No. 9 BYU (8-0, 4-0) at Utah (4-4, 1-4)

• Kickoff: Saturday, 8:15 p.m. MDT
• Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium
• TV: ESPN
• Livestream: espn.com/watch
• Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM , KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM
• Series: Utah leads 62-35-4
• Weather: Mostly clear with temperatures in the high 30s at kickoff, dropping to mid 30s by end of game.

The trends

For Utah: The Utes have lost four consecutive games, with their latest defeat coming at Houston, where Utah’s offense, once again, couldn’t get going. The Utes tried to spark it by making a quarterback change to Brandon Rose in the third quarter, but only mustered 14 points in a 17-14 defeat.

For BYU: The Cougars notched their eighth win of the season, and kept their perfect Big 12 record alive, with a 37-24 defeat of UCF. Jake Retzlaff threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns and added another on the ground, while LJ Martin broke the century mark and BYU picked off UCF twice.

What to watch for

Turnovers have haunted the Cougars more than anything in their losses to the Utes.

In Utah’s last win in the series, 2019, Francis Bernard and Julian Blackmon both picked off Cougar quarterback Zach Wilson for touchdowns. In 2017, Tanner Magnum threw three interceptions and in 2015, BYU turned the ball over five times, including two pick-sixes, in a seven-point loss.

You get the point.

If BYU takes care of the ball — no turnovers — and forces a Utah turnover or two, it’s hard to see the Cougars losing. That formula worked to success in 2021. In a 26-17 win that broke Utah’s nine-game win streak, BYU never gave the ball away and forced two Utah turnovers — a Charlie Brewer interception and a Tavion Thomas fumble.

Conversely, for Utah to have a chance in this game, it needs to force quarterback Jake Retzlaff into a couple of interceptions, or force a few fumbles. Oklahoma State, which is probably the worst team in the Big 12, picked Retzlaff off twice and, as a result, took BYU to the wire in Provo before Retzlaff led a clutch, game-winning touchdown drive with a minute left.

Forcing turnovers, usually a strong suit for the Utes, hasn’t been Utah’s forte this season. Utah has only taken the ball away 10 times, while giving it away themselves 14 times. Meanwhile, BYU has been excellent, forcing 18 turnovers, but have 11 giveaways.

Whichever team wins the turnover margin will probably come away with the victory.

Key players

Jake Retzlaff, BYU QB: Recently named to the Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Award midseason watch lists, Retzlaff has emerged as the Cougars’ on-field and emotional leader, and how he plays Saturday will largely determine whether the No. 9 Cougars can hold off struggling Utah’s upset bid. The junior from Corona, California, needs to be the best player on the field for BYU to win, because Utah’s defense will be the best he has faced this season, he has said.

His primary responsibility will be to take care of the ball and avoid turnovers, while also keeping the Utah defense honest with occasional runs for positive yardage. Coincidentally, Retzlaff has turned to the last BYU QB to beat Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium, John Beck, for advice on how to handle the rivalry and playing in Salt Lake City. Beck’s famous touchdown pass to Jonny Harline downed Utah 33-31 in 2006. — Jay Drew

Brandon Rose, Utah QB: It’s not ideal to have a quarterback competition before your ninth game of the season, but that’s exactly what Utah went through during the bye week. Kyle Whittingham is keeping the winner under wraps, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if it’s Rose under center to start the game for the Utes.

Rose didn’t come in and change the game against Houston — he completed 7 of 15 passes, a couple of which were dropped by receivers for 45 yards and threw an interception on the Utes’ final drive of the game — but it remains to be seen how he does with a full week of starter reps.

Utah doesn’t need Rose to be a world-beater, but the Utes do need more production out of the passing game than they are currently getting. If he starts, can the sophomore quarterback get Utah back on track through the air? We may find out.

Quotable

“I’d say the QB is the catalyst. You look at individual rushers, individual receivers, there’s nobody that just jumps out statistically. It’s a collaborative effort, but the quarterback is the catalyst in my opinion, and playing good football.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham

“We have to take a look at all the quarterbacks on their roster and be ready for them. I think Jay (Hill) has a good start on that. I don’t think you can give Utah (coaches) a hard time about it. We have been there before, trying to figure out who will be the best guy to earn the spot. We have to prepare for all those guys.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake

Next up

• Utah: at Colorado
• BYU: vs. Kansas