Utah Utes at BYU Cougars

No. 15 BYU edges No. 23 Utah 24-21 for third straight Holy War victory

LJ Martin added 122 yards on the ground to help the Cougars (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) remain unbeaten and beat their Holy War rivals for a third straight time.

BYU has won three straight in the rivalry series for the first time since winning four straight from 1989 to 1992.

“I’ve been a part of all three of those wins,” senior safety Tanner Wall said. “To be able to say, leaving this place, I never lost to Utah, I’ll wear that with a lot of pride for the rest of my life.”

Devon Dampier threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns for Utah (5-2, 2-2). Daniel Bray added a career-high 121 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. The Utes surrendered 14 straight points after taking their first lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter.

“Did some really good things tonight,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Outrushed them, outthrew them, out first downed them, but we didn’t score more points than they did.”

Utah went up 14-10 when Bray cut to the sideline and raced 49 yards untouched.

BYU charged back in front on its ensuing drive, going up 17-14 when Parker raced in from 12 yards out on a jet sweep.

Dampier threw an interception to Wall on Utah’s ensuing drive. Bachmeier turned the turnover into points when he dragged three would-be tacklers into the end zone at the end of a 22-yard run, giving the Cougars a 24-14 lead with 4:22 left.

“We’re not happy,” Dampier said. “We know what our team is capable of. We had aspirations to be undefeated after our first loss, so it hurts us right now.”

BYU scratched out a 10-7 halftime lead after the Utes turned it over on downs twice and muffed a punt.

“We knew it would take all three phases to do this, and we knew it would be a fight to the end,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said.

The takeaway Utah: The Utes may fall out of the AP Top 25 Poll after leaving points on the board multiple times. Utah drove deep into BYU territory on three different drives in the first three quarters, but the Cougars made fourth-down stops on each drive.

BYU: The Cougars roared to life on offense in the fourth quarter to key a late rally, ensuring a move up in the AP Top 25 Poll.

Fourth-down Failure Utah passed up kicking field goals on three different occasions. Each time, BYU forced a turnover on downs.

Two fourth-down stops came on two of Utah’s first three drives. The Utes drove down to the BYU 12 on their opening drive, covering 82 yards in 11 plays, before Bray got stopped for a 1-yard loss on 4th-and-1. Then Utah reached the BYU 28 on its first drive of the second quarter, only for Dampier to throw an incomplete pass on 4th-and-7.

“We want them to be aggressive like that because it is as good as a turnover for us,” Wall said.

Running strong Martin put on a show for numerous NFL scouts in attendance — including five from the Las Vegas Raiders — with his fifth 100-yard game this season on a career-high 26 carries. The Big 12’s leading rusher has 774 yards through seven games and has had at least 20 carries in three straight games.

“I’m a little bit sore running the football that much, but I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Martin said.

Up Next Utah: Hosts Colorado on Saturday.

BYU: At Iowa State on Saturday.