With another win over Utah, BYU has taken control of the rivalry. Here’s why the Cougars think it’s ‘the start of an even longer streak.’

Provo • Kalani Sitake held it in as long as he could in 2021.

After watching then-BYU quarterback Jaren Hall end Utah’s winning streak in the rivalry, Sitake looked up into the stands for his family. Instead, he saw grown men crying.

He broke down with them.

“Honestly, I didn’t mean to get that emotional,” Sitake said, reminiscing. “I looked up in the stands and I saw grown men crying. I was just so happy to get the win. I became a fan real quick in that moment. I played for LaVell [Edwards] and I was a fan of BYU from the beginning before I became the head coach here, cheering from the stands.”

That moment, a 26-17 win at LaVell’s stadium, was catharsis for the Cougars.

Four years later, another win for the Cougars was a sign the power axis in Utah now undoubtedly tilts toward Provo.

BYU knocked off the Utes 24-21 for its third straight win in the series. One is a breakthrough. Two is a fluke. But three is a trend.

“Three games, officially a win streak,” offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick shouted as he was ushered into an elevator down to the field.

BYU has been building to this moment since that 2021 night. The day before that game, the Cougars announced they were going to the Big 12. Ever since, they’ve been on a steady march to restore their place in college football when Edwards roamed the sidelines and Sitake was perched in the stands. Back then, Edwards dominated Utah with nine straight wins.

First came the resources — millions more poured in from television contracts and a fan base motivated to level the playing field.

Sitake went to work, using the cash to build a staff finally befitting of a Power Four team. He lured Jay Hill away from Weber State to call his defense. The former Utah man ditched the drop-eight schemes for an aggressive man-to-man style that could challenge anyone.

On the other side of the ball, Sitake finally gave Roderick the funds to get legitimate help. BYU fired offensive line coach Darrell Funk and tight end coach Steve Clark, finding experience at both spots to fill the void.

TJ Woods, who built the modern Wisconsin offensive lines into behemoths, signed on to level up BYU’s trenches. Kevin Gilbride, who commandeered NFL offenses, modernized BYU’s tight end game.

With the staff in place, the players followed. At first they came in slowly. Then they poured in.

A state the Utes once dominated on the recruiting trail, all of a sudden BYU made inroads. Hill flipped Utah recruits like Faletau Satuala and Ephraim Asiata to anchor his team. Hunter Clegg, coming back from a mission, decided against going to Salt Lake and instead signed with the Cougars at the last second. Siale Esera, a Provo star pursued by the vaunted Utah defense, followed Hill, too.

The talent disparity evened — until BYU started to pull away.

This offseason, the Cougars pried away some of Utah’s best players. Keanu Tanuvasa signed with BYU and Carsen Ryan elected to head south.

“There’s been a great shift, even amongst recruiting, in this state,” safety Tanner Wall said. “I think we’ve seen that as we continue to win on big recruits who are being recruited by both us and [Utah]. And I believe that this is the start of an even longer streak of wins for us in our program.”

It led to the breakthrough on the field that’s now on full display. This is BYU’s first three-game win streak in the rivalry since 1992.

And on Saturday night, so many of those flipped recruits were the reason BYU was able to pull away.

Satuala led BYU in tackles and provided timely pressures to keep Utah’s offense working in third-and-long.

Tanuvasa stayed stout in the middle to stop three, fourth-down conversion attempts. Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham thought he could push BYU around with the “best offensive line” he’s had in his 21 years.

Instead, the Utes were turned away.

“Best offensive line in the country is what they tell me,” Hill said this week. “I like our defensive line.”

On offense, Ryan had four catches to keep BYU’s drives alive. Four years ago, those players would have worn red on Saturday nights. Now they were in blue, surfing the crowd that had stormed the field.

“We’re going to break the cycle,” Sitake said. “They reminded me about this game when I first got the job. It didn’t go our way for the first few years.”

Fittingly, it was the players who were around in 2021 that sealed it for BYU.

Wall, who walked on to Sitake’s program in 2021, came up with an interception of Utah quarterback Devon Dampier in the fourth quarter to keep BYU’s lead to multiple scores.

Wide receiver Chase Roberts, just a redshirt in 2021, rose up for a touchdown to give the Cougars points.

“It’s a 180,” Roberts said about how BYU’s program has grown since that first Utah win. “Just the leadership and the way that Kalani’s been able to establish the culture here. We just know we’re gonna win the game.”

BYU is now 7-0 for the second straight season. It is atop the Big 12 standings, the lone team in the conference still unbeaten. A path to the College Football Playoff is clear now, even if it is treacherous.

As for Utah, the Utes will be fighting for a bowl game with nothing more to play for.

That used to be the Cougars.

BYU has flipped the state on its head.