The difference in programs shows in second half as Utah comes on like a storm, BYU hopes go down the drain

PROVO — It rained. Oh, how it rained.

The weather wasn’t so good, either.

Thursday at LaVell Edwards Stadium, a storm stopped the game with 9:01 remaining. At that point, the outcome was academic. The Utes were heading full speed toward extending their win streak to nine games over BYU.

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The fourth quarter deluge cleared the grandstands. 

Or maybe it was the 30-6 deficit just prior.   

Utah didn’t check the key boxes until after a tepid first half. In the end, it was a tale of two programs, one with its eye on the Rose Bowl or better, one hoping to turn the corner: Utah 30, BYU 12. 

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What happened was a microcosm of what has happened during the last decade. BYU gave it a good college try. Seriously. Trailing by 24 points, it did come back to close the deficit to 18 points three minutes later. 

A ninth consecutive win ties Utah for the most in a row by either team in their 100-game history. The drenching storm was unexpected, but in honesty, the Utes had already thrown a bucket of water on the proceedings. 

Utah used its depth and athleticism to widen what was a three-point margin at halftime. Zack Moss pounded away at the Cougars. Utah recovered a fumble. A speedy end-around put Utah up by 10. 

Utah’s fourth quarter included the fumble recovery that led to a touchdown, while an interception return pushed the lead to 24 points.

If history were an indication, Thursday’s game was destined to be another classic. There have been so many close games, the term “classic” has been downgraded to “standard.” Before last year’s 35-27 Utah win, the game had been decided by seven or fewer points in 17 of the previous 20 games. 

But the suspense as to who might win ended on Monday when Kyle Whittingham said the words BYU fans dreaded: “Doomsday is upon you.”

Actually, this is what he said: “They will be ready to roll.”

“They” was a reference to running back Moss, receiver Britain Covey and quarterback Tyler Huntley. All ended last season on the injured list. They normally account for, oh, 115% of Utah’s offense. A regular pestilence of three. 

There was widespread speculation Moss wouldn’t play at all and that the other two were iffy. Why risk re-injury when they could wait until the conference opener on Sept. 20? Does the coaching staff really want to take the risk,  just to beat a non-conference opponent?

Whittingham: Damn the torpedoes!

Clearly the plan was to get a quick lead and get them out of harm’s way. 

That didn’t happen. Utah led just 9-6 at the half. 

Meanwhile, BYU’s hopes were based on, well, hope, i.e. the belief that Zach Wilson, who went 18-for-18 passing in the Potato Bowl, would go 18-for-18 on scoring drives. It didn’t happen. 

Although anticipation was high, as usual — especially since there was a month of buildup — something strange happened to this year’s shenanigans: nothing much. That’s a good thing. There were no videos of BYU players in Las Vegas strip clubs, no mock baptism “reveals” either. 

Twitter did its best, but the craziness wasn’t there. Passionate civility was in; sheer nastiness out. Whittingham even had Huntley take a knee at the BYU 3-yard line. 

That doesn’t detract from the fact it was a historic game — at least if you ask the Utes. They counted this as the 100th game in rivalry history. BYU says it was the 94th. The difference is six games played when BYU was Brigham Young Academy, i.e. BY High. Here’s where the counting gets tricky. Everyone played ragtag, makeshift opponents back in the day. 

No, we’re not talking about UTEP.

BYU counts Mount Saint Charles and U.S. Marines as games. Utah counts everyone on its schedule: “Crescents,” City High, Oregon Short Line and 9th Cavalry, to name a few. 

There was no problem identifying either team Thursday.

In the first half, it was just what ESPN wanted: a season-opening game that would keep the audience engaged. 

The BYU crowd?

Yup. Fully invested.

“We made too many mistakes,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake. 

The second half saw Moss rumble for 114 yards and Huntley find a groove. Just like much of last year, the offensive numbers weren’t big, but they were sufficient. For a half, it was close. BYU led in everything but the score.

Then it rained in every sense of the word.