St. George, Utah - BYU men's rugby team defeated Utah 50-22 Saturday at Snow Canyon HS in St. George, Utah.

Paced by two tries from Calving Whiting and Luke Mocke, the Cougars looked solid in the victory, but there was also much to be positive about for the Utes.

Junior scrumhalf Luke Mocke opened the game scoring his first of two tries in the first six minutes setting the tone early for the Cougars.

“Today’s win showed the depth we have at different positions,” said BYU rugby head coach David Smyth of the six different players who scored tries. “Our forwards did a great job holding their ground creating more chances for us to make plays.”

Utah played a physical game keeping their forwards in tight leading to four tries and one conversion. Aggressive play by the Utes resulted in extended periods of possession but the Cougars still outscored them.

Fans in attendance saw the return of All-American junior flyhalf Jonathan Linehan who scored ten points off of conversions. Freshman Calvin Whiting added two tries. Sophomore Tua Laei, junior Steve Davies and seniors Ryan Blaser and Kyle Sumsion added a try each to the Cougar’s victory.

Whiting’s try off a Laei pass in the 71st minute wide right put the game out of reach for the Utes giving the Cougars their second victory.

Utah got two tries from Tonata Lauti and kept playing until the end.

“Hats off to Utah for coming ready to play,” Smyth said. “We look forward to playing them this season for the Wasatch Cup.”

"Obviously we don't like losing, but we make a lot of improvements since our game against St. Mary's," said Utah Program Director Mark Drown. "BYU was firing on all cylinders. We are still improving. Out set piece was good, although they stole some of our hooks in the scrum. The big issue for us is the breakdown. We coughed up the ball in the ruck too much and four times they ran that right back for a try."

Still, it was an improved performance by Utah.

Utah and BYU next will travel to the Red Rock Invitational in Mesquite, NV to take on Cal Poly SLO, Dixie State University and UNLV on Jan. 31.

BYU 50
Tries: Micke 2, Whiting 2, Laei, Davies, Sumsion, Blaser
Convs: Linehan 5

Utah 22
Tries: Lauti 2, Other, Other
Convs: Lauti