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BYU's Keelan Marion (17) returns a kickoff for a touchdown against Utah in a college football game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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Here’s what’s going on inside Darnell’s head. I believe I just broke my record for the latest (or is it earliest?) time I’ve gone to bed after a BYU football game. It was 3:20 a.m. What about you?

Just like my good friend and former Cougar basketball player Jonathan Tavernari, I also taught Elder’s Quorum Sunday morning (It went well).

Knowing my job, a few brothers brought up the game, mainly before EQ started. I managed to stay on topic during the lesson.

I received a message on X from a guy who said he was going to play “Rise and Shout” as the prelude music in his ward.

There are videos on social media of BYU students celebrating on the streets of Provo deep into the morning.

Church members be so crazy after the Cougars beat the Utes.

Eye-opening

The first BYU-Utah game I ever attended was as a college student at then-Cougar Stadium in 1989. The following season, I attend my first rivalry game in Salt Lake City.

What never ceases to amaze me is that every time I feel like I’ve seen everything in this rivalry, I learn I haven’t.

Saturday night (and Sunday morning) at Rice-Eccles Stadium was as crazy a rivalry game as I’ve ever seen.

I could fill this whole column with the lunacy, but here are a few items:

– BYU producing not just one but TWO drives for scores that began inside its own 10-yard line, including the game-winner, against a really, really good Utah defense.

– I’ve seen at least four games in the rivalry decided by a made or missed field goal. When Will Ferrin lined up for that final kick, I was looking around for Brandon Burton (who blocked a BYU field goal in 2010 at the end of the game) to make sure he didn’t sneak onto the field.

– I saw plenty of BYU players celebrating, but just as many walking around the field in a daze, soaking it all in and trying to make sense of the finish.

– I saw the Utah student section, the MUSS, launching full water bottles onto the field after the game. Reportedly, one hit the BYU cheerleader coach and knocked her unconscious. Thankfully, she was OK.

– I saw Utah’s Athletic Director, Mark Harlan, picking up a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the final play of the game and taking to the podium in the Utes post-game, complaining about the officiating crew and claiming the game was stolen from them. I understand his frustration, but Harlan has a responsibility to act professionally and be an example to his athletes, not behave like a spoiled child who didn’t get his way.

Best there is

Tell me again how this rivalry isn’t as good as Michigan-Ohio State or Notre Dame-USC. I won’t believe you.

Can’t get my real work done

What’s too much time spent looking at comments on social media after a game? Asking for a friend.

Inside football

In the post-game, I asked BYU coach Kalani Sitake what the tone of the locker room was after that ragged and sloppy first half with the Cougars trailing 21-10.

“The players were fiery, because they obviously weren’t happy with the first half,” he said. “I think its OK for them to let go of some frustration, yelling a little bit. My message was very clear: There’s still plenty of time. There’s 30 minutes left. We felt like we go Utah’s best shot, but we haven’t delivered ours yet. So this is a time for us to deliver our shot and just do it by playing every down and you just don’t hope for something to happen you take the initiative and make something happen.

“The message was it was not time to panic. But we need more urgency. And we need to start deciding if we’re going to play tough or not or be physical or not. We’ve got to tackle better, we have to hit people and find a way to make plays. The players were saying what I wanted to say, anyway. It’s nice when they already take care of that and I can just be the ‘good cop.'”

Now it’s time for Perfectly Rational Overreactions (PRO’s).

PRO No. 1: BYU had no business beating Utah on Saturday.

The Cougars played a really bad first half. Too many penalties, too many mistakes. Jake Retzlaff’s passes were all over the place and the defense missed way too many tackles. BYU was better in the second half, but still sloppy and unfocused at times. Even the coaching staff was struggling with play calling and clock management. Give Utah some credit for that because the the Utes were ready to play their best game in a month. The Cougars were clearly affected by the rivalry and hostile energy in the stadium. The Utes were motivated and seem to thrive on the chaos.

