This year's Holy War was as close to a must-win for the 7th-ranked BYU Cougars. Given what was at stake for Kalani Sitake's team, they came up short in the 28-20 loss to No. 3 Utah. This was the first ever rivalry game to feature two top 10 teams. Both had plenty on the line.

The Cougars (7-2) entered this game with a loss to UCF, who're currently the 12th best team in the Big 12. While Utah entered the game as one of only three unbeaten teams in the country at 8-0.

With a win, BYU would have pulled even with Utah. It also would have created a three-way tie for the Big 12 lead and a very winnable remaining schedule. Putting the Cougars on a clearer path to the conference title game.

A Utah win puts BYU in a much more challenging situation. A Utes win gives BYU two losses and puts them significantly behind the lead. With only No. 22 Arizona, TCU and West Virginia left. Giving realistic life to a potential Utah undefeated season if they can handle business and beat the teams they are expected to beat.

Utah beat BYU to improve to 9-0 and an unbeaten conference record. The story of the game was BYU harming themselves. Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier threw for almost a hundred more yards than his counterpart, Utah's Devon Dampier, but his numbers include four interceptions. Most of which came in clear situations.

The first interception happened late in the first half when BYU was inside the red zone. Had that resulted in a touchdown instead, the Cougars would have gone into halftime up 27-14. The second interception came after a 27-yard chunk play ending in Utah territory. Utah was up 28-20 with most of the 4th quarter remaining. However, two more Bachmeier interceptions all but completely took BYU out of a comeback situation.

Read More: BYU Scores 20 Unanswered Points to End Half Against No. 3 Utah 

During an eight-play drive late in the fourth quarter, the BYU defense held Utah’s offense to a net positive of two yards in three plays, forcing a Utah punt. That punt from the Utah 33-yard line only traveled to the BYU 48, setting up favorable field position with 0:54 left.

On a second and ten with only 13 seconds left, Bachmeier scrambled to his right, avoiding pressure. He saw an open, even if only for a moment, Kyler Kasper in the endzone. That pass was also intercepted to complete Utah’s win.

The other significant concern for the Cougars was penalties. BYU had 11 penalties for 80 yards. As compared to Utah’s four penalties for 19 yards. BYU had several opportunities to advance their scoring and make this a very different game. The penalties made a very attainable comeback more difficult. The BYU defense kept them in this game. Without the turnovers and disparage in penalty yards, this was a game BYU could have won. There are not many games a team can win when they have four turnovers and four times the penalty yards.

Martin was healthy enough to play. Whether he was on a pitch count or just being eased in, he saw seven carries and one reception. In the first quarter, he did give BYU one of their two first quarter touchdowns, but he only registered 19 yards in the game. Sione Moa had several important runs that extended drives. However, the team overall only rushed for 119 yards and quarterback Bear Bachmeier had 59 yards of that total.

BYU led most individual categories, like passing and receiving yards, but Utah controlled the game from the start. Leading to BYU playing catchup the entire game. The BYU defense kept the Utah passing game in check for the most part. The BYU defense was primarily the better unit. Three sacks, 11 tackles for loss with more pass deflections and overall tackles.

BYU no longer controls their own postseason destiny. They will have to win out and hope for some help. Had both Utah and BYU finished the regular season with no more than one loss, both would be shoe-ins to make the College Football Playoff. Now, BYU will hope for Texas Tech to stumble or Utah to lose a game that today would seem unlikely.

Up next for BYU is a three-game stretch against Baylor, Kansas and Cincinnati. Those three games become a must-win scenario if BYU expects to challenge for the conference or have a shot at the Playoff.