Live coverage: No. 14 Utah Utes beat BYU Cougars 30-12 (+scoring summary, photos)

Published: Aug 29, 2019, 7:24 p.m. MDT

Brigham Young Cougars quarterback Zach Wilson (1) gets dragged down as he tries to throw a pass that is intercepted Utah Utes linebacker Francis Bernard, who ran it back for a touchdown during the University of Utah at BYU football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019 Steve Griffin, Deseret News

Brandon covers sports for the Deseret News, with an emphasis on the University of Utah and the NFL.

PROVO — The 14th-ranked Utah Utes dominated the second half and beat the BYU Cougars 30-12 on Thursday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

The Utes have now won nine straight meetings between the two teams.

Up 9-6 at halftime, Utah scored 21 unanswered points after the break to seize control before the Cougars stopped the bleeding with a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The game went into a 54-minute weather delay with 9:01 remaining, with the game resuming after midnight. This came after Utah scored a pair of touchdowns early in the fourth quarter to build a 30-6 lead. Both Utes touchdowns were a result of BYU turnovers, as Zack Moss scored on a 12-yard run following a Cougar fumble and Julian Blackmon scored on a 39-yard pick-six on the next BYU drive, just 31 seconds later.

The Cougars scored their first touchdown of the season — a 10-yard Ty’Son Williams run — to make it 30-12.

After Utah went into halftime with a slim 9-6 lead, an extended drive culminated in a 2-yard touchdown run by Jaylen Dixon. The play was reviewed, as it appeared Dixon may have stepped out of bounds before the ball crossed the goal line, but the call stood as a score to give the Utes a 16-6 advantage.