Cougars Collapse Against Utes In The Second Half

A game that many observers had labeled meaningless, because Utah’s Pac-12 championship game next week, turned into one of the most unforgettable meetings in the rivalry’s history. The reason why is, for the first time in a long time it seemed like BYU had it in the bag. For much of the first three quarters, the BYU-Utah football game finally appeared to be following a script that favored the Cougars.

Stunningly, BYU had a 27-7 lead on the road against the Utes in Rice-Eccles Stadium with less than 16 minutes left to go in the game. Just 13 minutes later, however, the momentum of the game had made a complete 180-degree turnaround.

Utah stormed back to take a 28-27 lead on a 5-yard TD run by junior running back Armand Shyne with just 3:02 left in the game, giving BYU the ball with a chance to drive down the field and end their losing streak.

But with two plays to gain one yard, the Cougars had an incomplete pass and got stuffed for a loss of one on a deep handoff and Utah got the ball on the turnover on downs.

Next, Utah quarterback Jason Shelley faked a handoff and went 33 yards to extend the Utah lead to 35-27 — but gave BYU 1:43 left to attempt to tie the game.

BYU had three timeouts but could only just get across midfield, coming up less than 1 yard short on fourth-and-7 and allowing Utah to escape with the come-from-behind 35-27 victory.

It was a wild end to a game that had looked so promising for the Cougars for so long. (Aside from eliminating their honor code, comment what you think BYU needs to compete with the Utes moving forward.)

BYU seized the momentum early in the game when Cougar junior defensive back Dayan Ghanwoloku jumped on a punt that had touched a Ute player. The Cougars needed only five plays to turn the turnover into points as Cougar freshman quarterback Zach Wilson hit sophomore wide receiver Neil Pau’u for a 10-yard touchdown as BYU went in front.

The snap was off on the conversion, however, and the kick by Cougar freshman kicker Skyler Southam went wide. That proved to be costly when Utah made its comeback later in the game.

After the Cougar defense got a couple of stops, BYU marched back down the field and Wilson hit sophomore tight end Matt Bushman for a 26-yard touchdown and the lead was 13-0.

The Cougars held Utah in check for the rest of the half, including blocking a 54-yard field goal attempt. BYU put together one final drive to end the first half and scored on a 1-yard run by senior running back Matt Hadley to build an impressive 20-0 lead at the break.

The Utes got a key spark early in the second half when junior cornerback Julian Blackmon stepped in front of a Wilson pass and returned it 27 yards to the end zone to get Utah on the board.

BYU answered after an exchange of punts, taking advantage of a shanked kick by Ute punter Wishnowsky that only went 10 yards. The Cougars drove 44 yards and got in the end zone on another 1-yard run by Hadley on fourth-and-goal. But the 20-point advantage would prove to not be enough.

Utah got a 10-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Shelley to former Timpview star Samson Nacua to narrow the gap, then edged even closer on a 2-yard TD run by Shyne.

The Ute defense started shutting down the Cougar offense consistently while the Utah offense picked up steam. BYU lost starting linebacker Isaiah Kaufusi and Hadley to injuries which proved to have an impact.

Utah went 70 yards on 10 plays — aided a 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 and by a blown coverage on third-and-4 that resulted in a 37-yard completed pass — to set up Shyne’s run to give the Utes the lead.

Once again, BYU had its chances to respond or maintain the lead in a game against Utah but couldn’t make it happen and lost for the eighth straight time. We won’t need to wait too long for a rematch though, the “Holy-War” will be played in week 1 of the next football season.

Until then BYU and their nationwide following will be waiting to find out what bowl game they will be playing in, and Utah will be preparing for a game that is sure to be far more important than this was.

The Utes will Face the Washington Huskies for the Pac-12 Championship for a chance to with the Pac-12 and play in the historic Rose Bowl.