Welcome to the Holy Score, a weekly look at Utah and Brigham Young football in which we assess their performances with no punches pulled or apologies forthcoming. If one of them stinks, we’ll tell you they stink. Most Utah and BYU fans are entirely reasonable — sarcasm alert! — but those who can’t handle the truth should read the message boards instead.
An eventful season along the Wasatch went next level over a 60-hour stretch that symbolized the divergent situations in Provo and Salt Lake City.
— Friday night: Brigham Young pulls a miracle out of its helmet as quarterback Jake Retzlaff leads a last-minute touchdown drive to overcome Oklahoma State and keep the Cougars’ magical, undefeated season alive.
— Saturday night: Utah’s offense staggers in a 13-7 loss to TCU in which the Utes gain just 267 total yards and are wholly inept on third down (2-of-15 conversions).
— Sunday night: Following their third consecutive loss, the Utes announce the resignation of offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig, who attempted to navigate a complicated situation with starting quarterback Cam Rising’s weekly injury drama and freshman Isaac Wilson’s inexperience.
— Monday morning: The Utes elevate senior offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian to the role of interim offensive coordinator, charged with resuscitating the comatose attack.
“It’s a hard thing to go through,” Wilson said of the coordinator change, according to KLS, “but we got to keep moving forward.”
Not so fast, folks.
For context on the latest developments, the Hotline prefers instead to look back to the distant, and not-so-distant pasts.
In Provo, the weekly victories and compounding momentum make us wonder if it might be 1984 all over again.
On the 40th anniversary of the Cougars’ national championship season, they are well positioned for a run at the expanded College Football Playoff.
Then as now, BYU began the season with a new starting quarterback as Robbie Bosco took over from the departed Steve Young. (This year, it’s Retzlaff in the role of permanent starter after Kedon Slovis moved on.)
Then as now, BYU began the season overlooked and unranked. Back in the fall of ’84, the Cougars jumped into the AP poll after a season-opening upset of No. 3 Pittsburgh. From there, they won two close games in the middle of October, ascended to No. 1 in late November and beat Michigan in the Holiday Bowl to secure perfection (13-0) and claim the AP and Coaches national titles.
The path is far more arduous this year. The Cougars must qualify for, and win, the Big 12 championship. Then at least three rounds of the CFP loom, likely against heavyweights in the Big Ten and SEC. Their prospects for a complete repeat of 1984 are just this side of zero.
But a Big 12 championship would work just fine in Provo, especially when combined with the unexpected nature of the ride — BYU was picked 13th in the Big 12 preseason poll — and a hefty dose of schadenfreude.
After all, the conference title was supposed to belong to the team 45 miles up the road. But the Utes have entered a time warp of their own, with one difference: The relevant comparison isn’t a season of glory — 2004, for instance — but the frustrating years of the 2010s.
COVID skews our sense for time, but it wasn’t all that long ago that Utah coach Kyle Whittingham changed playcallers on a near-annual basis in his frustrating pursuit of an offense that could approach the standard of his defense.
Remember Aaron Roderick? He spent one year (2010) as Utah’s offensive coordinator. Then Norm Chow held the job for a single season. Then came Brian Johnson and Dennis Erickson. Then Roderick returned for two years but was fired. (He’s now the passing game coordinator in Provo.) Then came Troy Taylor for two years.
The Utes hired Ludwig before the 2019 season — or should we say: they re-hired Ludwig, who had been the playcaller for Whittingham’s early years in charge (2005-08).
Ludwig brought stability and creativity, found his ideal quarterback for his system in Rising and helped turn Utah into a two-time Pac-12 champion.
But without Rising, who has played a handful of games the past two seasons because of an assortment of injuries, the offense has regressed … stalled … collapsed.
It’s 2010 all over again. And 2011. And 2013. And 2016.
The extent to which Ludwig bears responsibility for the current issues is debatable given Rising’s in-and-out status and Wilson’s inexperience.
Regardless, the staff change came in two steps Sunday night and Monday morning, with Ludwig stepping down and Bajakian stepping up.
We recommend cautious optimism in Salt Lake City. The change might serve Wilson and the offense well, but that’s hardly a given. Bajakian does not have a string of standout play-calling tenures on his resume after bouncing between college and the NFL over the course of decades.
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Holy Score: With Rising out and Wilson in, Utah follows BYU’s path
Holy Score: Oddsmaker’s early line has Utah favored over Brigham Young (with or without QB Cam Rising)
The Holy Score: Yes, Brigham Young is legit, and the path to the Big 12 title is wide open
His single season as Boston College’s offensive coordinator, in 2019, was largely successful as Bajakian elevated an offensive that was No. 93 in the country in yards-per-play prior to his arrival to No. 67 under his tutelage.
(The Eagles averaged 253.2 yards per game on the ground that year, a good sign for Utah.)
Bajakian bolted Boston College for Northwestern after the 2019 season, and his four-year tenure with the Wildcats was, at best, stagnant. They were No. 110 nationally in yards-per-play during the truncated 2020 season, then slipped to No. 120, 123 and 124 in three subsequent years. After interim head coach Mike Braun was elevated to the permanent position in Nov. 2023, he dismissed Bajakian.
The next step for the Utes is anyone’s guess. Perhaps the coordinator change works wonders for Wilson — sometimes, a new voice is all it takes. Maybe the current struggles persist.
Either way, time is shrinking for a team that has been effectively eliminated from the Big 12 race and needs two wins in its final five games to secure a bowl berth.
The situation feels a bit like the never-ending quest for playcalling success in the 2010s.
Down in Provo, the present is joyously reminiscent of glory deeper into the past.
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