SALT LAKE CITY — When Utah and BYU play Thursday night, it will mark the 100th time the two schools have met on the football field.
Or the 94th.
It depends on who you ask.
According to Utah, this is the 100th meeting of the two schools in a history that goes back to 1896 with Utah leading 61-34-4. BYU, on the other hand, says it is just the 94th meeting between the longtime rivals and the record is 58-31-4 in Utah’s favor.
The difference is, Utah counts six games in the late 1890s, while BYU starts counting in 1922.
So why the difference?
Up until 1993, the two schools agreed on the record, with both sides saying the series stood at 40-24-4 in Utah’s favor. The next year, after a Ute victory, the Ute media guide moved the record to 44-27-4 and it’s been six games ahead ever since.
Liz Abel, who recently retired after three decades as the football sports information director, explained why the change was made.
It seems that a certain sportswriter in town, who shall remain nameless, complained that many of the records in the Utah media guide were incorrect and that it was hard to trust any of the records. So Abel undertook a massive research project, using sources from BYU and Utah State as well as several people at the university. Of course, this was pre-internet days, so it turned out to be quite a task.
“We tracked down every game ever played, went through every game book and went through newspaper archives (on microfilm),” she said. “We looked at all the schools that had changed names like Texas Western (UTEP) and Colorado A&M (Colorado State) and decided to include B.Y. Academy as BYU.”
The fact that the six games from the 19th century were split 3-3 made it easier to include, so no one would accuse the U. of padding its record.
BYU acknowledges that the Brigham Young Academy played football for at least three years in the late 1800s. However, because the team was composed of high school and college students, it was determined not to include the games on BYU’s record, says Duff Tittle, BYU’s associate AD for communications.
“I’ve done extensive research on the subject and it’s impossible to determine the official records from those early teams at the Academy, although some news reports indicate BYA won the state and college football championship in 1897,” Tuttle said.
Tuttle went on to say that some of the recorded games back in that period were actually practice games and were played against non-university teams such as Salt Lake Elks, Fort Douglas and the YMCA.
“Because of the nature of these games and the number of high school players on the BYA teams, the university has never considered the three seasons from 1896 to 1898 in its official records — including the six games (3-3) played against the University of Utah,” he said.
Tuttle said the BY Academy was dissolved in 1903 and replaced by two institutions — Brigham Young University and Brigham Young High School.
“There were a few athletic events played before then, but 1903 is really the genesis of intercollegiate athletics at BYU,” Tuttle said.
Two of the games were played in 1896 and covered in Salt Lake’s Daily Tribune, complete with drawings of players and sketches of the ball movement in each half, covering nearly a whole page of the paper.
Of the Nov. 14 game played in Salt Lake in 1896, the three decks of headlines read, “University is Victor / Defeats Provo in a Very Close Game / Score: Six to a Goose-Egg.
Here is the lead for that game.
“As 700 people filed through the gates of the University campus last evening, the sun sinking over the western mountains left tiny ribbons of pink and white in the hazy sky and with the sinking of old Sol the fortune of Provo ended in defeat. The victorious banner of the University of Utah waved in folds of crimson and white above the blue and white of the Brigham Young academy. It was a glorious battle, nobly fought, a struggle in which victory was but a little better than defeat, a double campaign full of courage, skill and science.”
Three weeks later, the headlines read, “Garden City Victory / Defeated the University at Football / Score Was Eight to SIx.”
A synopsis of the game read:
“Seven Hundred Provo Boosters and about a hundred Salt Lakers saw a red-hot game in which Brigham Young Academy boys outplayed their opponents by a small margin. Had trouble with referee Cross. Enjoyed a dance after the battle.”
Whether those games were official or not, at least they warranted several inches in the daily newspaper.
So it looks like Utah is sticking to its records and BYU is sticking to its own.
As Abel said, “That’s one of the fun parts of the rivalry, that we can’t even agree on the number of games in the series.”