Rivalry rundown

No. 21 BYU (9-2, 7-0) at Utah (7-4, 5-2)

Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

Rice-Eccles Stadium

TV: CSTV and The mtn.

Radio: 1160AM, 102.7FM, 700AM

Countdown 4 days to go

The Cougars and Utes enter Rivalry Week with the best combined record (16-6) since 2001. That year, BYU (10-0) was pursuing a BCS bowl bid and outright conference championship, while Utah (7-2) was playing for a share of the MWC title. The result was a 24-21 Cougar win.

Number 13 of note

Combined number of conference player of the week awards by both teams in 2006 (John Beck 6, Louie Sakoda 3, Eric Weddle, Brett Ratliff, Cameron Jensen, Joe Jiannoni).

Matchup

BYU'S PASSING OFFENSE VS. UTAH'S PASSING DEFENSE: The Cougars have the No. 1 passing offense in the conference and the fourth-best in the country (314.2 yards per game). John Beck and Co. threw for 313 yards on Wyoming, the best pass defense in the conference, two weeks ago. Last week, BYU put up 464 passing yards on New Mexico, though Beck did throw an interception that was returned for a touchdown and missed several open receivers on deep passes. Utah is near the bottom of the conference in pass defense, giving up 206.5 yards per game. The Utes' four losses have featured efficient performances from the opposing teams' quarterbacks — UCLA's Ben Olson (25-33, 318 yards), Boise State's Jared Zabransky (15-21, 210), Wyoming's Karsten Sween (17-24, 202) and New Mexico's Donovan Porterie (19-33, 350). BYU should have its most pronounced advantage in this area, but the likely MWC defensive player of the year, Eric Weddle (6 ints.), will certainly have an impact.

Even

BYU NOTES

• BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall watched film of Utah's offense for the first time on Monday.

"They've had a couple of tough losses, but I think they're a good football team," he said. "The thing that jumps out most, statistically, is points scored. I think they're second only to us in the league. That's the most relevant statistic, maybe more so than anything else. They're capable of scoring."

Utah averages 27.9 points per game this season while BYU averages 37 points per game.