After kicking off the Kalani Sitake era with a heart-stopping 18-16 win over Arizona last Saturday in Glendale, BYU next faces Utah in their first regular-season meeting since 2013. The September 10th get-together represents the earliest football contest in rivalry history. Utah has won the last five meetings; BYU won three of the preceding four.
Here's a "Behind the Mic" look back at last week's win and a look ahead to Saturday's showdown at Rice-Eccles Stadium:
GETTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
BYU has now won nine of its last 10 season openers; of the nine wins, seven have come against P5 opponents (Arizona-twice, Oklahoma, Washington, Ole Miss, Washington State and Nebraska). 2017’s season opener is scheduled against LSU in Houston. After its last eight season-opening wins, BYU is 5-3 in the second game. The Cougars have opened 2-0 in each of the last two seasons, and three of the last four campaigns.
FOR STARTERS
BYU had 10 offensive drives against Arizona; the average gain on the first play of each of those drives was 11.7 yards. According to SportSource Analytics, during opening weekend BYU was the most efficient team in the FBS on drive-opening plays, recording a “successful” play (40% or more of needed 1st-down yards) on nine of 10 drive starters. BYU had only one three-and-out last Saturday; only four teams in the FBS went without a three-and-out on opening weekend.
PLAYING KEEP-AWAY WITH THE ‘CATS
Against Arizona, BYU had 37:37 of possession time, to Arizona’s 22:23. In 42 games against P5 opponents since 2005, on only two other occasions did BYU possess the ball for a longer duration of time: 40:37 at UCLA in 2015 (24-23 loss), and 38:59 at Georgia Tech in 2012 (41-17 win).
MOVING THE CHAINS
Saturday in Glendale, BYU converted seven of 15 third-down attempts, with QB Taysom Hill converting three of the seven chain-movers on running plays. The other conversions were a run by Jamaal Williams, a run by Algernon Brown, a reception by Jonah Trinnaman and a reception by Moroni Laulu-Pututau. The latter two conversions were the first career conversions for each player. In Hill’s only complete season (2013), he was responsible (via third-down runs) for 30 of the team’s 87 third-down conversions (34.5%). Saturday v. Arizona, he was responsible for 42.9% of conversions.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
BYU’s average starting position against Arizona was its own 30-yard line. The Wildcats’ ASFP was its own 20. BYU has now won nine consecutive games with an ASFP advantage of five yards or greater, and the Cougars are now 57-6 since 2005 when holding such an advantage. When “plus” in the ASFP category (margin of one yard or more), BYU is now 74-11 since 2005.
I'M GONNA RUN TO YOU
BYU rushed for 213 yards v. Arizona, including 162 yards by Jamaal Williams—third-best single-game performance of his BYU career. Dating back to LaVell Edwards' first season as head coach in 1972, BYU is now 123-9 (93.2% win rate) when running for 200 yards or better.
DEEE-FENSE! DEEE-FENSE!
BYU’s 18-16 win over Arizona snapped a 10-game losing streak versus P5 teams when scoring fewer than 20 points. Prior to Saturday, BYU’s last win with fewer than 20 points was a 14-13 victory at Ole Miss in the Cougars’ first game as an FBS independent in 2011.
FRONT-RUNNER
After its season-opening win, BYU is now 71-10 since 2005 when scoring first. At the Cactus Kickoff Classic, the Cougars scored the game’s first nine points before Arizona got on the board.
IN THE ZONE
BYU converted into points all four of its red-zone appearances v. Arizona, scoring two touchdowns and kicking two field goals. On opening weekend, BYU was one of 33 FBS teams to be perfect in the red zone with at least four RZ drives. Last season, the Cougars were fourth nationally in red-zone scoring percentage (94.3%).
WHO’S THAT GUY?
Listed as jersey number 55 on the BYU roster, offensive lineman Quin Ficklin got in the Arizona game as an eligible back, wearing jersey number 44--a number assigned to both TE Troy Hinds and DE Keenan Pili.
SAFETY DANCE
Defensive back Matt Hadley started off BYU’s game winning drive in Glendale with a 29-yard kickoff return—the longest return of the night for the Cougars. While not accustomed to having the ball in his hands at BYU, Hadley was a prep sensation on offense in the state of Washington, racking up 6,881 rushing yards and a state-record 746 points at Connell HS. The younger brother of former Cougar linebacker Spencer Hadley, Matt rushed for 2,000-plus yards as both a junior and senior, and also scored multiple touchdowns on defense and special teams.
GET YOUR POPCORN READY
Of the last 18 games between BYU and Utah, 15 have been decided by seven points or fewer. The three exceptions were Utah wins in 2004, 2008 and 2011. BYU’s last win over Utah by a comfortable margin came 20 years ago, when the Cougars beat the Utes 37-17 in Salt Lake City.
DEPARTMENT OF FOOTBALL SECURITY
By now, most BYU fans know that over the last 10 meetings between the Cougars and Utes, BYU is minus-20 in the turnover margin (28 giveaways, eight takeaways). Remarkably, Utah has been turnover-free in six of the 10 meetings, going 5-1 in those six games. BYU has been turnover-free just twice in 10 games, winning both. Against Arizona, BYU had zero turnovers, meaning the Cougars are now 28-3 since 2005 when not turning the ball over. The losses were at Michigan in 2015, home to Nevada in 2010 and home to Boston College in 2005.
(NOT) JUST ANOTHER GAME
While new to the BYU-Utah rivalry as an assistant coach, special teams coordinator/safeties coach/asst. head coach Ed Lamb played in the rivalry game as a player and approaches the contest with particular appreciation for its character.
“It’s not in any way just another game,” says Lamb. “It means everything for recruiting purposes. The closer you can be to your opponent, the more intensity there is. A large majority of the players know each other, and they’ve played against each other. There are cross-connections between the coaching staffs. There is definitely something extra on the line here, but in my opinion, it’s not hate.
“I’ve never gotten much out of hating the opponent. I’ve gotten a lot more, in my playing and coaching career, out of respecting the opponent. To me, it’s more of a motivator to kick my brother’s butt, than it is some stranger, or some guy that I’m hating.”
SIDELINE SWITCH
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake spent 10 seasons at the University of Utah, as linebackers coach, defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He has repeatedly stated his appreciation for Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham and his hope that the Utes win every game except for the one they play against BYU. I asked him how much his closeness to the Utah program might help the Cougars on Saturday.
“I’m familiar with the setting, and how we were successful at Utah in beating BYU," said Sitake, "so we’ll try to work on those things. I don’t want to tell everybody how it’s going to work; I just want everyone to see it. We’re going to be confident going into that stadium; we’ll be loose, and our guys are excited to get there. We’re looking forward to being in that place.”