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Sep 12, 2021
6:24:03am
donnerstag All-American
Final game thoughts

1) BYU won the game in the trenches - This was supposed to be Kyle Whittingham's bread and butter to always have a superior offensive and defensive line to BYU and that has been the case since Utah joined the PAC 12, which is a primary reason why Utah had its streak. The tide has now turned and BYU dominated all 4 quarters in the trenches. Jaren Hall had all day to throw and that was a huge key to victory. Whittingham even acknowledged after the game: "I would have bet my house going in that we would not lose the line of scrimmage.” This bodes well for BYU in future games, since not many remaining opponents stack up as well as Utah did. BYU's lines just may be that good.

2) Sitake out coached Whittingham - This is also a flipped script from past rivalry games. It was Utah who looked unprepared for BYU's defense and played uninspired. Whittingham made several coaching errors in retrospect most notably going for it on 4th down in shot gun formation, wasting unnecessary timeouts, and generally not adjusting to what BYU was doing. In contrast, Sitake made the right choices time and time again. Tuiaki's defense went away from previous tendencies of dropping 8 consistently to instead put pressure on Utah's offense even on first and second downs.

3) BYU won the turnover battle - Another flipped script from past rivalry games is BYU took care of the ball and forced key takeaways. BYU coaches have emphasized ball security for the past several years and that paid off last night against an aggressive defense. On the other side of the ball, the pressure got to Brewer forcing several errant throws including the interception to Chaz Ah You. BYU also took advantage of lax ball security by one of Utah's running backs, which is pretty rare for a Utah running back.

4) Jaren Hall looks legit - The biggest question mark going into the season was the quarterback position. After two games, it's pretty clear that Hall can lead this offense to a lot of wins. Hall was very efficient on 3rd down and took what the defense gave him. Most importantly, he took care of the football and didn't make any huge gambles to gift Utah points. He looks as advertised with his running ability being able to extend drives with his legs even when plays break down. Utah didn't have an answer for Hall.

5) Roderick invested in the running game - Utah is historically very stingy against the run, but BYU was able to establish it. ARod kept Utah off balance establishing the run and giving the offense's best playmaker (Allgeier) the rock, which kept Utah from trying to go after Hall. Allgeier didn't disappoint with his 27 carries and 117 yards, which seems like a perfect amount of touches. Utah was 11th in the FBS in rush defense in 2020 and brought everyone back (averaging 107 rush yards per game). BYU ended up with 219 yards of rushing. Allgeier was a beast in getting hard fought yards. 

6) BYU's defense played lights out - Every position group on defense played well and were aligned with Tuiaki scheme. The defensive line won the battle against the Utah's vaunted offensive line. BYU's linebackers made the majority of the tackles and disrupted Brewer over and over again. The secondary also kept Utah's wide receivers from doing anything. Utah's leading wide receiver had 2 catches for 21 yards. Utah's offense looked worse than it really is, because of how well BYU's defense played. 

7) Ryan Rehkow is legit as a punter - The freshman punter just had a 53.2 yard punting average that helped BYU win the field position battle. That 68 yard bomb was as impressive of a punt we'll ever see. 

8) Home field advantage was huge for BYU - The stadium atmosphere and noise seemed to rattle both Brewer and Utah's kicker. This was BYU's first sold out game in years. I don't remember a more electric atmosphere in years. With BYU's amazing home schedule, hopefully it's a sing of things to come.

9) This BYU team is legit - I don't see any major weaknesses in this team through two games. This really looks like a re-load season after such a special 2020 season. BYU is shutting up the critics of not playing any P5 opponents in 2020. This is going to be a fun season.

donnerstag
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donnerstag
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