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Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham with his teams against USU in Logan on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Defense wins championships and Utah and BYU have a huge chance to make statements in their Big 12 conference openers this weekend in Provo and Stillwater.
The Utes’ and Cougars’ defenses are trending upward after three games and debuting in league play.
BYU, however, will face a tougher defense in Kansas State at home than Utah will at Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Oklahoma State has defeated seven consecutive ranked opponents at home. BYU is 23-3 in the last 26 night games, and are 12-2 at home during that span.
Utah brought its tough, physical, intimidating style of ball to a Big 12 league that traditionally hasn’t put a lot of emphasis on defense. Utah’s Van Fillinger leads the league in sacks with four and Utah leads the league in sacks with 11 so far this season.
The Cougars struggled defensively in their first year in the Big 12, but have shown signs of major improvement this September, including not allowing a passing touchdown through three games.
Mike Gundy on having to play Utah and Kansas State back to back:
“The commissioner is my buddy, but he doesn’t do the scheduling, so I’ve sent the wrong guy pecans for Christmas. I should’ve sent the scheduling guy pecans” pic.twitter.com/aJLKiscEYX
— BuffalOKstate (@BuffalOKstate) September 16, 2024
At Oklahoma, Utah’s defense will clearly be the best on the field in Boone Pickens Stadium and that could prove to be the difference against the Cowboys.
Admittedly, this early in the season, quoting statistics is a risky business. Teams face different strengths of schedules and opponents and many play games at home instead of on the road. Stats take on more meaning when league play begins.
Utah will play the projected…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/simply-put-utah-byu-must-030000193.html
Author : Deseret News
Publish date : 2024-09-21 03:00:00
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