Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — More than mere bragging rights are on the line when BYU and Utah renew their rivalry for the first time in three years on Saturday.

No. 9 BYU (8-0, 5-0 Big 12 ) debuted at No. 9 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday with a projected first-round bye as conference champion. It is the highest ever CFB ranking for the Cougars, surpassing the previous high of No. 12 in 2021. Many fans and pundits on social media criticized the CFP selection committee for ranking BYU too low since the Cougars have beaten two Top 25 opponents and boast a better strength of schedule than multiple teams ranked ahead of them.

If BYU is truly feeling disrespected, the Cougars are content to simply build their case by quietly continuing their unbeaten run.

“That’s the one thing that makes this team so different is that we’re not focused on what we’ve already done. We’re looking forward to the new week,” BYU running back Hinckley Ropati said. “Every week is a Super Bowl. Every week for us is a new statement.”

The Cougars hold a one-game lead atop the Big 12 standings over Colorado and Iowa State. A victory over Utah would move BYU one step closer to clinching a spot in the Big 12 championship game in the team’s second year in the league.

Utah aims to be a spoiler, dealing a blow to BYU’s unexpected title chase while ending a frustrating four-game slide and drawing one game closer to bowl eligibility.

The Utes lost to the Cougars 26-17 when the teams last met in 2021 — snapping Utah’s nine-game winning streak in the series.

“The season we’re having is not the one we expected,” Utah running back Micah Bernard said. “But we don’t waver. We still have belief, and our belief is we’re going to win the next game, the next game, and the next game.”

BYU and Utah enter this latest edition of the Holy War on opposite ends of the spectrum on offense.

The Cougars are churning out a league-best 37.6 points per game against Big 12 opponents even while averaging just 391.8 total yards in those contests. They have scored fewer than 34 points just once this season. Meanwhile, the Utes have scored 15.8 points per contest in Big 12 play and have failed to reach 20 points in four straight games for the first time since 1997.

Splitting time

Kyle Whittingham re-opened the quarterback competition at Utah during the bye week. Isaac Wilson and Brandon Rose split first team reps. The move came after Utah’s offense averaged just 10.3 points per game in Wilson’s last three starts. Rose finished out the Utes’ 17-14 loss to Houston after Wilson got benched early in the second half. He threw for 45 yards and had an interception while completing only 47% of his passes.

Wilson has thrown for 1,200 yards and eight touchdowns this season. He’s also tossed eight interceptions and is completing 55% of his passes.

Whittingham declined to reveal which quarterback will start on Saturday.

“We’ve got a good plan right now,” Whittingham said. “We’ll keep it to ourselves, obviously, but we have a plan going forward and nothing is ever set in stone, but we feel like we have a situation that’s best for us and gives us the best chance to win.”

The beleaguered offense will be without Money Parks, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Houston. Parks had 294 yards and three touchdowns on 21 catches this season.

Opportunistic defense

Creating turnovers has been BYU’s defensive trademark this season. The Cougars lead the Big 12 in takeaways (18) and interceptions (14). Eleven different players have made at least one interception. Four different players have recovered a fumble.

This knack for making disruptive plays has led to BYU ranking fourth nationally in pass efficiency defense (96.31).

BYU coach Kalani Sitake credits the team’s success in all three phases to his players focusing on filling a specific niche rather than playing hero ball.

“You have to buy into your 1/11th,” Sitake said. “I think our guys are doing a great job at it. Have we played perfect? No. Can we play better? Yes. And I’d like to see that happen this weekend.”

Fighting words

Utah running back Jaylon Glover sparked controversy on Monday when he used an expletive directed at BYU while speaking with reporters following practice. Glover later apologized for what he said on a post to his X account.

“It doesn’t represent who I am or our program and was a lapse in my judgment,” Glover wrote. “As a program, we respect every opponent we face, and we have respect for BYU and are excited to play them Saturday.”

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

LOGAN — Having a couple more days to get acclimated to the elevation in the Beehive State clearly didn’t help Alcorn State. After losing at Utah by 41 points on Monday, the Braves were battered by Utah State Wednesday night at the Spectrum, 101-46.

The 55-point victory was the first at USU for new head coach Jerrod Calhoun, who was hired last spring after seven seasons at Youngstown State.

“I really wasn’t nervous,” Calhoun said of coaching his first official game on Stew Morrill Court. “I told the guys, ‘You’re nervous when you have bad players.’ And I’ve been nervous a lot of years. … But we had a great week of prep, and I really wanted to show our fans the kind of style we’re going to play.

“We’re going to try really, really hard to get stops. We’re going to let guys have freedom. We’re going to shoot 3s. We’re going to use our depth. And we’re going to wear teams down.”

