In a pivotal fourth quarter, BYU put the ball on the ground three times.
A Utah defense in desperate need of a game-changing turnover couldn’t get its hands on it.
In a series that has seen the Cougars on the wrong side of the turnover column so many times, BYU won the turnover margin 2-0 on Saturday and won the game 22-21 to keep its undefeated season alive.
The Cougars corralled two interceptions, leading to six points on the ensuing drives.
In the first quarter, Utah receiver Damien Alford, who hasn’t caught a pass all season and hasn’t been utilized much, took the reverse pass from quarterback Brandon Rose and threw the first pick of the game. BYU had the play well-covered, but instead of throwing the ball away or running it, Alford threw it right to Cougar cornerback Jakob Robinson.
BYU kicked a field goal on the next drive to take a 3-0 lead.
Utah’s second interception of the night came in the third quarter, on what looked to be a miscommunication between Rose and his receiver. In any case, Rose’s throw wasn’t anywhere close to a Ute player and Crew Wakley had an easy interception around midfield.
Again, the Cougars had to settle for a field goal, but cut Utah’s lead to one possession, 21-13.
All the talk at the end of the game was about the holding call that negated a Utah sack on fourth-and-10 with 1:35 remaining, but the Utes will surely lament missed opportunities to coral a Cougar turnover in the fourth quarter.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, with the ball on the Utah 11-yard line, Retzlaff got to the five-yard line on a designed quarterback run, but had the ball stripped by cornerback Cam Calhoun. The football took a BYU bounce right back into Retzlaff’s hands, and three plays later, the Cougar quarterback was in the end zone, narrowing Utah’s lead to two points.
On the next BYU drive, with nine minutes left in the game, the snap by backup center Bruce Mitchell was low, sending Retzlaff scrambling for the ball. When he got ahold of it, he was nailed by Utah defensive end Logan Fano and linebacker Karene Reid, who jarred the ball loose again. Mitchell, who started the chaotic sequence, turned out to be the hero, falling on the ball at the BYU 15-yard line before Utah could.
Retzlaff did throw one pick — Calhoun intercepted the Cougars’ two-point try — but it doesn’t count on the official stat sheet. Utah had another chance at an interception on BYU’s game-winning drive.
On the play following the defensive holding on Ute cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn that negated a fourth-and-10 sack and moved the chains for the Cougars, Retzlaff rolled to his right and launched a pass downfield.
Calhoun jumped the route and had an excellent chance at the game-winning interception, but it went off his fingertips. Retzlaff made the most of the new life for the Cougars with a 30-yard completion to Chase Roberts that moved the ball to midfield.
Later, BYU’s Will Ferrin nailed the 44-yard field goal to lift the Cougars to a 9-0 record and notch their second straight rivalry victory.
Takeaways are usually a strong suit for Utah’s defense, but that hasn’t been the case this season, and it haunted the Utes once again on Saturday.