HOLY WAR PRIMER: UTAH VS BYU

Everyone with a pulse and the tiniest bit of interest in sports in the state of Utah knows what this weekend holds.

A rivalry so intensive, so bold, so unapologetic that it surpasses any other game played right here in the beehive state.

No, I'm not talking about the Nashville Predators and the Utah Hockey Club squaring off this weekend, but rather the BYU Cougars and Utah Utes taking the gridiron at 8:15 on Saturday.

This rivalry known as the “Holy War”, is often lauded as a top 15 rivalry in college football based on any top 15 list you can pull up on google, which is as authentic as it gets.

This years matchup, the first since 2021, has all sorts of new caveats to keep the bitter relationship fresh.

For starter’s these two teams are now in the same conference for the first time since 2010, when they did battle with the Mountain West patch on their shoulder.

The last time these two teams faced off in “conference play” was November 27^th, 2010 when #23 Utah edged BYU 17-16 in Salt Lake City.

Switch that Mountain West logo with a Big 12 patch, and these teams will once again engage not only for state supremacy but for conference standing.

If that doesn’t add enough drama for you, it’s been years, 2 to be precise since these fellas have got to take a shot at one another.

The last meeting was back in 2021, a BYU 26-17 win in Provo, halting what was a 9 game winning streak for the Utes.

If conference drama and father time isn't enough to hype you up, consider this.

Utah came into the season with playoff expectations and were heavily projected to win the Big 12 title.

BYU was tabbed as a team that would be lucky to get to six wins, and a bottom four team in the 16 contestant conference.

In present day, ten weeks into the season, it is BYU with playoff expectations and a clear path to a Big 12 title at 8-0 on the season.

Whereas Utah will have unfavorable odds to reach six wins, currently sitting at 13^th in the conference with 3 of their 4 remaining opponents currently ranked in the AP top 25 poll.

Thus, BYU fans will be hitting the road in full force ready to gloat, ready to celebrate, ready to point out oh how wrong the world was about the Utes.

Utah fans are primed to soften their disappointing season with an ultimate bid to play spoiler, to prove the Cougars as frauds and snatch their wings while they fly high.

Make no mistake, these teams may be on different sides of the conference standings right now, but it makes the energy no less palpable and the nerves of fans on both sides no less apparent.

BYU emerged victorious last time these squads played in 2021, but the Cougars haven’t won in Salt Lake City since 2006, a 33-31 win for the royal blue.

This is BYU’s first time on the U of U’s turf since 2018, a year where the Utes took home a 35-27 win.

BYU holding the current one game win streak doesn’t seem like much, but in this rivalry, consecutive wins are common more often than not.

Only 9 times in this BYU-Utah history has a win snapping an opponents consecutive win streak, not resulted in a consecutive win for that team that just snapped the streak.

Basically, out of 95 matchups, (if we use BYU’s history of the series), nearly 95 percent of the time the team who snaps a winning streak with a victory wins the next game.

But stats are for nerds, and that’s why the game is played on the field, not on paper right?

And when I mentioned that we were using BYU’s history for overall games played, it’s because Utah counts the first six times these teams met back in 1896 when BYU was BYA (Brigham Young Academy).

BYU does not share the same acknowledgment.

With Utah’s logic, the Utes lead the series 62-35-4.

BYU would tell you the Utes lead it 59-32-4.

While traditionally these games are relatively tight knit contest, each teams has been able to land a knockout punch here and there.

Utah’s largest margin of victory came back in 1922, a 49-0 blanking.

BYU got their revenge in 1980 with a 56-5 smackdown.

Both teams longest win streak sits at 9, the Cougars doing it from 1979-1987 and the Utes doing it twice, once in 1929-1937 and most recently from 2010-2019.

Utah has won 9 of the last ten games, speaking of that streak and 14 of the last twenty.

Despite that, BYU is favored by about 3.5 as the road team here.

Whoever you cheer for, however the game unfolds, let’s just all hope it isn't a repeat of the 2003 Holy War, a 3-0 Utah win featuring a grand total of 154 pass yards between both teams, and if we can avoid that, at least one fan base will have a good time.