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No. 7-ranked BYU is in a good place heading into a home battle with streaking Kansas on Saturday. The Cougars have a 9-0 record, but the chip-on-the-shoulder campaign is still a worthy ploy for head coach Kalani Sitake.

Respect. There’s still work to be done.

After beating rival Utah 22-21, Utah’s athletic director Mark Harlan’s rant that the win was stolen became the story of the day and dampened BYU of its performance on the field. This came after the CFP committee ranked BYU No. 9 when its resume and wins over ranked teams was better than four teams ranked higher, including Texas, Miami and Indiana.

A Pac 12-oriented columnist, John Canzano, attended the BYU-Utah game and as a person who covers Oregon and is now attached to the Mountain West through Washington State, Oregon State and Boise State penned: “The Big 12 isn’t a great league. Mountain West leader Boise State (8-1) is better than BYU (9-0). The Broncos’ only loss came on the road at Oregon on a last-second field goal. That defeat still looks better than any of BYU’s victories. And don’t get me started — the Ducks would beat the Cougars by 30.”

And there it is.

Another reason to keep playing as a slighted program.

What we saw, and Canzano witnessed last Saturday, is BYU playing its worst game of the season. Yet they still won on a last-minute drive with no timeouts and their starting left tackle out, against the best defense they’ve faced all year. That wasn’t a fluke. And it was a legit holding call that provided that opportunity.

In BYU’s win over Utah, Cougar special teams scored 16 of the 21 points including a kickoff return for a touchdown by Keelan Marion. In other words, BYU won without a lot of offensive firepower that night because it is a well-rounded team living on complementary football concepts.

The Cougars now have a win percentage of 72.9% to Utah’s 63.6% since 2020. That is the best win percentage in that time of any Big 12 team and includes a five-game BYU losing streak to end 2023.

It’s been a long time since BYU won the national championship in 1984 and the brand rose to a point under LaVell Edwards, where it was given the benefit of the doubt. But when you have AP voters, like Koki Riley at the Baton Rouge Advocate, placing BYU No. 14, the BYU brand isn’t carrying as much clout as it may. This is a mission for the current team, to reintroduce the brand. And it’s doing just that this season with many who cover the game. But is it enough? A win over Kansas will further the cause.

Cougar Insider predictions

Question of the week: In sports there is a feature of emotional wins and losses called the hangover effect. How do you think BYU will respond from an emotional 22-21 controversial last-second win over Utah last Saturday with Kansas coming to town on Saturday?

Jay Drew: After the emotionally draining 22-21 win over Utah, I can imagine the Cougars’ coaches are doing all they can to help the team avoid a letdown this week. That’s going to be hard. Perhaps the best thing going for BYU this week is that they are at home. The LaVell Edwards Stadium crowd should be able to give them a lift.

And the fact that the game is at night — when the Cougars just seem to play better — should help. Still, Kansas is a lot better than its 3-6 record indicates. Kalani Sitake and his staff will need to do all they can to convince the players that the Jayhawks are as good, if not better, than any team they’ve played.

This contest will test Sitake’s ability to keep his team focused on the task at hand, and forget about anything that’s happened in the past. I think he will succeed.

Prediction: BYU 24, Kansas 21

Dick Harmon: No question the emotional cloud of the Utah win will linger this week heading into the showdown with Kansas on Saturday for Kalani Sitake’s Cougars. But after road trips to UCF and Utah, returning home will be huge for this squad that has shown remarkable grit and resilience all season.

A big key is BYU has remained relatively healthy this late in the season and should have center Connor Pay back in the lineup.

I think Kansas will be dangerous on offense and BYU will need to try and keep the ball away from the Jayhawks by dominating time of possession. It can do this if it can get long drives that end in scores like they did at UCF. The Cougars will need to play their best defensive game of the season to win this, despite Kansas’ losing record, because they are coming on as evidenced by the win over a ranked Iowa State team.

Prediction: BYU 31, Kansas 28

Cougar tales

The BYU-Utah rivalry, now mutual members of the Big 12, raced back to the forefront as one of the country’s hottest rivalries. It came back with a bonfire of a game and huge controversy on and off the field. Here is a list of our stories covering the action and sideline stories that overshadowed the actual game:

• Cougars gained inspiration from cancer patient (Ryan McDonald)

• Rivalry heated as ever, now fueled on by AD rant (Dave McCann)

• BYU defense painted masterpiece (Jay Drew)

• Win leaves Utah stunned, furious (Dick Harmon)

Despite the efforts of the presidents of BYU and Utah in a campaign for civility and respect, there were so many things about last Saturday’s game that went just the opposite off the field including this video that shows an assault on BYU’s cheer coach, who was hit by a water bottle thrown from the stands.

The BYU basketball team chalked up a pair of wins to open the season. Here is the story of the Cougars win in the opener against Central Arkansas and how freshman Egor Demin was the star. In a closer contest against UC Riverside, the Cougars were pressed but survived. Demin was named the Big 12 newcomer of the week and the Cougar women’s freshman guard Delaney Gibb scored 22 points in a win over Idaho and earned Big 12 player of the week honors.

BYU’s men and women’s cross-country teams will compete in the NCAA regional this week after winning the Big 12 championships.

From the archives

From the X-verse

Extra points

• Utah win reveals BYU super power (Daily Herald)

• Utah-BYU outcome wasn’t stolen by officials (KSL.com)

• Provo, BYU fans celebrate win (Deseret News)

Up next

• Nov. 13 | 11 a.m. | Women’s basketball | Colorado State | @ Provo

• Nov. 13 | 7 p.m. | Men’s basketball | Queens | @ Provo

• Nov. 14 | 5 p.m. | Women’s volleyball | UCF | @ Orlando, Florida

• Nov. 15 | Noon | Cross-country | NCAA Mountain Regional | @ Reno, Nevada

• Nov. 16 | 8:15 p.m. | Football | Kansas | @ Provo