BYU at Utah
Usual during the game: 45°, between 35° and 58° in about 7 in 10 games. Altitude 4,631 ft above sea level.
Airport reading near the stadium34 games since 2016 · How we measure
BYU (#7, 7‑1) travels to Utah (#3, 8‑0), with Utah favored by 5.5. The model gives Utah a 64% shot. BYU’s offense is at the 39th percentile on explosive plays; Utah’s defense is at the 11th.
This is Holy War — see the full head-to-head history →
How they got here
Last three games
BYU · 7-1
Rated 9th in our preseason ratings, 18th now.
2-1 in its last three, including a 4-point win over Notre Dame as a 10.5-point underdog.
Last three games
Utah · 8-0
Rated 25th in our preseason ratings, 14th now, up 11 spots.
Three straight wins, one over ranked or top-40 competition.
Biggest mismatch: Utah’s rushing EPA against BYU, 30 points
Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.
BYU’s explosive plays against Utah’s defense
BYU offense, 39th percentile · Utah defense, 11th
Utah’s success rate against BYU’s defense
Utah offense, 95th percentile · BYU defense, 67th
Utah’s rushing EPA against BYU’s defense
Utah offense, 92nd percentile · BYU defense, 62nd
What’s at stake
Make the playoff
Utah projected #11 seed
Win the conference
Win the title
CFP odds as of November 4, 2026
The series
Utah leads the series 59-34-4
97 meetings since 1922 · BYU has won the last 3
- 2025BYU 24-21
- 2024BYU 22-21
- 2021BYU 26-17
- 2019Utah 30-12
- 2018Utah 35-27
Each line is Utah’s chance to win through that meeting. Utah is 1-2 in the meetings since 2018 that were still close in the fourth quarter.
Face-off
What each fanbase carries into this one.
BYU
The chip · vs the national mediaCougar fans have heard for years that the schedule was soft, that the faith makes the program a curiosity, that the wins came against nobody — and they say the 2025 Big 12 run answered all of it at once, on the field, against Power competition.
What this game touches
One game short of the breakthrough. The 2025 Cougars went 12-2, but a 34-7 loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship Game ended the Playoff dream and the league-title chase in the same night — the closest BYU has come to validating the Big 12 move, and a reminder of exactly how much is left to finish.
Utah
The chip · vs the national mediaUtah fans are tired of being the program the country keeps underrating — the conference-killer everyone treats as a fluke until it does it again. They'll tell you the Utes have out-toughed bluer blood than anyone wants to admit.
Best players
BYU
- Cade Uluave (LB) · 52 tackles
- Legend Glasker (WR) · 585 receiving yards
- Bear Bachmeier (QB) · 1,750 passing yards — Heisman odds: 17th (+5600)
Utah
- Wayshawn Parker (RB) · 726 rushing yards
- Devon Dampier (QB) · 1,876 passing yards — Heisman odds: 23rd (+7200)
- Trey Reynolds (LB) · 46 tackles
What to watch
Player to watch: Wayshawn Parker (RB) — Utah’s leading rusher (726 rushing yards) takes on BYU’s run defense (62nd percentile allowed).
The spread has moved 2.5 points toward Utah since opening (−3 → −5.5).
The total has moved down 3.0 points since opening (51.5 → 48.5): books now expect fewer combined points.
The betting line, and the fans
Utah fans are feeling it more than most fanbases this week (70th percentile among FBS fanbases), in line with the numbers.
Utah favored by 5.5 · Total 48.5
Utah by 5.5: where a favorite like this usually runs
Half of games8 in 10 games
Utah’s chance through the game, if this goes like the 427 games since 2025 with a favorite of 3.5 to 7.5 points.
Weather at kickoff
Typical at Rice-Eccles Stadium: noon Saturdays score 89, 3:30 pm Saturdays 84
BYU at Utah · Saturday, Nov. 7 · noon ET · Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Weather score: 0 to 100, higher is better, for the first 3 hours and 20 minutes of the game. Ideal is 100, Comfortable 90 to 99, Mixed 75 to 89, Rough 50 to 74, Harsh under 50.
If it kicked off at
Typical at Rice-Eccles Stadium: noon Saturdays score 89, 3:30 pm 84, 7:30 pm 88.
- noon: 89, Mixed
- 3:30 pm: 84, Mixed
- 7:30 pm: 88, Mixed
Typical weather score at each kickoff time.
Typical means the average of regular-season Saturdays at this stadium, 2018 to 2025. It is not a forecast for this game.
Home field
Utah is worth +3.2 points (±3.7) more at home than on the road since 2018 — bottom third of FBS, 31st percentile.
82% at home, 62% on the road against FBS opponents (36-8 home, 28-17 away).
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +1.8 at home vs. away over 97 games — inside the ±5.7 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.
4,631 ft of altitude — real, and smaller than the folklore: high venues run a point or two better against the number, noisily. The visitors travel about 36 miles to get here.
Season profile
Week by week
Utah
- Wk 4Wat Iowa State31-17
- Wk 6Wvs Kansas41-24
- Wk 7Wat Colorado27-24
- Wk 8Wvs Houston21-13
- Wk 9Wat Cincinnati49-25
BYU
- Wk 5Wat TCU17-10
- Wk 6Wvs Iowa State24-10
- Wk 7Wvs Notre Dame28-24
- Wk 8Lat UCF31-39
- Wk 9Wvs Arizona State27-20
Power rating by week
Utah is rated 1.5 points ahead as of week 10. Our power rating by week; higher is better.
The market
The spread moved 2.5 points toward Utah.
The total fell 3 points.
Spread: −3 → −5.5 · Total: 51.5 → 48.5
The books’ cut: 4.3%, the margin built into the odds
Conference standings
Going into this game: place in the conference, then conference record.
Last meeting in our History pages
- BYU 24, Utah 21Oct 18, 2025
Our History pages cover 8 of their meetings since 2015.