I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the hype for Utah. It makes no sense. I even think Arizona State has much better chance at the PAC 12 South than Utah does (Herbestreit agrees with me).
The greatest advantage that Utah has had in these rivalry games has been the ability to play loose when BYU was wound-up. I think that is how Utah would start off so well. Last year, I think that Utah wasn't asleep, but uptight with the coming PAC 12 Championship game. I think BYU beat themselves in the 2nd half with conservative play coupled with key injuries. Utah likes to talked about the fact that they didn't have Huntly or Moss. Well, BYU had much less in terms of key personnel.
This year the hype is even higher for Utah. Talks of a national championship. Talks of the ever widening gap between Utah and BYU. How will they not be uptight in this game?
All first games are extremely hard to predict, but I think all the pressure is on Utah. I think last year they showed that they are susceptible to pressure, too. I think BYU got up early because Utah played uptight and scared to lose. It is very possible that this will happen again.