I believe he genuinely enjoyed beating BYU, and he was good at it too (11-6), but he hired too many coaches and coordinators from them. Even worse, he would recommend Utah coaches take BYU positions. (Kalani, Aaron Roderick, Jay Hill, Tuiaki, etc)
This is a new era of rivalry and the coaching tree is split forever. We have a lifelong Ute on our sideline. They have a bunch of staff who were raised by daddy Whitt on theirs.
Itās not a rivalry if the membrane is permeable. BYU sucks.
Nobody is talking about this, but should the game have straight up and abruptly ended right when Wilson was flagged for the illegal forward pass? NCAAF rules say a 10 second run-off happens in the last minute of either half when an illegal play stops the clock. At 4-5 seconds, Isaac does the 5 yards forward pass (which saved our butts). But then not only could they have been penalized the 5 yards from the spot of the penalty, but the game clock should have been wound down to zero. Yet the hail mary attempt was allowed to happen and thankfully didn't work. Thoughts?
Creed Whittemore hauls in a 43-yard pass reception against Colorado | David Zalubowski - Associated Press
When: Saturday, Oct. 24 at 8:30 PM Mountain Time
Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium
Watch: ESPN
Weather forecast: 50 degrees at kickoff; mostly clear with no chance of rain
Series record: Houston leads 5ā0
Last meeting: Houston won 17ā14 (2024)
Las Vegas odds: Utah by 6.5; Over/Under 56.5
ESPN Matchup Predictor: Utah has a 67.1% chance of winning
This season so far for Houston: Houston enters the game with a 6ā1 record (3ā1 Big XII) and a ranking of #14 in the AP Poll. Their only loss was by just 2 points at undefeated Texas Tech when their last minute 2-point conversion fell less than a foot short of tying the game. Otherwise, Houston has an unblemished record. Last week, the Cougars handed Oklahoma State just their second loss of the season when they came out on top 35ā32. All of Houston's other games have been wins by at least two scores, including two teams with winning records: Oregon State and Kansas State.
Before the season, Big XII media pickedĀ Houston to finish 3rd in the conference, ahead of Utah.
Game Preview
ESPN's College GameDay will be in town this Saturday to promote the game. It will air on ESPN from 7-10 AM Mountain Time. The University of Utah encourages fans who want to attend to arrive early. It will broadcast from at President's Circle in the center of campus.
Houston quarterback Conner Weigman is coming off a game against Oklahoma State where he earned Big XII Offensive Player of the Week honors. He completed 24 out of 33 passes (.727) for a career-high of 343 yards and five touchdowns. He also had one interception. For the season, Weigman has an impressive 20 touchdowns passes and only two interceptions. He also has had six rushing touchdowns so far this season.
Houston is averaging 485 yards of total offense a game, which currently places them 10th in NCAA FBS (just behind Utah who averages 486 yards of total offense a game).
Utah has won 12 straight games dating back to the 2025 season, which is the longest active winning streak in the FBS.Ā
My son and I were talking about our second half issues and the thought occurred to me is that is when we finally see something we need to adjust to.
We have utterly dominated the first half of all of our games. We havenāt had to make significant adjustments at the half. Colorado had like 50 yards of offense at the half. What do you tell your guys at half?
Iām sure our coaches have info and points of instruction at half, but nothing big.
However our opponents have had to make huge adjustments. So they come out with new focus and fire and our coaches and players get the information in the 3rd.
Ideally we learn and adjust faster than we have, but it seems reasonable that this may be a part of what weāve been seeing.
Houston is here and finally we get to see what this team is made of! Utah may or may not be as dominant as we initially felt, but we are finally getting some questions answered. Defensively we are lacking a consistent pass rush and offensively we are probably not deep enough on the run to consistently lean on Wayshawn, and we have to protect him. That doesn't mean that this isn't one of the most interesting and exciting years I can remember in a long time! We can still squeak out an 11-1 OR 12-0 regular season. The doom and gloom is crazy, this is one of the most fun teams we have had in awhile, it's better to just enjoy the ride. A few big wins and we will be headed into uncharted territory. Big 12 championship and CFP are completely within our control, it's a HELLUVA day to be a Ute!
