Utes exploit errors in blowout of BYU

PROVO, Utah -- John White scored three touchdowns, Jordan Wynn passed for two scores and Utah forced seven Brigham Young turnovers to cruise to a 54-10 victory Saturday night in a rare lopsided game between the rivals.

The loss snapped the Cougars' four-game home winning streak and was their first to an in-state opponent since 2005.

Utah (2-1) trailed 10-7 late in the second quarter until Wynn beat a blitz and found tight end Jake Murphy open for a 30-yard touchdown pass.

Wynn tossed a 59-yard touchdown pass to Dres Anderson on the first possession of the second half and the Utes never looked back, scoring 40 points in the half and blanking BYU.

White scored on runs of 1, 62 and 35 yards.

The scoring started and ended with touchdowns by Utah's defense.

Jake Heaps passed for 305 yards and a 32-yard second-quarter TD, but threw an interception and fumbled twice. BYU's run game was non-existent as the Cougars carried 22 times for just 11 yards.

"We were outcoached, outplayed and basically outexecuted," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said.

"Turnovers were the critical difference in the game ... but they were the better team."

Ecstatic Utah coach Kyle Whittingham ran toward the Utah cheering section afterward and gave high-fives to fans along the rail. Now he has a bye to look forward to, then a full slate of Pac-12 games and a chance to go to a Bowl Championship Series bowl.

First-year independent BYU (1-2) faces Central Florida on Friday.

"When you look at the first half, that was more the way I expected the game to go," Mendenhall said.

"We're still looking for the balance that we'd like to have. Credit the University of Utah."

Wynn finished 16 of 30 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. White had 22 carries for a career-high 183 yards. He had only 9 yards on nine carries at halftime.

This game -- the first in 113 years the schools played as nonconference opponents -- started as dramatically as last year's meeting ended.

On BYU's third play from scrimmage, center Terence Brown snapped the ball high and right of Heaps, who was in shotgun on third-and-13 from his own 18.

Heaps grabbed the bouncing ball but whiffed on his throw, and the ball rolled 3 yards behind him into the end zone. Defensive end Derrick Shelby landed on it for a 7-0 Utah lead.

Heaps overcame the jittery start and some early boos to give BYU a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter on a 32-yard pass to Ross Apo, who beat cornerback Conroy Black down the sideline. It was a perfect pass from Heaps and put him over the 200-yard passing mark for the game.