Free Live Odds - Scores and Odds - Sports News - Sports Information - Live Scores - Sports Statistics - Sports Articles - Sports Standings - Live Scor

FACTS & STATS: Site: LaVell Edwards Stadium (63,725) -- Provo, Utah. Television: ESPN2. Home Record: Utah 1-0, BYU 0-0. Away Record: Utah 0-1, BYU 1-1. Neutral Record: Utah 0-0, BYU 0-0. Conference Record: Utah 0-1, BYU 0-0. Series Record: Utah leads, 54-34-4.

GAME NOTES: No longer members of the Mountain West Conference, a couple of teams that have gone their separate ways rekindle their rivalry on the gridiron this weekend, as the BYU Cougars entertain the Utah Runnin' Utes at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

The Utes, who opened the 2011 campaign with a modest 27-10 victory over Montana State, began life as members of the Pac-12 Conference last weekend as they matched up with USC, losing to the Trojans in a 23-14 final. The game actually took a wild turn in the waning moments as Utah set up for a possible game-tying field goal, only to have the attempt blocked and returned for a touchdown to finish off the team's first foray into Pac-12 action.

As for the Cougars, now recognized as an Independent for football, they too were involved in a tight matchup last weekend and nearly pulled off a spectacular win over Texas, but instead bowed in a 17-16 final in front of the largest crowd ever to witness a BYU football games (100,995). With the narrow loss in Austin the Cougars dropped to 1-1 on the young season.

These two programs have been clashing with each other since 1896 when Utah posted a 12-4 win. Last season Utah slipped by with a 17-16 victory in Salt Lake City, boosting its overall series advantage to 54-34-4.

The Utah offense took a little time to warm up in its inaugural Pac-12 outing last Saturday, scoring its first TD of the day on a 10-yard scoring strike from Jordan Wynn to DeVonte Christopher in the second frame. John White added a one-yard TD run in the third period to draw the Utes to within three points, setting the scene for the wild finish in which the last TD by USC wasn't even awarded until two hours after the conclusion of the meeting. Wynn finished the outing 23-of-46 for 238 yards and was sacked twice, which is why the squad was credited with just 81 net rushing yards on 25 attempts. White posted 56 yards to pace the group, but he averaged less than three yards per carry. Keeping Wynn standing upright could well be concern for the Utes moving forward, seeing as how the Utah front line allowed a total of just 12 sacks all of last season and already they've given up four in just two games. In terms of scoring offense, the squad is producing a mere 20.5 ppg which is a far cry from the 33.1 ppg it posted a year ago.

The defense for the Utes held it together as they kept USC from gaining a larger lead and cruising to the easy victory. Granted, the Trojans were able to average just under six yards per offensive snap, but the damage was held to a minimum and that allowed Utah to make a late play for the tie before everything unraveled. Chaz Walker and Matt Martinez held their ground as they notched 11 and 10 tackles, respectively, the latter also posting the lone sack of the game for the Utes against Matt Barkley. Ryan Lacy notched an interception while Conroy Black and Boo Andersen both recovered fumbles for the visitors. After two games, the Utes are second in the league and 10th in the country in turnover margin with a plus-2.0, a pace that is far ahead of 2010's effort when the squad had a negative turnover margin (minus-0.08). One area that needs to improve for head coach Kyle Whittingham and his crew is tackles for loss, the team averaging just three per game which places them last in their new league and 112th in the country.

Kicker Justin Sorensen knocked through a pair of field goals for the Cougars in the first quarter of their meeting against Texas, hitting a total of three on the night, but that still wasn't enough to carry BYU to the victory column. The offense had trouble moving the ball on the ground, generating just 43 yards on 23 attempts, led by JJ Di Luigi who was credited with 39 net yards on 14 carries. Quarterback Jake Heaps converted 22-of-38 passes for 192 yards and a score, but he was sacked once and tossed a couple of interceptions in the disappointing outcome. Through two games Heaps has connected on 60.5 percent of his attempts for an average of close to 210 ypg, but the fact that he has more INTs (three) than TDs (two) should be a concern, especially since the run game for the Cougars is almost nonexistent with a mere 67.0 ypg which ranks 113th in the country at the moment. In terms of scoring offense, putting up 15.0 ppg is well off the pace for a team that put up at least 40 points in four of the final five games of last season.

The BYU defense held the once-mighty Longhorns to just a single field goal in the first half, but then the run defense began to bend a bit too much and allowed Cody Johnson to find his way into the end zone twice in a span of 17 minutes in the second half and that's what turned the tide. Texas rattled off 166 yards on the ground as the passing offense struggled to come up with a mere 123 yards as four different players attempted a pass in the meeting for the hosts. Spencer Hadley led the way with 12 total tackles for the visitors, while Travis Uale (nine tackles) and Daniel Sorensen (eight) both picked off passes. Not only did the Cougars fail to record a sack against a revolving door of QBs last Saturday, the unit has yet to log one yet this season, one of only nine teams in such a position heading into the third week of the campaign. However, it should be noted that the scoring defense for the Cougars is one of the best in the nation right now, giving up just 15.0 ppg to a pair of impressive opponents to start off.

This duel always takes on a life of its own, regardless of how the teams are playing. Both squads suffered difficult setbacks last week and will be wanting to make up for mistakes at the expense of Saturday's opponent and being at home might just given the Cougars the edge they need.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: BYU 24, Utah 17