What team doesnt gameplan and have the most success when they execute and play mistake free? Claiming Utah basically relies on fluke plays is a uh....a rivalry comment...I wont blame you for thinking Utah has been winning because they have been getting "lucky bounces" because I have been guilty of the same in some of Utah's past losses. Its easy to think everything went the other teams way. I wont hold that against you..

Lets look back at the weeks surrounding the rivalry game (guessing you are talking about 2011 and 2012? dont see the same pattern in other seasons) Try and keep in mind that not everything Utah does is about BYU. Moving on..

In 2011, Utah fell of a cliff after the BYU game because Jordan Wynn went down, and, more importantly, he was replaced by Jon Hays. The game following the BYU game that season, UW, Utah had a halftime lead of 10-7. Jordan Wynn goes down for the year at the half, Utah goes on to lose that game by 17. But they were probably just worn out from giving everything they had against BYU. Probably had a lot less to do with losing Wynn.. The following game against ASU, Utah was tied 14 all with minutes left in the 3rd. Thats when Utah turned the ball over on 3 consecutive offensive plays. 2 picks and a fumble. My inclination is to think those turnovers had more to do with Hays being Hays, than being worn out from a sound victory over BYU, but I am biased. What matters over all in 2011, is that Utah was just not a very good team once they lost Wynn. The evidence of Pre-Wynn/Post-Wynn is hard to argue against (Blocked FG away from OT @ USC, BYU win, leading before he goes down against UW)

2012... Ill give you the ASU loss. I dont think Utah beats ASU in Tempe (one of the better home teams the last few seasons) in any scenario, but an emotional victory against BYU definitely added to the disaster in Tempe. Then came a loss against a team 100X more talented, and then back to back road losses to ranked teams with a true freshman making his first 2 starts of his career. I would argue that those losses came against teams that were simply better than us, and tossing Wilson into the proverbial fire didnt help.