College Football in Utah – Week 8

Utah 5-2 (2-2 in the Big 12)

The Utes had a battle against BYU. BYU’s Red Zone defense and Utah’s unwillingness to kick field goals ultimately cost them. Being minus two in turnovers and having no answer for LJ Martin and Bear Bachmeier running the ball didn’t help either. Utah will try to rebound in the Rumble in the Rockies against Colorado and Coach Prime this coming weekend.

Utah State 4-3 (2-1 in the Mountain West)

Bronco Mendenhall’s Aggies are now 4-0 at home this season after their 30-25 win over San Jose State on Friday night. It was the Bryson Barnes show for Utah State. The Aggie quarterback was 22 of 31 for 326 yards and a touchdown, with 16 carries for 54 yards and another touchdown rushing. Utah State will play Bronco Mendenhall’s 2024 team, the New Mexico Lobos.

Weber State 3-4 (1-2 in the Big Sky)

The boys from Ogden got their first Big Sky win of the season by crushing last place Portland State 43-27. Weber State got the win behind a potent rushing attack on offense and forcing turnovers on defense. The Wildcats had 220 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground, led by 19 carries, 135 yards, and a touchdown from Chauncey Sylvester. The defense forced five turnovers (four interceptions, one fumble), including two picks by Kao Henson, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Weber State hosts Eastern Washington on Saturday.

Utah Tech 1-6 (0-3 in the United Athletic Conference)

The Trailblazers had the week off before they host rival SUU next week. Five of Tech’s six losses were to ranked teams. Utah Tech will rest up and hope for their first UAC win of the season next week.  

Southern Utah 2-5 (1-2 in the United Athletic Conference)

SUU got their first conference win of the season and it was an upset over #13 Abilene Christian! This ended the Thunderbirds five game losing streak as well. Southern Utah was led to the 31-24 victory by star running back Joshua Dye and elite defense. The Thunderbirds forced four ACU turnovers. Add that to Dye’s game of 29 carries for 176 yards and two touchdowns and Southern Utah got a big victory before their pending rivalry game in St. George against Utah Tech.

Steve Young Award Player of the Week

Joshua Dye, Bear Bachmeier, Kao Henson, and LJ Martin were all good candidates this week. I went with LJ Martin because he is one of the best running backs in the country and is playing like it. He has not had less than 94 yards of total offense in any game this season. He has 856 total yards for BYU this season.

Writer’s Note: All FBS team rankings referenced are from the College Football Power Rankings here at TheForkball.com. All FCS rankings are from the FCS STATS poll.