Where were you when BYU broke its infamous 12-year losing streak to bitter rival Utah?
It was always believed that BYU would one day flip the script. But not often acknowledged with big losing streaks is the mental battle that comes with them. Ask any team on the short end of the stick in a rivalry and they will say the streaks are meant to be broken at some point or another.
On that memorable September night — specifically a twenty-year anniversary of 9/11 — BYU claimed a 26-17 triumph to get the proverbial monkey off Kalani Sitake’s back.
No more talk of how BYU “couldn’t beat Utah.”
Nonetheless, when the clock hit zeroes, students and fans alike rushed the field, leaving those in Utah red to drive home in heartbreak. This time, the party stayed in Provo. BYU fans could finally taste sweet victory. Not a bad reunion for LaVell Edward Stadium’s first sell-out in two years (due to Covid in 2020).
How was the game won? There were a few keys to getting the victory.
Early in the first quarter, Utah gave the ball away twice in its own territory. However, BYU could only cash in a field goal. Nonetheless, it won the turnover battle 2-0, which was imperative for an upset to occur.
That night, BYU took some risks that paid off. For example, it converted a fourth-and-11 early in the game to continue a lengthy drive, resulting in a touchdown to pad on a 10-0 lead. This kind of aggressiveness kept the Utes on their heels.
The Beehive State rivals traded blows in the second half, with touchdowns, field goals and punts alike. BYU seized true control in the last nine minutes of the fourth quarter. Utah had just scored to trim the deficit to six points and all the momentum was on the Utes’ side. For BYU, the feeling was, “Here we go again.”
But not so fast.
The Cougars ate up over six minutes of clock and made a clutch field goal to bump the score up to double-digits. The run game was a factor on that drive, as BYU gained 62 rush yards to push the ball down the field when it needed to.
Utah got the ball back and it was all up to BYU’s defense to make the final stop. The Utes questionably chose to throw the ball on 3rd-and-2 — a short yardage situation — and did so again on fourth down. Both passes went incomplete, lifting BYU to its first win over Utah since 2009.
A win never to be forgotten.