Utah Recap, 2024

The big day has finally arrived for the HOLY WAR to continue on the football field. BYU at Utah on Nov. 9, 2024. So Let’s talk about the game.

Nov. 9, 2024

It’s a Saturday in November 2024, and the 8-0 Cougars travel to the 4-4 Utes. This will be an epic showdown. Will the Utes upset the Cougars and ruin the Cougars’ playoff chances? Well, by the time you read this, we will know the result of the game. So, let’s break it down.

The Game

It was played at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah’s campus. The game was broadcast on ESPN at 8:15 PM MST.

Questions for the game

Will BYU show up?
Will the defense crush the Utes?
How will the offense do?

First Quarter

BYU was the only one to score in the quarter, they kicked a FG to up 3.

BYU 3

Utah 0

2nd Quarter

Well, Utah came fired up in this quarter.

Utah walked down the field and scored a TD

BYU 3

Utah 7

Utah kicked it off, and K. Marion returned the kickoff 96 yards for the touchdown, putting the Cougars on top.

BYU 10

Utah 7

Utah came back and scored a TD, putting them up

BYU 10

Utah 14

BYU went for it on 4th and 1, but Utah stopped them, went down, and scored a touchdown.

BYU 10

Utah 21

Summary of First Half

BYU didn’t come to play, and the defense hasn’t shown up so far in this game. Utah scored 21 freaking points in one quarter. BYU will have to step it up on both sides of the ball.

None of the questions I asked earlier in the blog are on the positive side of things for BYU.

The penalty Yards are killing BYU right now. They have 7 for 53 yards.

Time management isn’t the best in the first half of play.

BYU will have to come out of half and do something different. Utah is more fired up and wants to beat BYU. They might want to prove a couple of different things. Like, yes, they are good. They beat the number one team in the Big 12. They don’t need Cam Rising, the 10-year quarterback.

Second Half

3rd Quarter

BYU got the ball to start the quarter. It didn’t start off too well for them. BYU was only managed to kick a FG, putting it at

BYU 13

Utah 21

4th Quarter

BYU went down and scored a TD and went for a 2-point conversion but failed. Putting the score at

BYU 19

Utah 21

All Utah had to do was run out the clock. Still, they had to punt the ball. This put BYU down at their 4.

The game should have been over when J. Retzlaff got sacked in endzone. Nonetheless, Utah was called for a holding plenty. Thus moving BYU up 10 yards and a first down.

BYU went down the field and kicked an FG

BYU 22

Utah 21

Utah got the ball with 4 seconds left. They tried to do a lateral but fumbled it. BYU recovered the ball.

Yet, the game ended, and Utah’s bench got called for a personal foul.

BYU wins this game.

Statics

BYU	Stat	Utah
339	Total Yards	259
219	Passing Yards	112
120	Rushing Yards	147
5.2	Yards per play	5
20	First Downs	15
1/12	3rd Down efficiency	6/12
1/2	4th Down efficiently	0/0
65	Total Plays	52
5	Punts	6
10 (67)	Penalties (Yards)	10 (90)
0	Fumbles lost	1
0	Interceptions Thrown	2
29:50	Time of Possession	30:10

Thoughts

This was Utah’s game of the season. I mean, they are 4-4 and 1-4 in conference. This is the game of the year for them. They came out and played like this was the national championship game.

Utah’s defense was all over the place. Applying pressure and getting to J. Retzlaff almost on every play. They came to play,

BYU’s defense didn’t show up in the first quarter. They let Utah score 21 points in the second quarter.

Nonetheless, BYU went down the field after a defensive holding penalty. This was a lifesaver for BYU because he was getting sacked in the end zone.

They kicked a FG and won the game.

Utah thought they had it won, and so did I. But, BYU does BYU does, and they drove the field and won the game.

It was a good game indeed. I would have liked to have BYU beat them 70 to 0, but they pulled out the win.