PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Jason Shelley, a freshman making his second college start in place of the injured Tyler Huntley, had his second-straight 200-yard passing game with 221 yards (11-of-23 with no interceptions) and completed his first two career touchdown passes against Colorado last week.
–WR Jaylen Dixon had his first career 100-yard receiving game with four catches for 125 yards and also scored his first receiving touchdown of the year in the win over the Buffaloes. His previous best in a game this season was 50 yards. He had catches of 61 and 47 yards, giving him eight catches longer than 35 yards this season.
–LB Francis Bernard, who will play against his former team, BYU, this week, led Utah with a season-high 10 tackles, including three tackles for loss, against Colorado.
–PK Matt Gay broke the Utah school record for consecutive field goals with makes of 51, 33 and 31 yards for 21 consecutive field goals before a miss of 56 yards in the fourth quarter against Colorado. He beat the previous record of 18, set by Joe Phillips (2009-10). Gay’s 51-yard field goal increases his school-record career 50-yard field goals made to seven.
SERIES HISTORY: Utah leads its Holy War rivalry with BYU 57-31-4, including wins in the last seven meetings, dating to 2010. That year was the last time the Utes and Cougars met in the final regular season game (when they were both in the Mountain West). Utah moved to the Pac-12 in 2011.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “Just proud of how these guys hung in there all season long. They have handled adversity all season long, I don’t know if I have been around a team that handles adversity any better than these guys. These guys just have a lot of guts and a lot of toughness.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, after last week’s win at Colorado helped the Utes clinch the Pac-12 South title despite losing starting QB Tyler Huntley and RB Zack Moss to injuries late in the season.