Had Brian Johnson remained healthy, Saturday's BYU-Utah game at LaVell Edwards Stadium would have had a marquee individual matchup.
The rivalry would have pitted two of the nation's leaders in total offense — quarterbacks Johnson and John Beck. The Utes' signal-caller leads the Mountain West Conference and ranks third in the nation with 337 yards per game, while the central figure of the Cougars' attack is second and 11th with an average of 305.7.
With Johnson sidelined for six to eight months after suffering a torn ACL in the closing minutes of last weekend's 31-27 loss to New Mexico, understudy Brett Ratliff takes over quarterback duties for the Utes — marking the first time since 1989 when Mike Richmond stepped in for Scott Mitchell that they have used a first-time starter against BYU.
Richmond wound up throwing for 393 yards and four touchdowns, but the Cougars proved too tough to overcome. Ty Detmer had a spectacular outing with seven consecutive touchdown drives as BYU prevailed 70-31.
This time around, things may be different. As a whole, the Utes and Cougars are first and second in the MWC and 11th and 12th nationally in total offense.
"I think it's pretty intriguing — our offense versus their offense," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. "We're No. 1 and they're No. 2 in the league. Although we don't have Brian, obviously, or (injured receiving leader) John Madsen, we've still got a lot of good players on the field and we expect to have production."
The Utes still have tailback Quinton Ganther, who averages nearly 100 yards per game, and talented receivers Travis LaTendresse, Brian Hernandez, Derrek Richards and Marquis Wilson. The biggest question mark, in addition to concerns about an offensive line that surrendered nine sacks last week, is Ratliff. The junior-college transfer has thrown just four passes in extremely limited action, completing one and throwing an interception.
"I'm putting little time emphasizing that, quite frankly," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "Their offense has, I think, very quality personnel — up front, at receiver and at running back. Regardless of the loss at quarterback, we're approaching this game as we'll receive the University of Utah's best. I'm sure their coaches will do a great job tailoring the plan to their new quarterback. All we have to do now is possibly predict how this quarterback will be used."
Ratliff is considered more of a pocket passer than Johnson, but insists he isn't afraid to run the ball. Whittingham closed practices to the media this week as Utah tweaks its scheme a bit in order to capitalize on Ratliff's strengths.
The element of mystery involving Ratliff, Mendenhall noted, should not take away from the showdown.
"In terms of devaluing the game or the difficulty of stopping this offense, we're certainly not doing that," he said. "We expect it to be very difficult regardless of who's at quarterback."
Ratliff, who joined the Utes in fall camp, said he has a full grasp of the offense and is comfortable with it.
"We're not going to abandon what we've been doing," Whittingham said. "We'll make slight modifications and move forward."
Time will tell if enough can be done to extend Utah's winning streak over BYU to four games and make the Utes bowl-eligible.
"I think it's going to be a dogfight," said UNLV coach Mike Sanford, who was Utah's offensive coordinator in 2003 and 2004. "I think it's going to be really, really close. I think the injury to Brian Johnson is huge. I think, also, the injury to Madsen is huge. In that game you never know what's going to happen. Going into it I would have to say BYU has an edge because of the injuries and so on."
Rivalry on the air
Utah (5-5, 3-4) at BYU (6-4, 5-2)
Saturday, 1 p.m.
LaVell Edwards Stadium
TV: Ch. 14
Radio: 1160AM, 102.7FM, 700AM
E-mail: dirk@desnews.com