After fourth-quarter touchdown runs by receiver Parker Kingston and quarterback Bear Bachmeier in the fourth quarter, No. 15 BYU held off No. 23 Utah for a 24-21 Big 12 and rivalry win Saturday at Provo, Utah.
BYU (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) won its third consecutive game against Utah (5-2, 2-2) in the Holy War rivalry.
Utah scored with 1:24 left on a 2-yard pass from Devon Dampier to Larry Simmons.
The ensuing onside kick did not go 10 yards before the Utes touched the ball. That gave BYU the ball, allowing the Cougars to run out the clock.
Kingston took a sweep to the left before cutting back upfield for a 12-yard score, putting the Cougars in front 17-14 with 11:19 remaining.
The run capped a five-play, 81-yard drive, answering a 49-yard scoring run by Utah’s Daniel Bray on the previous possession.
Bachmeier, who rushed for 64 yards on 11 carries, increased the lead to 24-14 with 4:22 left when he scored on a 22-yard run on third-and-11.
Bachmeier also completed 13 of 22 pass attempts for 166 yards and a touchdown.
Dampier, who was 20 of 36 for 244 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, accounted for all the plays that led to his pass to Simmons that cut the lead to 24-21.
He completed all five passes for 58 yards on the possession.
Utah had two of its first three drives end with a turnover on downs, stalling at the BYU 13 and 28.
The Utes suffered the same result on a drive that ended at the BYU 6 with 8:47 left in the third quarter and the Cougars holding on to a 10-7 lead.
After BYU also had a turnover on downs at the Utah 32 on its second possession of the game, the Cougars scored first on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Bachmeier to Chase Roberts with 13:37 left in the second quarter.
Dampier’s 11-yard pass to Ryan Davis tied the game at 7 with 3:24 left in the half.
BYU took advantage of a muffed punt return by Mana Carvalho to take a 10-7 lead with a 26-yard field goal by Will Ferrin with three seconds left in the first half.
