Kyle Whittingham doesn’t want to give BYU any bulletin board material this week.
Ahead of No. 23 Utah’s matchup versus No. 15 BYU on Saturday (6 p.m. MT, FOX), the head coach declined to talk about Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier — or any BYU player or coach — this week in his weekly news conference.
“I’m just going to focus on us this week, our guys, our coaches,” Whittingham said. “So I’m not going to give much thought on the opponent this week. And so really you’ll have to ask them what they think of Bear [Bachmeier].”
Utah’s head coach, however, did go over the stakes of the in-state rivalry.
He said having the game in the middle of the season, instead of on rivalry week, during the last week of the season, makes the feel for the game a bit different — even if he isn’t talking about Utah’s opponent.
“I think it’s always been intense, for sure, and conference, conference implications certainly add to it,” he said. “I think, in the past, when we’re in the Mountain West, and the game being held in the last slot of the season, last game of the season, that that added to it as well as of right now, it’s not the case ... the buildup throughout the entire year to have it in the last game is a little bit different than playing right in the middle [of the season].
The Utes are currently 5-1 (2-1 in Big 12 play), while BYU is 6-0 (3-0). But there’s more on the line than just a battle for a conference title.
There would also be a portion of Utah’s Monday player’s meeting, when the head coach said he would educate some of the newcomers, including new quarterback Devon Dampier, on the legacy and intensity of the rivalry game.
“We take a small segment in the team meeting on Monday, ... educating the new guys a little bit of the history,” Whittingham said. “It’s not a long, extensive thing, but [it’s just about] the history of the rivalry and more just the tradition and what’s happened in the past. On a national scene, it’s one of the better rivalries in the country, in my opinion. So we do take a few minutes in a team meeting, have a presentation, and try to do the best we can to educate them.”
At the end of his availability, Whittingham joked about why he didn’t answer the question about BYU’s quarterback.
“Sorry about that,” Whittingham said to the reporter. “It’s just easier that way for me. I always take the easy way out.”
Maybe Utah’s head coach doesn’t want to give the Cougars an extra edge because, well, this could be his last game coaching in the historic game.
He’s keeping that a secret, too.
“Well, remains to be seen,” Whittingham said.