This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Just like last year, the Utah-BYU football game will have a late kickoff this year.
Sports television giant ESPN announced Monday that the Sept. 21 rivalry game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo will kick off at 8:15 p.m. MT and will be televised nationally by ESPN2. Utah won 24-21 last year in a game that did not end until 11:58 p.m. when Justin Sorensen's field goal attempt struck the upright and bounced away. BYU has a bye this week after downing Texas 40-21 last Saturday, while Utah is preparing to face Oregon State in its Pac-12 opener after demolishing Weber State 70-7 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Be sure to check out my follow from the BYU-Texas game in Monday's newspaper, which really was more of a look ahead to the bye week and to the rivalry game. Credit to Channel 2's Adam Mikulich for asking several BYU players in the postgame news conference about the Utah game. A lot of us print reporters didn't have time to make it down to the interview room due to deadlines. Here's most of what was said as it related to the Utah game: BYU linebacker Kyle Van Noy on the state of the rivalry:"It is huge. This is like the Super Bowl. There's no lying. I am 0-3 against them, and I want to win. It is plain and simple: I want to beat them. They don't like us and we don't like them, and that's OK. It is going to be a bloodbath, and we are going to show up for it. We are going to rally the troops in this bye week, and we are going to come ready."BYU safety Daniel Sorensen on whether they will use all their time in the next two weeks to prepare for Utah:"I am 0-3 against Utah. Lost to them in 2008, 2011, and 2012. So we are going to take full advantage of the time we have to prepare. We are going to enjoy Texas tonight, maybe even tomorrow. By the time Monday comes around, we will be focused and ready to go for Utah. We got two weeks to prepare and so we will be ready to go. I think the coaches do a really good job of getting us focused on the next game and getting us both mentally and physically prepared, so all eyes and all focus and preparation goes on Utah."Sorensen on whether they were worried about being 0-2 going into rivalry game:"No. Utah hasn't been a thought until, probably won't be until Monday. All our focus was on Texas, and playing our game, playing BYU football, and that's what we did. If you focus on losing, or going 0-2, or having the rivalry game in two weeks, that will set you up for a loss." BYU running back Jamaal Williams on learning about the rivalry game: "I am starting to learn. I am trying to get the hate, but I am still learning ... the game last year, I was still in the moment of being wowed at the stadium, and being able to play. I just went out there and tried to prove to the coaches that I could play and help the team out. This year is a little different. I already know what I need to do. Now I just want to help the team beat Utah and I know this is an important game for us. I know everybody going to come out and play their hardest to come out with the W."BYU cornerback Skye PoVey on what being 1-1 instead of 0-2 does for the team heading into bye week:"I think it is huge. Now we are back even and we just upset a team. And now we have Utah coming in. (Van Noy interjects that he doesn't think it was an upset). Yeah, it is huge. College football, every game, especially when you are an independent, is a playoff game, pretty much. There are not really games that are bigger than other games. Every game, every Saturday, is huge. So yeah, we got a big game coming up, and we will use the time to get healthy, but also to prepare. Coach Mendenhall will have us prepared to play Utah." PoVey on the state of the BYU-Utah rivalry and how it is going to go away for awhile:"Yeah definitely, there will be some added intensity to it, for sure, because something that is that traditional, and something the whole state looks forward to every year. It is known as one of the biggest rivalries in college football, and it is the last one. Like Kyle said, he is 0-3 against them, and we haven't beat them in quite a while. I think it will be a big game. There will be some intensity, and like you said, there will be some templers flare, and there will be some bad feelings, but hopefully we keep our heads and play football."