The 27th edition of the Beehive Bowl, which pits the Weber State Wildcats and the Southern Utah Thunderbirds against each other, officially kicks off Saturday night at 6 p.m. MT at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
For SUU, the rivalry game and everything that comes with it has already begun, though.
In advance of the game against Weber State, various locations across Southern Utah’s campus saw Ws crossed out wherever they were found.
Just in case there was any doubt as to the genuine and heated nature of the rivalry.
Weber State has been on the winning side of the Beehive Bowl more often than not, though, both all-time and in recent years. The Wildcats hold an 18-8 edge in the series, which goes back to 1984.
The teams played 17 times between that first game and 2006 before taking a four-year hiatus. Then, in 2011, when SUU joined the Big Sky Conference, the rivalry began anew as a yearly event.
Weber State has won three of the last four contests, including a 31-18 victory in Eccles Coliseum last year. Wildcats star running back Josh Davis ran for 225 yards and two touchdowns in the victory.
The most recent win by the Thunderbirds came in 2017, the last time the teams played in Ogden. SUU defeated Weber State 32-16 before falling to the Wildcats at home in a rematch played in the playoffs later that year.
Heading into this year’s game, Weber State is 3-2 overall, 1-0 in conference play, and is coming off a 41-35 victory over Idaho. The Thunderbirds, meanwhile, are 1-5 overall, 0-2 in the Big Sky, having most recently lost to Portland State 52-31.