Holy War? Try Holy Moly.
BYU and Utah played a game of hot potato to renew the regular season edition of their gridiron rivalry on Saturday evening, with the Utes narrowly jumping out to a 14-13 lead at halftime thanks to a late scoring drive.
Things got weird early and didn’t seem to let up at all before both teams went to the locker room in Salt Lake City. BYU’s first play of the game was intercepted off a tipped pass, which Utah linebacker Sunia Tauteoli snagged out of the air before running 41 yards to the end zone for the first point of the game.
That would turn out to be about the best thing to happen for the Utes until the final few seconds of the half considering the team’s offense turned the ball over four times. Quarterback Troy Williams threw two interceptions — one in the red zone — and the team fumbled twice to end a pair of first quarter drives. If there was any individual bright spot, tailback Troy McCormick rushing for 60 yards on just nine carries was likely the extent of it until Williams found Tim Patrick in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown and the late lead.
Cougars quarterback Taysom Hill did rebound from his first pass of the game, throwing for 69 yards in the first half and scrambling for 39 on a touchdown run in the closing minutes of the 2nd quarter. Safety Kai Nacua was all over the field for BYU in the first half and recorded the two interceptions off of Williams.
Both head coaches appeared to be visibly upset with their teams heading into the locker room and one can certainly understand why after such a sloppy first half from each side.