Utah wins 7th straight over BYU 19-13

Earlier this week Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley said the Utes don’t lose to the people down south. Huntley backed that statement up as the Utah Utes went down to Provo and handled business by defeating the BYU Cougars 19-13 on Saturday.

With a career-high 300 passing yards and 89 rushing yards, Huntley led the Utes to their seventh straight victory in the series.

It’s still early in the season, but it seems as if Huntley is going to do well in the team’s new pass-first spread system offense. He still needs to work on little things, though – like not giving up on the pass so quickly. Be patient and let things develop. Utah reached the red zone seven times, but could only capitalize on four of the trips with field goals.

For the second-straight week, wide receiver Darren Carrington led the Utes with 129 yards.

What stuck out like a sore thumb were penalties. By the half, Utah had seven penalties. One of those led to a revoked touchdown and one almost led to BYU getting on the board. Although the Utes cut that number to four in the second half, that’s still too many. Utah needs to figure that out before heading into Pac – 12 play.

The Utes were on the receiving end of the opening kickoff. Things got off to a rocky start when the kick return was fumbled. That first possession also included two bad snaps.

Utah’s defense is an entirely different story. The Utes held the Cougars to a total of only 233 yards and didn’t allow them to score until the third quarter.

The Utes’ defense definitely lit some fire under Utah’s offense in the third quarter. Filipo Mokofisi intercepted a BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum pass. Three plays later the Utes capitalized on a five-yard run from Huntley. Utah took the lead to 16-0.

Mangum was picked again, but the Utes couldn’t score off the turnover. They settled for a 38 yard field goal from kicker Matt Gay.

BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum was shook by Utah’s defense. He was 21 for 39 with 170 passing yards. Magnum threw one touchdown and three interceptions. The quarterback decided to show up to the game, but it was too late – directing an 11-play, 76-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. That cut Utah’s lead to six.

Because of all the times they shot themselves in the foot, BYU did have a chance to drive for a win, but Utah’s defense sealed the deal. In the final drive of the game for BYU, the Cougs opened the drive with a really bad drop. Next, Mangum hit his guy, Bushman, for a gain of six, and fans started to pucker up a little bit. The 3rd down play was a great defensive effort by Casey Hughes, breaking up a for sure 1st down. To wrap up the game, Utah’s defensive line got pressure on Mangum, and got a hold of his ankle disrupting a possible completion that ended the game.

The Utes will look to go 3-0 when they host San Jose State on Saturday 9/16.