Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- BYU remains unbeaten at 9-0 after a dramatic 22-21 victory over Utah, fueled by special teams' contributions.
- The win sparked emotional reactions from Utah's coach and athletic director, who criticized the officiating postgame.
- BYU's success raises hopes for a Big 12 championship and potential College Football Playoff appearance, with increasing belief in their "team of destiny" narrative.
SALT LAKE CITY — With each step, Keelan Marion's stride got a little longer, a little stronger and a little quicker.
Moments after Brandon Rose found Brant Kuithe for a 20-yard touchdown that gave Utah a 7-3 lead over rival BYU to open the second quarter, Marion fielded a kickoff at the 4-yard line. He paused briefly to collect the kick, then sprinted toward his left.
Spying an open channel, he zoomed by Mason Fakahua, who sealed an edge and then held his block for what felt like an eternity, and sped past the Utah kick coverage team.
With only freshman kicker Trey Coleman to beat, Marion whipped in his final kick and roared into the end zone, spitting out his mouthpiece and shouting, "we like that" toward the home fans in the south end zone of Rice-Eccles Stadium.
"It was exactly like the Wyoming kickoff," Marion said after the game, noting Fakahua's special-teams blocking when the former UConn transfer scored on a kickoff return at BYU for the first time since Adam Hine in 2014.
In a similar trajectory, BYU (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) seems to be gaining momentum with each passing week.
The latest came in another emotionally charged chapter of a rivalry series that dates back to 1922, according to the Cougars (and longer, per the Utes). After holding ninth-ranked BYU's offense scoreless in the first half, the Utes' offense went cold in front of a stadium-record crowd of 54,383 after the break before falling 22-21 on Will Ferrin's 44-yard field goal with seconds left.
The frustrating result elicited rare emotions from Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, who shoved a chair during his postgame press conference after a fifth straight loss, and athletic director Mark Harlan, who insisted the game "was absolutely stolen from us" in a postgame rant that could merit a fine from Big 12 headquarters.
For BYU, the win under remarkable circumstances — when the Cougars received a lifeline from a late timeout call by head coach Kalani Sitake and another by a Utah defensive penalty on fourth-and-10 from the BYU 9-yard line — keeps an undefeated season alive, and with it hopes of a Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff appearance for the team picked 13th in the league only four months ago.
Is this a team of destiny?
BYU has found new ways to win in seemingly every week, from a dominant defense against SMU and Kansas State, to Jake Retzlaff's two-minute offense in a come-from-behind win over Oklahoma State, to Saturday night's rivalry win over Utah where 16 of the 22 points were scored on special teams, namely Ferrin and Marion.
Do you believe in miracles? The Cougars certainly believe in something.
"Just keep believing in each other," Sitake said. "We've doubled down on our culture of trusting and loving each other. It's gone well, but it's also had some ups and downs. We're 9-0 right now, but there are a lot of really cool things to keep building on.
"It's really cool for me to see the leadership of our players take over the team," he added. "I wish I could take credit for it, but we have some really good young men in this program. They've done a good job holding each other accountable, and getting the most out of each other."
With each passing game, the remarkable becomes more marketable; the extraordinary becomes ordinary, and a magical season becomes more of a reality.
It's the fifth time in BYU history the football program has started a season 9-0, and the second time under Sitake. Outside of 2020, the Cougars also opened a season with nine consecutive wins in 2001, 1984 and 1979.
Saturday's first win at Utah since 2006 also drew remarkable comparisons to 2001. That's when the Cougars, ranked No. 8 at the time, faced a 21-10 second-half deficit before Doak Walker Award-winning running back Luke Staley led a late comeback for a 24-21 victory.
Of course, everyone knows what happened at the end of that 1984 season, when BYU also started 9-0 en route to a 13-0 season and the program's first (and only) national championship.
Is a similar finish ahead for this team? That's to be determined — but the belief is only increasing with each win.
"It grows every week, every day," Marion said. "The work we put in together, the time we spend with each other, a lot of belief grows with that."
