Utah, BYU football: Brothers sit on different sides of rivalry — almost

"I get to hear all of both sides because I have a lot of friends who are Y. fans and U. fans," Austin said. "They have zero idea about the kind of people that they're talking about when they start saying bad things. When people say things about my brother, I defend him with everything I've got. I go crazy. They have no idea of what they're really saying. They just don't realize that it's a human being they're talking about. I think this rivalry is kind of getting out of hand. When you can't wear blue to the U.'s stadium, it's pretty bad. The same the other way around. I took a friend who was wearing a Utah shirt (to LaVell Edwards Stadium) and they heckled him pretty good."

Question is, what will Austin be wearing Saturday?

"I've painted up for most of the BYU-Utah games. I usually paint red and I write 'Rich 22' on my back, so I feel like I'm touching all my bases," he said. "But as I've gotten to know quite a few of the (BYU) players, I realize that BYU isn't as bad as we all pretend it is. It made me a lot more neutral, for sure. I'm probably going to be in a coat and keep quiet. I imagine I'll be wearing a red scarf."

What color does Andrew think Austin will be wearing Saturday? "That depends if he has a shirt on or not. If he has a shirt on, it'll probably be painted," Andrew said. "A couple of years ago, he had a black '22' painted on his body, which wasn't really courageous because they probably thought the '22' was for Utah. I don't know this year. I would advise him not to wear any blue just because it's going to cause him nothing but conflict. I really don't care what he wears. But I know who he's cheering for deep down inside."

Austin's ideal finish for Saturday's game would involve his brother having a great individual game, but Utah winning.

"Either way, I'm probably going to go to the Las Vegas Bowl, whether the Y. goes there or the U. goes there," he said. "I'm going to try to make it to both bowl games. Now you're seeing the conflict in me. It's hard for me to take a side."

Just don't tell anybody in the MUSS.

Other rivalry ties

Kyle Whittingham Utah head coach played for BYU (1978-81)

Kalani Sitake Utah defensive coordinator played for BYU (1994, 1997-2000)

Aaron Roderick Utah co-offensive coordinator played for BYU (1997-98)

Steve Kaufusi BYU defensive line coach coached at Utah (1997-01)

Travis Uale BYU safety redshirted at Utah (2005)

BYU at Utah

Saturday, 1:30 p.m.Rice-Eccles Stadium

TV: The mtn., CBS C

Radio: 102.7 FM, 1160 AM, 700 AM

e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com