The BYU-Utah rivalry is back and it means more to the Utes than before

Backstage at the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl pep rally, Utah kicker Andy Phillips issued a challenge to punter Tom Hackett that ended in a bit of Ute lore: The last one to toss his water bottle into the garbage can across the room had to speak to the crowd of rowdy fans one day before the team played its fiercest rival.

“And, of course, I lost,” Hackett recently recalled. “I had nothing planned for what to say.”

Then he found the words that would live in infamy in a century of rivalry history.

“I’m lucky enough to be one of the many players on the football team that actually has never lost to these bastards,” Hackett said to the crowd of both Ute and Cougar fans. “Which leads me to end and say, this is Utah’s world and BYU is living in it."

In that moment, the brash Aussie was probably right.

The Utes were looking for Power Five wins, and the Cougars were staving off independence’s irrelevance. From 2010-19, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham led the Utes on a nine-game win streak over “The Team Down South.”

And when Utah put a pause on the rivalry to schedule marquee non-conference matchups with Michigan and Florida, then-Utes athletic director Chris Hill added fuel to the fire when he said his “dark, dirty secret is our fans are not disappointed” about missing out on the storied in-state rivalry.

“It was just a truthful statement,” Hill told The Salt Lake Tribune recently. “What I heard from fans? That was it. It had nothing to do with trying to cause a problem for BYU. It had everything to do with what was best for us.”

But on Saturday, when the Utes and Cougars face off for the first time since 2021, it will be BYU with everything to lose. At least for this season, it’s BYU’s world — and what’s best for Utah amid a lost season is playing spoiler to a bitter rival.

“Well, typically, historically, we‘ve been pretty good in that situation with the chip on our shoulders,” Whittingham said on Monday, acknowledging the Utes’ role as the underdogs. “That’s unusual for us. You’re right. It’s unusual, and so it’s it’s something that hasn’t had occurred for quite a while. But that’s not our driving force or driving motivating factor.”

‘It’s a table reversal’

For lifelong BYU fan Lance Pierce, the color of ties and socks has always been an indicator of one’s Utah or BYU fandom during Sunday services at his Latter-day Saint ward.

Ute fans often don bright red socks and ties and sneak the U.’s logo into their Sunday best. Pierce, meanwhile, has a plethora of royal blue ties, socks and, maybe his favorite item: “Y” insignia cufflinks.

“It’s discreet, but everybody knows what’s going on,” Pierce said. “Everybody knows who’s blue and who’s red, and we’ll all go have dinner together, and we’ll have a good time. But believe me, the bragging rights at church on a Sunday are a huge deal.”

Over the last 20 years, Utah has held those rights. The Utes have won six of the seven rivalry games played since 2003.

And over a decade of football independence for BYU, Pierce said, those rivalry games were the only thing to really look forward to on the Cougars’ schedule.

“That was the game for us, because if we could beat the Utes, then that somehow validated our independence and that we weren’t second-class citizens,” Pierce said.

The feeling was not always reciprocated by the Utes or their fans.

“I just think for them it was kind of their Super Bowl,” Hackett said. “For us (at Utah) we had some other juggernauts that we had to take care of.”

“When you step back from being a player in the program, and you look at the big picture [it] made sense,” Phillips told The Tribune, “From a national branding standpoint and an exposure standpoint for the program like that, yeah, that’s a great move. In theory, that BYU game was a pointless game because it was non-conference.

“But, if you bring it back down to the weeds in the locker room, I mean, it was as intense of a week as any other week.”

Now, as the Cougars stand as one of the top teams in the country, there has been a vibe shift. Part of it is because both programs are together in the same conference for the first time in a decade. Part of it is also because the Utes are on track to have their first losing season since 2013.

“It’s a table reversal now,” Pierce said. “They’re going to get the same bounce that we would have gotten if we would have beaten them when we were independent. Their whole season now is going to be about beating us (BYU).”

Jeff Randall, a Utah physician and a lifelong Utes fan, is excited to see the game return to conference play because the stakes will be higher for both programs.

He isn’t looking forward to the thought of the game returning to BYU’s favor, however. A win this weekend would mark a two-game winning streak for the Cougars, stretching back to 2021. And BYU’s recent winning ways have reminded Randall of the 1980s, when the Cougars had their own streak over the Utes.

“You kind of dreaded the BYU-Utah game in the 1980s because you knew that the Utes were going to get thrashed,” Randall said. “I was never looking forward to the BYU fans wearing their BYU ties or their BYU clip to church the following Sunday, having a smug smile on their face.

“It’s been nice to not have that for the past 10 years. I’m kind of looking toward this game with a little bit of trepidation.”

But he still has hope.

“I am really glad that we’re back in the same conference,” Randall said. “I think it will pick up right up with the intensity that it had all those years ago. And hopefully, ideally, the game will be equally matched for years to come.”

Saturday’s final score will dictate the conversations on Sunday.

“The problem with some BYU fans is that they can get a bit sanctimonious when they win,” Randall said. “There are some that are like that, and it leaves you just kind of shaking your head and saying, ‘I’m not sure God cares who wins.’”

Pierce added: “If BYU wins, I will raise my hand at the beginning of our priesthood meeting and I will say, ‘We really appreciate you letting us win that game. I’m sorry your time in the Big 12 isn’t working out the way you thought it would.’”

‘It will always matter’

Terrell Burgess, a Utah safety from 2016-19, still has vivid memories of the intense preparation and vitriol that filled a week of practice before the BYU-Utah rivalry game.

Oftentimes, Whittingham and the coaching staff would play a highlight tape of Utah’s beatdowns of BYU in their team meetings. The roll of tape would play on every TV in Utah’s facilities to serve as a daily reminder of the high stakes and bad blood.

To this day Burgess, a San Marcos, California, native, still refers to the Cougars as the “TDS.”

“There was always a feeling within the facility knowing that there has always been a big game on the schedule,” Burgess said. “It will always matter, and it will always be considered a good game.”

Flash forward to this season, and a new chapter in the rivalry will begin.

BYU is filled with former Whittingham assistants and coordinators, including Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick and defensive coordinator Jay Hill.

Fans are chomping at the bit.

Phillips, and Utah fans, are still feeling a level of disappointment for the way Utah’s season has gone.

“I think that Utah fans will just lean on those excuses, which are valid to a point,” Phillips said. “But, I’m super frustrated just because I’m looking at the game next week going, ‘Hey, if we had done our job this year, we’d be talking about all kinds of exposure and maybe even a College Gameday type situation, which would’ve been a great branding opportunity for both programs.”

But playing the underdog has its perks.

The Utes, who have no shot of making the CFP or Big 12 title game, could spoil their arch-rival’s Cinderella season.

“It’s obvious now that Utah isn’t playing for a ton,” Hackett said. “If you can get one over your arch rivals and kind of somewhat derail their season, then you probably leave 2024 disappointed, but knowing you played a role in putting smiles on some fans’ faces and having bragging rights for at least another year (has to feel good).”

For the first time in a while, the rivalry might actually mean more for Utah than ever before.

“Beating BYU is just important, regardless of the circumstances,” Hill said. “At the end of the day winning against BYU is Nirvana and losing is really tough. Regardless of what BYU’s record is, and regardless of what Utah’s record is, that’s always an important game.”

Editor’s note • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.to