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Utah's winning drive included a punt and an interception.

Even in this rivalry, known for its goofy plays and wild finishes lately, that's some inventive strategy.

Right to the end Saturday evening, when Brandon Burton came flying off the left edge and blocked a field-goal try, the Utes' 17-16 win against BYU will remembered for all kinds of game-turning plays in their favor. They will be classified as huge blunders, lucky breaks or great efforts, depending on your perspective.

Just like always.

"What else could you have expected?" That's what Ute coach Kyle Whittingham was thinking while standing on the sideline and rubbing together his lucky dimes — "My only superstition," he revealed — when BYU's Mitch Payne launched his 42-yard try, only to have the ball strike the hand of a diving Burton.

For a long time, the Utes' biggest advance into Cougar territory came before the kickoff, when players taunted BYU's sideline.

Utah's game also included a quarterback switch that proved disastrous, two shanked punts, three second-half interceptions, less than 300 total yards of offense, a defense that allowed 4-for-4 passing on the final drive and a wasted timeout that would have prevented any comeback.

Remind me, which team won this thing?

Clearly, saying that BYU was more deserving of winning would be wrong.

The Cougars made some mistakes that kept them from leading by more than 13-0, and others that enabled Utah to keep the ball and eventually go ahead in the fourth quarter.

BYU also played too conservatively at the end, banking on a field goal that was "not a gimme," as Whittingham put it.

As justification for winning, the Utes held BYU's capable running game to 65 yards, and they also made a bunch of critical plays: Burton's deflection of a fourth-and-inches pass from the Ute 14 when BYU led 6-0; DeVonte Christopher's touchdown catch off a BYU deflection; Chaz Walker's sack that forced a field goal when it was 13-10; and Jordan Wynn's recovery from his third-quarter benching and hitting Dallin Rogers for 29 yards to the BYU 3, leading to Matt Asiata's touchdown.

That run concluded a strange sequence that technically accounted for three Ute possessions. Utah traveled 77 yards with the help of a punt that bounced off a BYU player, with Greg Bird recovering the ball, and another fumble that tight end Kendrick Moeai caused and recovered while BYU's Brandon Bradley was returning an interception.

Standard stuff, in other words.

"Interesting" was Whittingham's summary of the winning drive. "That's football. That's the way this series has gone."

No kidding.

Of the past 14 meetings, 12 have been decided by, at most, a touchdown, with each team winning six of those.

Only in Utah's two Bowl Championship Series seasons did anyone win decisively.

The past three dramatic finishes had gone BYU's way, when Whittingham's lucky dimes failed him, so maybe this was just Utah's turn. Thankfully, this time, nobody spoke afterward of living right or hating the other school.

As for which team was more worthy of winning Saturday, Ute defensive lineman Sealver Siliga said, "Nobody deserves anything. It's going to fall in place how it's supposed to fall."

When the Utes were hurting themselves, "We didn't look back," Siliga said, "and this is how it turned out."

Burton described his game-saving block as "just a matter of, like, sheer will."

Label it just the latest winning play in a rivalry that's always good for another.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.comTwitter: @tribkurt