Hans Olsen doesn’t need much prompting to get rolling on BYU-Utah week, and this one clearly has his attention.
The former BYU defensive tackle, who played for the Cougars from 1996-00, called Saturday’s matchup the kind of game that already lives on a bigger stage than most rivalry meetings ever reach.
“This game has reached epic levels. Can you think of a more insane scenario?
Same conference, crazy records, national rankings, the whole coaching combo - Morgan and Kalani,” Olsen told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “It just seems like this is a powder keg waiting for a spark to explode!”
Olsen will be in the broadcast booth Saturday morning with Greg Wrubell on BYU Radio, and he sees the stakes stretching well beyond bragging rights. In his view, the result could reshape both the postseason picture and the rivalry’s place in the state.
“Utah (8-0) beating BYU (7-1) would destroy BYU’s goals and hopes because they already have the one loss,” he said. “BYU beating Utah would be another top five victory for BYU, which would almost certainly qualify them for the CFP.”
He also pointed to the recruiting and in-state balance that hangs over the matchup every year.
“Most kids now, if they are at the level of being recruited by Utah, then they are at the level being recruited by BYU, and vice versa,” Olsen said. “I think (the game) plays a role in state dominance.
When Utah was running off consecutive wins and now that BYU has put three together, I think that it shows the sign of power and growth. There are so many layers that make this thing so critically important.”
Olsen’s pick is BYU, and his explanation centers on how the last two weeks may have left one team sharper and the other a little too comfortable.
“I think the way the last two weeks have played out plays in BYU’s favor. Everybody could have told BYU after the Notre Dame win, ‘Don’t have the UCF letdown!
Don’t have the UCF letdown!’ It’s just something wild that happens in a locker room.
“Utah just thumped Cincinnati. Embarrassed them.
BYU has been in the trenches. They have been soul searching after a loss to UCF and a close win against Arizona State. ...
They have all kinds of negative plays to go back and look at. They are not looking at the positives.
They are looking at the negatives.
“Utah players are in the locker room, and they are watching the highlights and they are like, ‘Man, are we good boys! Are we good!’
And you can’t stop that. You can’t stop it.
So, who’s battle tested? Who’s got the scars to remind you, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t walk into the barbwire next time?’
BYU, they have the scars, and I think it’s going to play out on Saturday, give me BYU 28-24.”
Rice-Eccles Stadium also brings Olsen back to one of the defining memories of his career: BYU’s 34-27 comeback win in 2000, LaVell Edwards’ final game as head coach. Brandon Doman led a seven-play, 80-yard drive in the final minute and finished it with a 4-yard touchdown run with 23 seconds left, giving Edwards his 257th victory.
That game still sits at the top of Olsen’s personal list.
“When I reflect back on my 20 years of football - seven years professional, five years at BYU, four years in high school, and I started playing when I was 8 - the greatest moment and memory was that send-off for LaVell,” Olsen said. “The fact that we got to lift LaVell up and take him off that way, that thing couldn’t have played out any better.”
He also ranked his five favorite BYU-Utah moments, starting with BYU’s 37-17 win in 1996, which he called his introduction to the rivalry and the last double-digit BYU victory in the series. He remembered Henry Bloomfield battling Utah running back Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala and described it as “He Man vs. King Kong.”
At No. 4 was BYU’s 22-21 win in 2024, the game he covered from the booth and the one decided by Will Ferrin’s 44-yard field goal. Olsen said the close-up shot of Ferrin’s face, along with the kick itself, made it unforgettable.
No. 3 on his list was BYU’s 33-31 win in 2006, when John Beck hit Jonny Harline for an 11-yard touchdown on the final play in Salt Lake.
At No. 2, he picked BYU’s 26-24 win in 1998, when Utah’s Ryan Kaneshiro missed a 32-yard field goal off the upright.
And at No. 1, unsurprisingly, was the 2000 finish that sent LaVell Edwards out on top.
“It’s LaVell’s last miracle. It had all the amazing parts to it. For me, the No. 1 (moment) will always be LaVell’s final miracle.”
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