Five underrated games in the BYU-Utah rivalry's history

(Trent Nelson | Tribune file photo) Utah quarterback Brett Elliott in action against BYU Saturday November 23, 2002 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Utah won the game 13-6.

Fourth-down conversions, game-ending touchdown passes, field-goal attempts that hit the uprights, overtime contests, LaVell Edwards’ last game and victories that sent Utah into major bowls are the moments everybody can cite from the Utah-BYU football rivalry.

Yet there are many more games worth remembering, from Edwards’ first rivalry game as BYU’s coach to Ron McBride’s last appearance with Utah, plus Urban Meyer’s experience in the snow in Provo, BYU’s struggle on the way to a national championship and the time Jake Heaps nearly rescued a win as a Cougar freshman, only to have another field-goal try go awry.

Here are five underrated rivalry games of the past 50 years:

1972 • BYU 16, Utah 7

Edwards’ first BYU team hardly resembled the prolific passing program that his staff would develop.

The Cougars relied on Pete Van Valkenburg’s running (37 carries, 158 yards) and a defense that forced seven takeaways — clinching the victory with George Gourley’s 24-yard interception return for a touchdown in the last minute — to overcome the offense’s five lost fumbles on a clear, 47-degree afternoon.

All of the turnovers made it interesting, anyway. After the Utes cut the lead to 9-7 on Ike Spencer’s 70-yard run late in the third quarter, they had eight more possessions: interception, punt, punt, fumble (after reaching the BYU 28-yard line), fumble, interception, interception, interception.

Utah quarterback Daniel Payne threw all of those interceptionswhile completing 3 of 17 passes.

1984 • BYU 24, Utah 14

BYU entered the game with a 10-0 record and No. 3 ranking and would move to No. 1 the next day.

The ’84 Cougars had some close calls, and this was one of them, in Utes coach Chuck Stobart’s last game. Mark Stevens’ touchdown pass to Therman Beard pulled Utah to within 17-14 in the third quarter, then the Utes’ Filipo Mokofisi recovered a fumble at the BYU 34-yard line.

The Utes were penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play. The Utes kept the ball but, under the rules of that era, they started their drive in a first-and-25 situation from the BYU 49. They reached the 33, but Andre Guardi’s 50-yard field-goal try was short.

Robbie Bosco drove the Cougars to a clinching touchdown. He finished with 367 yards passing and three TDs with three interceptions, two by Ron Ketchoyian. Stevens ran and passed for 212 yards for Utah.

2002 • Utah 13, BYU 6

(Trent Nelson | Tribune file photo) Ron McBride celebrates a 13-6 win over BYU in his last game as Utah's coach Saturday, Nov. 23, 2002 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

For the first time since 1954, Utah, BYU and Utah State all finished a season with losing records and McBride was fired two days later. Even so, the Utes (5-6) made his last game meaningful.

The Cougars led 6-0 at halftime, but Brandon Warfield’s 41-yard run gave Utah a 10-6 lead. Early in the fourth quarter with BYU facing first-and-goal at the Utah 2, Marcus Wahlen fumbled and Brooks Bahr recovered for Utah.

The Utes added a field goal and Josh Savage’s sack of Bret Engemann ended BYU’s last drive. Warfield finished with 194 yards on 40 carries. McBride was paraded around the stadium. Both sets of goalposts ended up in Section 38 on the east side, about 60 rows above the field.

2003 • Utah 3, BYU 0

(Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) Utah's Urban Meyer coaches the Utes on a snowy day in Provo against BYU on Saturday November 22, 2003 at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Not many games in the rivalry’s history have been affected by weather, even in November, but snow and 19-degree temperatures made conditions rough on the field and in the stands.

BYU was shut out for the first time in 28 years, covering 361 games. Alex Smith accounted for 168 of Utah’s 220 yards via passing and running. BYU, down to fourth-string quarterback Jackson Brown, who sustained a concussion late in the game, posted 41 yards passing and 156 total yards.

Bryan Borreson’s 41-yard field goal in the second quarter produced the game’s only points. The Utes mounted a 19-play drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes but resulted in a punt. BYU missed a 50-yard field-goal try to end the first half, and coach Gary Crowton chose to punt on fourth-and-5 at the Utes 46 in the fourth quarter.

The Cougars never got the ball back because Toby Christensen fumbled Utah’s punt and Casey Evans recovered.

Afterward, the Utes accepted a Liberty Bowl bid as the Mountain West champions, having earned the school’s first outright conference title in 46 years. “We’ll see you in Memphis, baby!” yelled Meyer, who gave a game ball to defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham. His father, former BYU and Utah assistant coach Fred Whittingham Sr., had died in October.

2010 • Utah 17, BYU 16

(Trent Nelson | Tribune file photo) BYU quarterback Jake Heaps (9) calls out a play to his teammates as the Utes face BYU in the first quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday, November 27, 2010.

The start of Utah’s current six-game winning streak came the year after BYU quarterback Max Hall beat the Utes with an overtime touchdown pass and launched into an anti-Utah postgame rant. Are the Cougars now cursed? Maybe so.

In one of his best showings as a Cougars quarterback, Heaps gave BYU a chance to upset a Utah team that had started the season 8-0 and was ranked No. 6, before two losses. The Utes, who trailed 13-0 at halftime, took a 17-16 lead on Matt Asiata’s 4-yard run with 4:24 left. The drive was kept alive by two fumble recoveries — one on a punt and another after BYU’s Brandon Bradley intercepted a pass and lost the ball during the return.

Heaps drove the Cougars to a first down at the Utes 24 with about a minute left. Offensive coordinator Robert Anae called three running plays, then Mitch Payne tried a 42-yard field goal. A diving Brandon Burton blocked the kick as time expired.

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