1 Does anybody ACTUALLY like each other in this rivalry?

DICKSON: As long as I’ve been covering this rivalry it never ceases to amaze me how awful fans are to each other. Not every fan. I see plenty of good-natured interaction offline. But, man, anything on social media is an all-out war. Keyboard warriors doing everything they can to stick it to anybody from the other side. We’ve heard from the coaches and players. Seems pretty much mutual admiration but still wanting to kick each others butts on the field. That’s the way it should be. For the rest of you, it’s just a game. BYU has won the past three meetings. Utah won the nine previous. It’s the biggest rivalry meeting ever with both teams in the top 10. Don’t make it about you. Don’t get ugly and draw attention to the negative aspects of the rivalry. Enjoy the game, it should be a great one.

GURNEY: I may have answered with a definitive ‘no’ as recently as last year, although I think BYU’s general disdain for Utah may have been softened with the departure of Kyle Whittingham in favor of Morgan Scalley. I mean, just look at their respective answers when asked to assess Bear Bachmeier. You had Whittingham refusing to even acknowledge Bachmeier was BYU’s quarterback last season to Scalley, who offered some very gracious words about BYU’s quarterback. Give me Scalley and his approach every time. Also, it’s hard not to like and admire the play and composure of Utah quarterback Devon Dampier.

Sheesh, have I said enough good things about Utah here? Probably, but I feel a lot of BYU fans would agree with me here. And then on the other side you have the prospect of hating Kalani Sitake, which is a tough place to be at and even for the most ardent BYU haters out there.

2 What is the big offensive fix for BYU to be able to get a win against Utah on Saturday?

GURNEY: I listened to former BYU quarterback Steve Clements break down his thoughts on the radio and found myself agreeing with his perspective in that Cougar offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick needs to go with a top-down approach opposed to his normal course of action. BYU needs to employ over-the-top throws to Legend Glasker at the outset rather than waiting until the fourth quarter, much like occurred during last week’s win against Arizona State. Open it up, stretch the Ute defense, and then go at them with underneath throws and even some running plays.

Of course the course of action may change should LJ Martin return, but should it? Martin probably isn’t going to be 100 percent and will likely show some rust, so go to Legend Glasker early and often is my fix (actually it’s Clement’s fix, but whatever.)

DICKSON: Obviously the running game needs to be better than it has been the past two games. But my fix has more to do with the complementary football approach. We all know what happens when BYU is in bad field position: Aaron Roderick always plays it safe. Special teams has to do its job to make sure the Cougars aren’t backed up against the goal line. But I would also like to see Roderick change things up a bit. The defense knows he plays it safe. Why not open it up and attack deep, just to let Utah know he’ll do it? I think it would be open.

3 What is the big defensive fix for BYU to be able to get a win against Utah on Saturday?

DICKSON: What’s interesting is the defense, despite its shortcomings the past two weeks, has actually done enough. It gave up 24 points to UCF in regulation (and only seven points in the second half) and allowed 20 to Arizona State, with three points coming in the final minute. You can complain about the tackling or the lack of causing turnovers, but points are all that really matter. You can make things a whole lot easier on yourself, though, if you can create turnovers. Devon Dampier has a tendency to make risky throws. BYU has to make him pay for those and get a pick six or something to set up a score on Saturday. That helps out the offense as well.

GURNEY: There’s not a lot of schematic fixing that needs to occur, or any fixing, at all. Scheme hasn’t been the problem. Execution IS the problem and it’s all about tackling. How does BYU defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga remind his players how to tackle and how is that even a thing nine games into the season? It’s kind of a shocking development, and I hate to be too simplistic here, but really, it’s all about tackling, or the lack thereof that needs to be fixed. Should BYU remember how to tackle and I believe it can limit Utah offensive production as well as any team has this season.

4 Does either team have the advantage with the rivalry game starting at 10 a.m. MT on Saturday?

GURNEY: I don’t know if the early start team holds an advantage for BYU, but it certainly diminishes the home field advantage Utah would normally have. Sure, Ute fans will show up and be raucous, but you can’t convince me that those same fans will be as disruptive as they would have been with a 6 p.m. or even 1:30 p.m. kickoff. So I guess you could say it gives BYU an advantage in that way in that it should nullify the very tough atmosphere Rice-Eccles poses for visiting teams to at least some degree.

DICKSON: It’s amazing to me how the Big 12 treats what could be the best rivalry in the league. I know the Cougars came into this just three years ago but what are the marquee rivalries in the Big 12? Kansas State-Kansas? Texas Tech-Baylor? Arizona-Arizona State? BYU-Utah should trump them all. It should be given a Thanksgiving Week, prime-time slot. But here we are with a matchup of two Top 10 teams in early November at 10 a.m. Mountain time. As for the early start, both teams have to play it so I don’t think there’s much of an advantage either way. I just wish the rivalry had more respect from the league.

5 What are your random thoughts after watching the BYU men’s basketball team beat Ohio State at the Delta Center on Monday?

GURNEY: My overall view was that this team is going to work and is already far ahead of last year’s team with regards to flow and overall execution. The pieces just seem to fit with each other much better than last season where you were left wondering how it was ultimately going to work at the outset of Big 12 Conference play. Well, it never did actually work, as evidenced by BYU’s early exit from the NCAA tournament and overall substandard play relative to expectations. From what I saw on Saturday, BYU should be exceeding expectations with a team led by an outstanding point guard with pieces around him that fit and make sense collectively.

Oh, and Rob Wright was relatively flawless with his play on Saturday and I do believe that’s going to be more of a rule for him rather than an exception this season. Having your point guard operate within a system for

DICKSON: Playing Ohio State to open the season instead of a layup against some directional school is a choice, and it paid off big-time for Kevin Young and the Cougars. I think he learned a lot about what he has with this team by playing a good opponent out of the Big Ten. It was a challenge and I really thought BYU adjusted after some early struggles. Rob Wright was tremendous and did it against a good defense. It was good to see Tyler Betsey make an impact. He was pretty quiet in the first two exhibition games but made four 3-pointers against the Buckeyes. While waiting for his teammates in the post-game, he made a comment about how he was pleased with getting seven rebounds and should say that’s what he liked best but admitted it felt really good to make four triples. I’m still a little concerned about bench production but there are plenty of games on the non-conference schedule to work on that. Young talked about getting some work for freshman Dean Reuckert and others off the bench and that will be critical moving forward.