A BYU fan who is half a century old has watched the Cougars and Utes battle 46 times in football.
Twenty-five of those days — and the 12 months that followed them — were celebrations. The other 21, with their ensuing emotional penance, were painstaking.
Moments of bliss included Jim McMahon beating the Utes 56-6, Steve Young winning 55-7, Ty Detmer scoring 70 points, Ryan Kaneshiro’s “doink,” Luke Staley’s last-minute scamper, Brandon Doman’s comeback, John Beck’s pass to Jonny Harline, Max Hall on 4th and 18 and, most recently, Jaren Hall’s touchdown pass to former Ute-turned-Cougar Samson Nacua.
Think of the quarterbacks a 50-year-old Cougar fan has watched beat Utah over the past five decades — Gary Sheide, Gifford Nielsen, Marc Wilson, McMahon, Young, Robbie Bosco, Bob Jensen, Sean Covey, Detmer, Kevin Feterik, Beck, Hall, Doman and Jaren Hall. Eleven of those athletes played or are still playing in the NFL.
There have been many high-water marks for sure, but not all of the past 50 years have been fun.
The BYU fan has also watched Scott Mitchell’s 57-point barrage, Chris Yorgensen’s 55-yard field goal, a 3-0 shutout, a blocked kick in Salt Lake and a stretch of years where the Utes beat the Cougars nine straight times.
The steady mix of highs and lows create those longed-for feelings of superiority and dreaded inferiority, and this rivalry has had plenty of both.
BYU football’s rivalry with Utah
In the game of one-upmanship, BYU held the edge for years with its 1984 National Championship, Heisman Trophy, Doak Walker Award, Outland Award and slew of Hall of Famers. A bigger stadium and their own television network served as additional feathers in the Cougars’ cap.
But then, the BYU fan watched Utah turn the tables when the Utes were invited to join the Pac-12 and elevated to Power Five status. This was almost too much to endure. All BYU could do was stand independently to the side and watch Utah grab the advantage in money, recruiting and access to bigger bowl games.
A journey, fraught in ironic condescension, had the BYU fan questioning his own program’s relevance and uncertain future. Then 2021 happened.
The announced departure of Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 to the SEC opened the door for BYU to join the Big 12 and attain their own power conference status.
One day after accepting the invitation, the Cougars beat the favored Utes 26-17 at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Fans stormed the field as fireworks filled the sky.
Much to the BYU fan’s surprise and delight, the mood swings from inferiority back to superiority were just getting started.
USC and UCLA announced their departure from the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten. Oregon and Washington followed suit causing the stunning collapse of the Pac-12. In an instant, Utah’s rock-solid footing was gone.
This left the BYU fan with mixed emotions. On one hand, it seemed appropriate for the Utes to suffer for all the injustices of the previous decade — and maybe even lose their P5 status and return to the lowly Mountain West.
On the other hand, inviting them to join the Big 12 would restore the rivalry and make November great again. What to do?
When the vote to admit Utah arrived, BYU said yes, and on Nov. 9, after a 13-year divorce, the Cougars and Utes are getting back together and competing with the same rights and privileges, including access to the College Football Playoff and better bowl games.
The BYU fan knows it may take a while to catch the Utes in the creation of long-term roster depth, but as both programs witnessed in 2021, the talent disparity on paper doesn’t always translate to the field and that is why he has hope for Nov. 9.
Where does the BYU-Utah rivalry go from here?
Where the rivalry goes from here will be interesting.
In essence, when it comes to owning mojo over the past 50 years, the Cougars had it, lost it and are fighting to get it back. The Utes didn’t have it, found it, and are trying to keep it. It all makes for an unpredictable climate that is fruitless to forecast.
America has been watching the political conditions turn so nasty that it recently turned to gunfire. In the aftermath, both Republicans and Democrats pledged to turn down the rhetoric.
Earlier this month, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox spoke to the National Governor’s Association about his “Disagree Better” initiative, which explores how Americans can disagree better without hating each other. The premise easily translates to anything that can passionately divide people — including sports.
BYU and Utah hate losing in football, but by and large, they don’t hate each other. The two respective school presidents are friends. The two head coaches are BYU grads. The universities constantly collaborate on projects together, and many faculty, students and fans subscribe to the same beliefs and politics.
In truth, the rivalry is much more civil than it gets credit for.
Without question there are a few outside voices that try to paint everybody on the inside as radical as they are. You will find many of them in the comments section at the bottom of this article. They spew hate and ignorance to incite retaliatory reactions — and their origins are not exclusive to a particular side.
Sound familiar?
Coincidentally, the Cougars and Utes are reuniting as conference foes during the same week as the presidential election. Increased civility, both at the polls and with the pigskin, will make both red and blue events memorable — no matter which color prevails.
Most of the audience that already owns a pricy ticket for the Nov. 9 showdown at Rice Eccles Stadium are people who love their families, friends, coworkers and are kind to strangers. They might even vote for the same candidates. In addition, they practice what their respective faith preaches.
All of this allows them to stand next to each other wearing opposing colors as they sing opposing fight songs. They talk about good times and enjoy a night of meaningful competition without punching each other in the face.
Justifiably, they will cheer like crazy for their school and against the other team. No matter the outcome, happy or sad, many will return home, attend church the following day and be back in class or on the job on Monday.
The only real residue from the outcome is who gets to wear the winning smirk on their face for the next 12 months.
As we sit in late July ahead of both teams reporting to camp, no one knows what championship implications could be on the line in November. But when the young men in Royal and Crimson take the field, the electricity will spike just as it always has, and considering the last 13 years, this one might mean a little bit more.
Hopefully the 50-year-old BYU fan — and his or her Utah counterpart — will take a moment to reflect on how fantastic it is to have the rivalry restored, even at the risk of losing.
To almost everybody’s credit, the game changing elements of NIL, transfer portal and realignment have not sacked the state’s largest, albeit dysfunctional family reunion.
The game can be happy, sad and all things in-between and that could all be in the first quarter — the first 15 minutes of competition in the same conference in 13 years. One can only imagine what the second, third and fourth quarters will bring.
The mystery is part of the magic — and passionate civility is what can keep the BYU-Utah rivalry magical for the next half-century.