Synopsis:

1) Utah lost games last year because the play calling was awful. They only tried long passes or screens, no intermediate passing game. They ran the QB draw over and over which is the worst play in football and resulted in injuries and dead drives. During the BYU game they were trying to do complex things with the passing game, asking a QB new to the rivalry to hang in the pocket forever and almost lost the game because of it. This year will be completely different because the team has an offensive identity and a proven leader at OC.
-The offensive line won't have problems with BYU's defensive front, even though Tonga is good, because of the added confidence that comes with an offensive identity and facing a better D line every day in practice. There is a better run game this year that will set up a lot of intermediate routes in play action.
-The receivers won't drop as many balls this year because they know what to expect week to week and won't be expected to close out games with the passing game.

2) Utah will start the game with a big lead, then BYU will get back into the game in the second half because "those guys never give up in this game" and the Utah coaches don't want to tip their hand for the important games later.. Utah will win, but it will be better motivation for Whitt that they didn't play well, and he'll use their poor play to motivate the team, which will start 6-0.

3) Utah will beat USC in the coliseum this year because for the first time 10+ starters picked Utah over USC.