3 takeaways from No. 9 BYU’s rally past Utah to keep the Cougars unbeaten

There were plenty of thrills — and controversy — in the latest rendition of the BYU-Utah rivalry Saturday night.

The undefeated Cougars, who trailed 21-10 at halftime, rallied to win on a 44-yard Will Ferrin field goal with four seconds to play.

The moments before that won’t soon be forgotten in this rivalry, though.

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Here are three takeaways from a game that kept BYU unbeaten at 9-0 while extending the Utes’ losing streak to five games.

BYU’s final drive is what we’ll be talking about

The Cougars took over at their own 9 trailing 21-19 with 1:56 remaining, and with one timeout.

The drama built up well before Ferrin’s game-winner, though.

BYU started the drive with three straight incompletions, and it appeared quarterback Jake Retzlaff had thrown an incompletion on fourth down — though officials ruled that the Cougars had called a timeout before the play.

Then on the actual fourth down play, Retzlaff was sacked by Junior Tafuna and Karene Reid at the BYU 1 — though a flag was thrown.

Utah’s Zemaiah Vaughn was called for a holding penalty, and that gave BYU a first down at its own 19 — and new life.

The Cougars took advantage, with Chase Roberts (a 30-yard catch that was reviewed before standing), Darius Lassiter (12-yard reception) and Hinckley Ropati (14-yard run) getting BYU into field goal position with three straight chunk plays.

The final stats called it an 11-play, 65-yard drive that culminated in the game-winning field goal, but there’s more drama and emotion tied to a drive that will live in rivalry lore.

It sparked Utah athletic director Mark Harlan to say the game was “absolutely stolen from us,” while Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, when asked about the officiating, said, “It’s a ridiculous situation. I’m not going to get into it.”

Utah’s defense came up big in critical moments … just not the last one

For most of the night, Utah kept BYU in check offensively.

The Cougars, who had 339 yards of total offense, didn’t score an offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter, and they were 1 of 12 on third downs.

Even when Utah did give up some earlier drives that reached the red zone in the first and third quarters, the Utes forced BYU into field goals both times.

Cameron Calhoun also intercepted a two-point attempt in the fourth quarter that could have tied the game.

Make no mistake, it’s a tough loss for the Utes, and Utah — after initially looking like it had made the final stop, only to have that wiped out by a penalty — still gave up a game-winning drive.

For much of the night, though, the Utes confused and hurried Retzlaff, as he completed 15 of 33 passes for 219 yards.

Utah’s defense kept it in the game, but little mistakes were just enough to sink the Utes in the end.

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There were learning moments for both teams

BYU, which stayed atop the Big 12 standings and moved to 6-0 in league action, played an overall ugly game, though the Cougars can hang their hat on being able to rally in the second half.

After the Utes scored three touchdowns in the second quarter, BYU held them scoreless in the second half while forcing them into five punts. For Utah (4-5, 1-5 Big 12), this ended up being its highest-scoring game during its five-game losing streak — and it just wasn’t enough.

Brandon Rose, making his first career start, overcame a slow start, threw for 87 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter and also showed the ability to pick up yards on the ground.

Unfortunately, that second-quarter effectiveness didn’t carry over to the second half — the Utes’ longest drive in the second half gained 36 yards, as the unit more resembled the stumbling offense that has defined the past month-plus.

Rose finished the game completing 12 of 21 passes for two touchdowns and one interception, while rushing for 55 yards.

Both teams also had penalty issues — BYU finished with 10 for 69 yards, while Utah had 10 for 90.

A false start in the final 10 seconds of the first half on BYU caused a 10-second runoff, and with the Cougars out of timeouts, they squandered away a chance to potentially kick a field goal before the half.

Utah’s toughest penalty issues came in the fourth quarter, headlined by the holding penalty on the final drive that kept BYU’s hopes alive.

There are things to improve upon for both teams — and plenty of emotions as they head into the final three weeks of the regular season.