for kicks and giggles, I'll go over it again.

All of the history can be thrown out the window. The #1 reason Utah has won so many against BYU is because they have owned the battle in the trenches. Unfortunately the previous coaching staff didn't emphasize the trenches enough. Thankfully this one does. This is an entirely new coaching staff, so all of those errors of the past don't apply. Kwhitt had Bronco figured out, and to make it worse, Bronco's practice style and approach to the rivalry game didn't do us any favors. The players were playing tense and wound up and as a result would make stupid mental mistakes. The coaches didn't like to do in game adjustments but believed they just needed to execute better. Yes they were quite successful most of the time, but when someone has you figured out, you need to change it up. I could go on, but my point is that you can't point to history as an indicator of how things will go. We have a new coaching staff who almost beat Utah, at Utah, last year despite Utah having a crap ton of NFL talent.

This year is a new year. Evaluating what we have this year shows that BYU matches up very well against Utah.
BYU offense vs Utah defense. With the recent news of Chase Hansen missing fall camp for the next undetermined while (likely won't be back until about game 3 of the season at best), Tanner should be licking his chops in anticipation. Utah lost their entire two deep defensive secondary except for Chase Hansen. This means that when we play them there will be an incredible dearth of experience back there. Yes they have talent, and yes they have some JUCO transfers. But losing a pre season 1st team PAC 12 safety and having no returning starters in their secondary doesn't bode well for Utah. Our receivers are going to be able to run their routes without too much disruption and Tanner is going to be able to find some openings. In the past Utah would leverage their athletic advantage over us. That isn't the case this year. We have very fast, very athletic receivers. Two of them run a sub 4.4 40, which we haven't had in a while. Ty Detmer and Kalani are not prone to speak hyperbole and usually say it how it is. Last year they didn't gush over our offense. This year is a different story. Guys like Trinnaman, Micah Simon, and Talon Shumway are turning heads. The coaches are liking what they are seeing with them. The usual athletic advantage of Utah's secondary over our receivers is not only not heavily in the favor of Utah, but it's probably a wash this year.

Tanner is killing it right now compared to what we've seen from a BYU quarterback lately. He had all of spring, all of summer and will have all of fall to continue to develop the chemistry with his receivers. Something we haven't had for a long time. Tanner understands Ty's offense so much better now. He's comfortable and he's confident. He's getting into a good rhythm with his receivers and their timing will pay big dividends.
My only question on the offense is how our offensive line holds up against the Utah d-line. Utah has quite a bit of talent returning on the d-line, but they don't have much experience outside of their starters. We know that Tejan can handle Lowell Lotuleilei, as we've already seen it in the past. Thomas Shoaf showed himself to be a very capable, quick, and athletic tackle. Tuni Kanuch is a fantastic guard for us. So the question for me is how well the other two linemen (Norman and Longson?) can perform. As a unit, our offensive line is one of the most experienced in the nation. The number of starts they have is awesome. Offensive line experience is usually a great indicator of success, and we definitely have the experience there. If our o-line can limit the pass rush from Utah, it's going to be a very long day for them, and a banner day for BYU. Reports out of fall camp are that Tuni and Tejan are being very vocal leaders on the field. We have two solid, very experienced seniors anchoring that line. Tanner has to be happy with the protection those guys are going to give him.

Our running backs don't need to be as amazing as Jamaal was last year. Jamaal carried the team on his back in those early games while our passing game struggled. This year we have essentially the same o-line Jamaal had to open the monster holes, but we won't need to rely on our RB's as much to break those runs into huge gains because of how much better our passing game will be. Squally Canada average over 4 yards per carry last year, and now we have Ula Tolutau and Riley Burt that we can throw in the mix and spell him. Our RB's should be fresh even into the fourth quarter. Expect to see a healthy does of passing to RB's out of the backfield and our tight ends catching passes too. Bushman and Balderee should be quite active taking advantage of Utah's less than stellar linebacking corps. Utah doesn't have a linebacker that can keep up with and cover Bushman.

BYU defense vs Utah offense. This is where I'm the most confident. Utah lost four of their starting o-linemen to graduation. You can't lose that much experience at once on the o-line without a drop off. Add to the lack of experience the implementation of a new offense this year under coach Taylor and you have the recipe for some miscues and mistakes on that o-line. BYU's linebackers (one of the best LB groups in the country) and d-line is going to be very disruptive. Fred Warner, the most NFL ready player on our team, combining with Butch Pau'u and Francis Bernard are athletic, fast, strong, and smart. Those three are the anchor of our defense. The front 7 is going to again be great against the run. Last year they were one of the best in the country, and that should only improve this year. Getting Takitaki back (who's been very disruptive so far in fall camp) and having Corbin Kaufusi a year older and more experienced is going to give us a boost in our pass rush. Throw in guys like Trejan pili and some of our very talented new comers like Langi Tuifua, Lorenzo Fauetea, and Keanu Saleapaga, and we have a lot more depth on the DL than we've had in years. I expect to see our front 7 giving Utah's o-line fits.

If Utah's o-line does indeed struggle against BYU's front 7, they are going to really, really struggle to move the ball. Their quarterback, Williams, isn't that great. He was ranked 10th in the PAC 12 last year, and that was with an amazing o-line. Without that o-line, he's going to be on the run a lot and won't be able to implement Troy Taylor's new GFGH offense that he is reportedly trying to run. Yes Utah just picked up Carrington after being dismissed from Oregon for his DUI's, but that's one receiver. The rest of their receivers are mediocre. And yes we did lose Kai Nacua, but we have a ton of experience and talent returning to our defensive secondary. Guys like Micah Hanneman, Troy Warner, Dayan (Lake) Ghanwoloku, McChesney, Shelton and Wilcox, not to mention the transfers we have like Jacobson (started at Texas Tech before transferring), Austin Lee and Greene. Our coaches Ed Lamb and Gernaro Gilford showed that they are light years ahead of Nick Howell with coaching and training our secondary. Our secondary took a big jump forward last year. And this year should see another jump forward. Our corners can play tight, man coverage which will allow our safeties to roam, cheat up on the run, and even blitz.

For all of you with a battered psyche that drop into the fetal position anytime anyone mentions the Utes, this is your year of therapy. You can hang your head high again as we monkey stomp those yewts to the curb. It's going to be a great day to be a BYU fan.

My prediction: BYU 34 Utah 10. Yup, we are going to smash them at LES this year.