SALT LAKE CITY — Four games into the college football season, the gap between BYU and Utah football appeared to be rapidly shrinking. BYU was sitting at 3-1 and had found themselves nationally ranked after beating Arizona and sixth-seeded Wisconsin on the road to open the season.
New offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes had BYU’s offense operating in a manner that appeared to negate the athletic deficiencies that seemed apparent for last year’s Cougar team.
Meanwhile, the Utes started the season slow with two rather uninspiring victories over Weber State and Northern Illinois. Utah then started Pac-12 play with losses to Washington and Washington State and had only scored a combined 48 points against the FBS opponents, despite rolling out one of the best defenses.