Utah vs. BYU: Five keys to victory

PROVO – After every football game the losing team’s coach frequently says about the winning team, “They just made the plays when it mattered and we didn’t.” It’s a common and normally obvious post-game assessment.

Never was a statement like this more appropriate than in Utah’s 54-10 win over BYU. The Utes made many more big plays, committed fewer mistakes, executed with more efficiency and played with more consistency.

Here are the five main reasons Utah won:

1. Edge in turnovers – OK, Utah failed to score after two of BYU’s seven turnovers, including a wasted opportunity deep in BYU territory, but there is no doubt the three biggest plays of the game were the bad snap by BYU center Terence Brown three plays into the game that resulted in a touchdown when Utah’s Derrick Shelby recovered the loose ball in the end zone; Mo Lee’s recovery of JD Falslev’s muffed kick off on the 3-yard line after Utah had just scored on its third-straight drive to take a 14-point lead; and Trevor Reilly’s hit on BYU QB Jake Heaps late in the third quarter that resulted in another fumble – which eventually resulted in another Coleman Petersen field goal that gave Utah a commanding 23-point lead with one quarter remaining.

The Utes scored 31 points off of BYU’s seven turnovers, but in reality it was more like a 38-point difference because of the forced fumble by BYU running back JJ Di Luigi inside Utah’s 10-yard line when the Cougars were threatening to score midway through the first quarter. Just as critical for Utah, was BYU’s failure to score after the Utes’ two turnovers. Both of Utah’s turnovers proved to be harmless, while the Cougars paid the price big time for their mistakes.

2. Taking control of the game – The game’s most important drive came in the final minutes of the second quarter when Utah went 63 yards in six plays to take a 14-10 halftime lead and steal the game’s momentum for good.

Utah’s six-play 75-yard scoring drive to open the second half, capped by Jordan Wynn’s 59-yard TD pass to Dres Anderson, really took the wind out of BYU. While Utah was consistently converting and moving the football for the game’s final 35 minutes, BYU was sputtering.