Yet despite all of that, BYU still found a way to win. I would go as far as saying the Cougars’ super power this season is they are able to overcome all of their mistakes and imperfections and still get the W. It’s worked for nine straight games. Retzlaff likes to say its important to “keep the main thing the main thing.” Winning is the main thing.

PRO No. 2: Referees should never make a call that determines the game.

I never understood this sentiment. So 59 minutes the game is called one way, and the last minute anything goes? That makes no sense. There were nearly 100 plays in the BYU-Utah game on Saturday. You could say any one of those plays determined the outcome. There were 20 penalties assessed. Any one of those could be said to have determined the outcome. It was unfortunate that the Utes got called for defensive holding on a fourth-down play where they sacked Retzlaff. There are dozens of videos on social media that clearly show the Utah defensive back grabbed Jo Jo Phillips on his route, right in front of the official. Is he supposed to swallow his whistle because he doesn’t want to “determine the outcome?” Get out of here with that. And anybody who watches Utah knows their defensive backs are the hand-siest in the country. They hold and grab on every play. That they got caught and it was called is the biggest surprise.

PRO No. 3: BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill made the greatest halftime adjustments in rivalry history.

Remember the Oklahoma State game? The Cowboys pretty much changed up their whole offense during their bye week and BYU struggled to stop them. The Utes had two weeks to prepare for the Cougars with a brand-new offensive coordinator and a brand-new quarterback. Hill and his staff had a tough time, giving up 21 points in the second quarter to a Utah team that had scored 10, 19, 7 and 14 points in its four-game losing streak.

Yet Hill made some killer halftime adjustment. The Utes offensive output in the second half was 79 yards and zero points. The defense gave the team a chance to win the game.

Finally, PRO No. 4: At 9-0, BYU is a dead-solid lock to reach the Big 12 championship game.

Man, this Big 12 is absolutely insane. Each week I do a Big 12 Football Power Rankings story and I have no idea how to make sense of it. Each week multiple teams I put low in the rankings (based on the previous week’s performance) ends up beating a team I put higher in the rankings. BYU’s next opponent, Kansas, was No. 15 (out of 16) in my power rankings last week. All the Jayhawks did was go out and beat Iowa State 45-36. The Cyclones were No. 3 in my power rankings last week. Kansas is another very dangerous opponent for the Cougars. Arizona State and Houston are also teams that have punched above their weight. Should be a fun last month of the season.

Who Carried the Boats and the Logs?

It’s got to be “Big-Game Bill.”

Kicking specialists are sometimes kind of separate from the rest of the team. Not “one of the guys.” That’s not the case with Will Ferrin. He might be the most likeable player on the team, the way his teammates talk about him. He kicked three field goals against Utah, including the game-winner, when the Cougar offense manage to score just one touchdown. Kelly Poppinga, BYU’s special teams coach, shared on social media that he asked Ferrin where he wanted the ball for the game-deciding kick. Ferrin told him he didn’t care, the kick was going in.

Special consideration for Poppinga, whose special teams accounted for 16 points.

Let me clear my throat

You may have noticed that BYU’s Keelan Marion took out his mouthpiece 15 yards from the end zone during his first-half kickoff return for a touchdown.

I asked him in the post-game why he did that. Was he going to say something?

“Yeah, I said something,” Marion said.

“What did you say?” I asked.

“We like that,” Marion said. “I said, ‘BYU Cougars, we like that.'”

Slow motion

If the offense makes a substitution, the defense is also allowed to do so and the officials stand over the football to make sure the sub can get in. I’m not sure what can be done, but I’m getting pretty tired of watching 300-pound defensive linemen jog slowly on or off the field. Reminds me too much of soccer time-wasting strategies. Stop it, please.

That’s all for now, but for this: Rice-Eccles Stadium is the very definition of a hostile environment for BYU fans and players, so I hope everybody got home safe and sound. Have a great week and if remembering that Utah hasn’t beaten the Cougars since 2019 makes you happy, live it up.