at us, we’re in one state within 30 minutes of each other, and we’re both sitting here ranked in the top 10. That’s awesome.”
Utah has started 8-0 for the first time since 2010. Scalley, once filmed expressing hatred for BYU, hopes for a less “toxic” rivalry between the schools that began playing each other in either 1922 (per BYU, with the Utes leading 59-34-4) or 1896 (per Utah, which leads 62-37-4).
Scalley and BYU head coach Kalani Sitake lead their respective alma maters, but they have common ground as they coached together at Utah under previous coach Kyle Whittingham.
“At the end of the day, it’s mine and (Sitake’s) hope that this thing can be more civil,” Scalley said. “The hatred, the toxicity that is spewed from both sides to me, it’s not good for the rivalry.”
Because the Cougars already have an upset loss to UCF on their resume (39-31 in double overtime on Oct. 24), Saturday’s game becomes a must-win to keep Big 12 and national championship hopes realistic.
To accommodate ABC’s national television audience, the game will begin at 10 a.m. local time — creating an interesting challenge for both sides.
“It’s a little bit different,” Sitake said. “The guys are really focused. There’s more energy and more effort towards the preparation for this game than ever before.”
A bigger concern for Sitake is his team’s ground game, which has declined steadily since running back LJ Martin suffered a leg injury. Martin remains BYU’s leading rusher with 344 yards and 7.8 yards per carry, but he has not played since the Cougars’ 17-10 win over TCU on Oct. 3.
In the Cougars’ four games without Martin, their rushing total has gone from 177 yards against Iowa State to 121 vs. Notre Dame to 116 against UCF to 47 in last week’s 27-20 home win over Arizona State.
Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier has accounted for most of the rushing output with 336 yards and seven touchdowns on 80 carries to go along with 1,750 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Martin returned to practice this week, which gives the Cougars hope for a timely return.
“He’s looking better and we’re seeing him in lots of training,” Sitake said. “So, he’s getting close, but we want to make sure that it’s the right timing for him.”
Utah has ruled out right tackle Kelvin Obot for the rest of the season with a lower-leg injury. The five-star freshman suffered the injury Oct. 17 against Colorado.
Led by Wayshawn Parker’s 726 yards and nine touchdowns, Utah’s running game has persevered and enters the game ranked eighth in the nation with 226.9 yards per game. BYU ranks 20th in the nation in rushing defense, allowing 100.0 rushing yards per game.
Devon Dampier has completed 69.6% of his passes for 1,876 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Utah ranks third in the nation in third-down efficiency (54.1%).
Utah’s defense has nine interceptions, which is tied for 13th-most in the nation.
