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Utah-BYU Preview

Nov 25, 2009 - 3:59 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

No. 21 Utah (9-2) at No. 19 Brigham Young (9-2), 5:00 p.m. EDT

Mountain West rivals BYU and Utah had their hopes of reaching a BCS bowl dashed on the same day this season.

Instead of competing for the right to play in January, the 18th-ranked Cougars and the No. 22 Utes are left to try to earn the conference's best remaining berth in Saturday's regular-season finale.

After garnering a No. 20 preseason ranking, BYU (9-2, 6-1) jumped to as high as No. 7 on Sept. 13 after upsetting then-No. 3 Oklahoma and routing Tulane. That run ended six days later with a 54-28 defeat to visiting Florida State.

Utah (9-2, 6-1) entered this season with a nationally best 14-game win streak after its Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama last January, but the Utes' run also ended Sept. 19 as their comeback fell short in a 31-24 loss at Oregon.

Both teams also lost to conference champion TCU, which needs one more win to finish unbeaten and with a probable BCS bowl berth.

If the Horned Frogs get that bid, that would likely send the winner of Saturday's game to the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 22. The loser would likely head to the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 23.

A Horned Frogs loss would push Saturday's winner to San Diego and the losing squad to the New Mexico Bowl, which kicks off the bowl slate Dec. 19.

BYU enters this game with a little more momentum after earning its third straight win last week, 38-21 over visiting Air Force.

Max Hall passed for a season-high 377 yards and five touchdowns while becoming the school's all-time winningest quarterback, surpassing former Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer's 29 victories.

Hall also moved into No. 2 on the school's career passing list with 11,039 yards, 18 more than his predecessor John Beck. Harvey Unga also became the Cougars' all-time leading rusher in the win with 3,268 yards.

"I feel really grateful that I've played on really good teams and I've had some really good players around me," Hall said. "It's special. I'll always remember my career here and everything I've done. That's one of the things that will stand out."

While Unga had 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns last season at Utah, Hall had a game he'd like to forget with a career-worst five interceptions and a fumble. In the 48-24 win, the Utes converted four of those turnovers into touchdowns to finish the regular season unbeaten for the second time in five seasons and earn their Sugar Bowl berth.

"We will look at last year's game, and take bits and pieces from that game," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "There are elements that we will hang onto this year, but we have to continue to update and base this year's game plan on our present circumstances."

Hall enters Saturday's game searching for a career high-tying fourth straight 300-yard performance. He's ranked first in the conference and in the top 10 nationally in every major passing category.

However, he's never thrown for 300 yards against Utah, the nation's 15th-ranked pass defense (176.4 yards per game). Joe Dale, who had two interceptions in last season's meeting, and Robert Johnson, who grabbed another, are also among the Utes' 11 returning starters.

Johnson has a team-leading five interceptions this season.

Utah seeks its sixth win in eight years over the Cougars and its sixth in eight trips to Provo. The Utes are also trying to clinch the fifth 10-win season in school history and fourth since 2003.

After suffering a 55-28 drubbing at TCU, Utah rebounded with a 38-7 win over San Diego State, scoring all its points in the first half. Eddie Wide rushed for a pair of first-quarter touchdowns, and freshman Jordan Wynn also threw for a score in his fourth straight collegiate game.

"We responded really well after last week. Our energy and passion was great in the first half and we executed well on offense, defense and special teams," Whittingham said.

The Utes are attempting to improve to 3-0 against BYU when both teams are ranked and 7-1 all-time when facing a fellow Top 25 opponent. Their only loss, however, was this season's defeat to TCU.

BYU, meanwhile, is 3-17 against ranked foes since a win over Arizona State on Sept. 12, 1998, and 26-25 since 2006 when playing as a ranked team.

A victory would give the Cougars their 200th all-time win at LaVell Edwards Stadium.