The Aggies (1-0) definitely did all of those things in the first half. After trailing 10-8 in the first five minutes, the home team reeled off 34 straight points over the next 11:15 to the delight of the crowd of 8,131.

The 34-0 spurt was the longest by a USU team since putting together a 37-0 run over two halves at Idaho in 2006.

“I’ve been doing this for 13 years, and I worked for a Hall of Fame coach in Bob Huggins, who is maybe the best defensive coach of all time in college. And that was as good as I’ve ever seen,” Calhoun declared. “There was a 10-minute stretch there they couldn’t score. And I think that’s because the attention to detail from our team all week was really, really good.”

The standout athlete for Utah State was senior center Aubin Gateretse, who played his first 30 minutes as an Aggie without missing a shot. The transfer from Stetson finished 11 for 11 from the floor and 2 for 2 from the free-throw line on his way to scoring a team-high 24 points.

“He’s been a guy who kind of struggled in our two scrimmages,” Calhoun said of Gateretse. “So, he was a guy who had an attitude this week. He was very determined and did a lot of extra work with Coach (Mantoris) Robinson.”

Gateretse, who did most of his damage off of lobs from teammates and offensive putbacks, came one made field goal away from tying USU’s all-time shooting record for a game. Mike Santos went 12 for 12 against Idaho State on Jan. 12, 1978.

“It was just so fun,” Gateretse said. “I know that if I do my job of setting screens really hard that my teammates are going to make the right reads because we’ve been working so hard on it. We’re still a new team, but we’ve worked so hard together since the summer, and everyone is locked in and willing to share the ball.”

The Aggies racked up 28 assists on 37 field goals while committing just nine turnovers.

Calhoun played 13 different players, 11 of whom scored at least one basket. Sophomore forward Pavle Stosic was the only player on the roster not to see time, and Calhoun said he is planning to redshirt the transfer from Gonzaga this season.

Graduate guard Ian Martinez and sophomore wing Tucker Anderson each scored 12 points for Utah State, while junior center Isaac Johnson ended up with 11 points and seven rebounds. The Aggies shot 51.4% as a team, including a 12-for-31 performance from 3-point range.

“It was a great game, man,” Gateretse proclaimed. “The team came out ready, which really started with the last week of preparation. Everybody was locked in and bought into the coaching, so we just came out and tried to have fun and execute the game plan.”

Alcorn State (0-2), which trailed 50-31 at halftime against the Utes before falling 100-59, fared even worse at the Spectrum. The Braves connected on just 5 of 27 field-goal attempts (18.5%) in the first half and trailed 52-14 at intermission.

“We played against a really good basketball team tonight, and in a brutal environment,” ASU head coach Landon Bussie said. “It was a tough game. I think we started the game up 10-8, and the next thing you know the score was 50-12. I was just happy get out of Utah.”

Senior guard Keionte Cornelius (11 points) and sophomore guard Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt (10 points) were the only players to score in double figures for the Braves, who shot 29% for the game and committed 20 turnovers.

Calhoun pointed out that the game was already on USU’s schedule before he was hired to replace Danny Sprinkle, who left for Washington after one extremely successful season at the helm of the Aggies.

“I talked to their coach before the game, and he said one big reason they came to Logan and Utah is because they wanted to play in one of the best environments in college basketball to get his team ready for conference play.

“… So, the respect factor nationally for the Spectrum, and The HURD, and our season-ticket holders and the environment we create is second-to-none. And it’s why I value this job with such high regard. It really fits me and my family, and I just feel very, very humbled to be the coach here.”

The Aggies, who open the season with four straight home games, will host Charlotte Saturday afternoon.

Across their most recent set of games, the Utah Jazz have been without a few key names within the lineup, one of those notable contributors being former Sixth Man of the Year winner Jordan Clarkson.

Clarkson has been inactive for the Jazz’s past two contests, a stretch where the Jazz secured a 1-1 record. However, the good news for Utah is that we shouldn’t expect to see him stuck on the sidelines for much longer.

According to a report from the Jazz, Clarkson has been ruled questionable for their upcoming contest vs. the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. It’s a step forward from his inactive status we’ve seen throughout the past week, and provides some added optimism for his potential return against a tough Eastern Conference opponent.

Clarkson has started his season with the Jazz averaging 13.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 39.0% shooting from the field, but a bleak 19.0% shooting from deep– even starting two nights in the backcourt along the way.

For a player like Clarkson, the numbers have seen better days, yet it’s well within reason to see such a spark plug get his efficiency turned around in due time, especially with such a long season ahead.

While nothing’s official yet when it comes to the word on Clarkson, expect his status to soon be finalized in the hours leading up to the tip-off of Jazz-Bucks, set to take place at 6 PM MT at Fiserv Forum.

Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter/Xand subscribe to YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live streams!