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Las Vegas • As his football career at BYU winds down, tight end Remington Peck is often asked which was his favorite opponent to face. It's an easy question for the Bingham High School graduate.
"So I beat Utah once and lost to them twice," Peck said. "And that is still my favorite game I've ever played in. The excitement of that game is unexplainable, it really is."
Peck and fellow seniors receiver Mitch Mathews, defensive end Graham Rowley and inside receiver Terenn Houk played two seasons thinking they wouldn't get another shot at their in-state rivals after they lost 20-13 on Sept. 21, 2013. But BYU faces Utah on Saturday in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl, and the seniors hope to snap the Utes' four-game winning streak in the series.
"It is the funnest game you will play in," Peck said. "I guess me being an [native] in-state adds a little to it. But it is just fun, and if you can't get up for that game, you shouldn't be playing the sport."
Peck and Mathews were pre-mission freshmen on the 2009 team that defeated Utah 26-23 in overtime, but neither played in that game at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Peck, then a defensive end, had seven tackles and a sack in the 2013 game, and Mathews had three catches for 54 yards. Defensive end Bronson Kaufusi (two tackles), kick returner Adam Hine (two returns for 45 yards) and running back Algernon Brown (one catch for 4 yards) are the only other players on this year's team who saw significant action in the 2013 game.
For Utah, Travis Wilson, who will start as quarterback on Saturday, threw for 273 yards and two touchdowns and Bubba Poole had 96 yards on 18 carries. Taysom Hill, who will watch from the sidelines on Saturday, threw for 260 yards and rushed for 99.
BYU's losing streak to Utah "is something that is in the backs of our minds, but I haven't heard it talked about," Mathews said. "Everyone knows, right? We are very lucky to have a chance to play them … to show what we've got, and hopefully play our best."
Rowley, from Kailua, Hawaii, played sparingly in the 17-16 loss to Utah in 2010 and the 54-10 loss in 2011 before his LDS mission to Chicago, so he remembers that beatdown at LES in 2011 better than almost any other player on the team.
The Cougars led that game 10-7 late in the second quarter before Utah ran off 47 unanswered points. BYU committed seven turnovers.
"This is going to be the best game I have ever been a part of," Rowley said. "Probably the best game in a long time in BYU history, in my opinion. Meeting our rival in a bowl game, I don't think that has ever happened before. I was hoping that we would play Utah. Everyone was saying all year, 'There is no way you are going to play Utah. It just won't match up. Just wait until next year.' I am like, 'I am a senior, and I won't be able to play them.' This came out of nowhere and it is awesome. We are excited. Utah is a great team, and we are a great team. We are both preparing really hard for this game and I think we will be ready when the time comes."
Growing up near Boise, Idaho, Mangum says he watched all of those games except the 20-13 thriller in 2013, when he was in Chile on an LDS mission.
"I am pumped to play Utah," he said. "I grew up a huge BYU fan my whole life. I grew up watching all the BYU-Utah games, so to be able to play in one is pretty special, and it is exciting to be able to do it in a bowl setting. It is the first time we've done that. So, that's exciting. But mentally, as far as preparation is concerned, and practice, it is still the same. It is just another game, as far as that is concerned. So watching them on film gets me pumped to play, but going out on the practice field it is just all about us and how we execute and how we perform."
Twitter: @drewjay —
The streak
Utah's four-game winning streak over BYU:
Date Location Result
Nov. 27, 2010 Salt Lake City Utah 17, BYU 16
Sept. 17, 2011 Provo Utah 54, BYU 10
Sept. 15, 2012 Salt Lake City Utah 24, BYU 21
Sept. 21, 2013 Provo Utah 20, BYU 13