Holy War: No. 15 BYU vs. No. 23 Utah — Preview & Prediction

No. 15 BYU will look to defend it's undefeated season and perfect home record this season as the Cougars take on rival and 23rd-ranked Utah at LaVell Edwards Stadium Saturday night.

BYU and Utah are meeting for the 103nd or 97th time — depending which school you ask — with the Utes leading the overall series 62-36-4 according to their records, while BYU has the series at 59-33-4.

BYU won the last two matchups between both programs as the Cougars ended a 9-game losing streak in the series with a 26-17 victory at LaVell Edwards Stadium and then followed it up last year with a thrilling 22-21 come-from-behind victory as Will Ferrin kicked a game-winning field goal with less than a minute to go in the game.

Saturday's showdown could not be more exciting as No. 15 BYU and No. 23 Utah face off as ranked opponents for the first time since 2009. Whoever wins Saturday will take a big step forward to securing a spot in the Big 12 Championship game.

Viewing Information

Date: Saturday, October 18
Time: 6:00 p.m. MT
TV: FOX
Announcers: Jason Benetti, Robert Griffin, Alexa Landestoy
Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium (62,073) — Provo,, Utah

All-Time Results

Utah leads the overall series in the Holy War, although both programs disagree when the first game in the series was played. Utah claims the first game was played in 1896 against Brigham Young Academy (BYA). Meanwhile, BYU claims the series started in 1922 when the Cougars started its football program.

According to Utah: 62-36-4

According to BYU: 59-33-4

Betting Lines

The Spread: Utah -3.5
Money Line: Utah -175, BYU +150
Over/Under: 49.5

According to the experts, despite BYU being undefeated, higher ranked and playing at home, Utah is favored to win ever so slightly. Since the lines were set, there hasn't been much movement with the spread and over/under staying essentially the same all week. As for the money line, oddsmakers are favoring Utah at -175 with BYU +150. The money line simply involves picking the winning team. With Utah at -175, those picking the Utes would have to risk $175 to win $100. However, for those picking the Cougars, one would win $150 for his/her $100 wager.

SP+, a predictive analytics tool created by ESPN’s Bill Connelly, has Utah beating BYU 24.4-24. Obviously that can't be a legit score, but the models imply that this game is a toss up or pick'em. So far this year, SP+ is 6-0 in its BYU picks. Bill gives BYU a 49% chance of beating the Utes, which is a bit lower than ESPN’s Football Power Index. As of right now, the FPI gives BYU a 50.6% chance of beating Utah.

BYU vs. Utah Preview 

As the saying goes, "you can throw out the records" because the in-state showdown between the Utes and the Cougars will likely be another instant classic between both programs.

Just look at last year. BYU was ranked in the Top 10 and Utah was battling to get to a bowl game, and yet BYU needed a last-second field goal to win the game. In fact, in the last five games games at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the game has been decided by an average of two points!

While not every game over the past three decades has come down to the wire, most of them have with 20 of the last 27 games between the Utes and the Cougars being decided by one possession.

What I'm most interested in seeing is the matchup in the trenches. On one hand, you have a Utah defense that isn't as strong as they have been in years past. They are still great, but not absolutely dominant as they've have been. However, on the offensive side of the ball, the Utes have never been this deep with two lineman who will likely be first round draft picks when they leave. For BYU, their defensive front has never been this deep and the offensive line has greatly improved as well.

There is a lot riding on this game because the loser will have a hard time making the Big 12 title game in my opinion. If Utah loses, they'll have two losses and will not have any tiebreakers over the Cougars and Red Raiders. Meanwhile, if BYU loses, the Cougars won't have the tiebreaker over Utah and assuming BYU loses to Texas Tech in a couple of weeks — which the Red Raiders will be favored at home — even if the Cougars were to run the table after that, they'll likely finish in another tie atop the Big 12 standings and would likely miss the conference title game because of the tiebreakers again. For BYU fans, players and coaches, that's not something they want to repeat.

When the final seconds tick off the clock, the winning team will move over to the drivers seat so there's a lot riding on this game — much more than just bragging rights.

BYU vs. Utah Prediction: BYU 23, Utah 20

BYU is the home team, they are undefeated, higher ranked, and they are playing under the lights at LaVell Edwards Stadium — a place where they've gone 33-4 in night games since 2019.

The Cougars have won two games in a row in the series and yet, Utah — which already has a blowout loss at home — is favored over the Cougars.

Welcome to the Holy War.

Weird things happen, and that's the beauty of it.

Honestly, I'm not sure why Utah is favored, but I also believe that both teams are very evenly matched based on what they've shown so far this season. It's crazy to think that we at the halfway point and we still don't know very much about either team due to the soft schedules. And in a game against the one good opponent, the Utes got blown out at home.

Meanwhile, BYU's schedule is softer than Dave Portnoy's ice cream cone from the Creamery on Ninth. The Cougars haven't had a chance to play a top team this year as their toughest games have come on the road against middle of the road Big 12 teams (Colorado, Arizona).

On the other hand, Utah's biggest wins have come against UCLA and Arizona State. However, there are caveats to both wins. Yes, UCLA has picked up some wins after firing their coach, but they started 0-4 — with two losses to Mountain West schools — and are a vastly different team now then what the Utes faced them. The win over Arizona State was without the Sun Devils star quarterback Sam Leavitt, who many feel is the best quarterback in the Big 12. Not having him completely changed the game.

This is why I'm surprised Utah is favored on the road. It's going to be a close game, as both teams are mirror images of each other, but with BYU playing at home, I think the Cougars will find a way to win once again.

As I've mentioned before, both teams are mirror images of each other. They both rely on their stout defense, they love to run the ball, and their quarterbacks run the ball 10-20 times a game.

The game will come down to who has the least amount of turnovers and who can control the line of scrimmage. Whoever does that will win this game.

No matter what happens Saturday night, you know it's going to be an intense game, filled with the best uniform combos in all of college football. There's nothing like the Holy War and I can hardly wait.

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