PROVO — In front of a mostly blue, respectably red sellout crowd and a national television audience, the centaur vanquished the spider.
Bear Bachmeier threw for 166 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 62 yards and a score as No. 15 BYU improved to 7-0 with a 24-21 win over No. 23 Utah in front of 64,794 fans Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
LJ Martin ran for 122 yards in the win for BYU (7-0, 4-0 Big 12), his fifth game over the century mark of his junior campaign.
Daniel Bray ran for 121 yards for Utah (5-2, 2-2 Big 12), including a 49-yard touchdown that gave the Utes their first lead of the game to open the fourth quarter.
But Bachmeier played beyond his years, responding with an immediate answer and a pair of touchdown runs by Parker Kingston and himself to slam the door shut on the Cougars’ third consecutive win in the rivalry series that dates back to 1922 (or 1896, depending on who you ask).
It’s BYU’s longest winning streak over the Utes since winning four straight from 1989-92.
Faletau Satuala had a career-high 12 tackles and a tackle for loss for the second game for BYU, and Tanner Wall added 10 tackles and an interception for BYU, the 3.5-point underdogs who also got a 26-yard field goal from Will Ferrin.
Utah out-gained its archrivals with 470 yards to just 370. But the Utes were plagued by penalties (six, for 29 yards), miscues that included a muffed punt recovered by Talan Alfrey, and a limited run game outside of quarterback Devon Dampier.
The New Mexico transfer nicknamed “Spida” also threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns, including a 2-yard touchdown toss to Larry Simmons with just under 90 seconds remaining for the final scoreline.
This story will be updated.