The Utah Utes are BYU’s biggest football rival, and probably will be until the end of time. The Cougars’ controversial 22-21 win in Salt Lake City and Utah athletic director Mark Harlan’s “stolen from us” rant on Nov. 9 only added fuel to the bonfire.
Utah State is also on the list, although with no future games scheduled, that rivalry could be dying on the vine. Boise State emerged as a bona fide rival when BYU went independent in 2011 and scheduled a 12-game series with the Broncos that couldn’t be completed when the Cougars headed off to the Big 12.
It’s early, but Baylor could surface as BYU’s next big rival; both sides seem to want that, although forced, contrived rivalries never seem to get as heated as those sprouted naturally.
So who’s next? Which western school, or Big 12 brother, could step in and fill the void as BYU’s secondary rival?
Could it be Arizona State?
The elements are seemingly in place for a BYU-ASU rekindling of a rivalry that was beginning to burn a bit when the Cougars and Sun Devils were together in the Western Athletic Conference from 1965 to 1977, a rivalry the Devils dominated until they bolted for the Pac-10 in 1978.
Saturday’s Big 12 showdown in Tempe, a truly momentous matchup (1:30 p.m. MST, ESPN) for both nationally ranked programs, could be the spark that alights the combustion. A berth in the Big 12 conference championship game Dec. 7 in Arlington, Texas, is likely at stake, although it could get complicated with tiebreakers and whatnot.
“The one thing I would say is if you have tickets and you are an ASU fan, make sure they go to ASU fans, right?”
— ASU coach Kenny Dillingham
Arizona State (8-2, 5-2) enters as a 3.5-point favorite, even though BYU (9-1, 6-1) has the better record and higher national ranking. Home field advantage usually accounts for three or so points, according to oddsmakers.
How much of a home-crowd advantage will ASU have? Probably not as much as the Devils are accustomed to. Because of the high number of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arizona, and BYU’s reputation for traveling well in all parts of the country, the Sun Devils are already bracing for a royal blue invasion.
The Deseret News’ Dave McCann reported last January that there are 439,000 Latter-day Saints living in Arizona, and more than 14,000 BYU alums within reasonable driving distance of Tempe, a college town adjacent to Phoenix. BYU athletics spokesperson Jon McBride told the Deseret News that BYU “received an allotment of 2,500 tickets” from Arizona State months ago and all those tickets have been sold.
There’s no telling how many BYU fans bought tickets through ASU’s website, or on the secondary market, but that number is expected to number in the thousands, maybe more than 10,000.
Natives usually get a bit perturbed when their stadium is taken over, a good recipe to start a rivalry. Something salty could be brewing.
That’s why second-year Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham, 34, the youngest head coach in the FBS and a fixture on social media, is already calling for ASU fans to show up loud and boisterous, and keep BYU fans from doing the same. He might be too late, but the fact that he brought it up Monday in his weekly press briefing is telling just the same.
“The one thing I would say is if you have tickets and you are an ASU fan, make sure they go to ASU fans, right?” Dillingham said. “There are a lot of BYU fans in the Valley, right? So let’s make sure if you are an ASU fan, and you own a ticket, and you are selling it or are giving it away, make (purchasers) show you an ASU hat, or an ASU shirt, show something ASU in order to get that ticket because I think it is one of the most expensive tickets in college football right now. … And that is super exciting.”
Unless the Big 12 comes to its senses and forms divisions for football, BYU and Arizona State won’t play each other every year, as BYU and Utah will. That’s obviously a deterrent to a legitimate rivalry — not playing every year. The next matchup is scheduled for 2026 in Provo; BYU returns to Tempe in 2027.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake said Monday that because of the “strong LDS community” in the Phoenix area, a rivalry with ASU makes sense. Arizona State reported Tuesday that the game is sold out.
“I think there are a lot of connections. There are a lot of people that we know from there. We are bordering states and so naturally being familiar with and knowing each other is always going to have a little bit more in the competition, compared to not knowing anybody on the other side. So, that is going to be a part of it,” Sitake said, noting a “slight connection” to the Sun Devils this year because expectations for them were also low in August. BYU was picked 13th, ASU 16th, in the Big 12 preseason media poll.
“They are ranked for a reason,” said Sitake, who on Tuesday was named the AFCA Region 4 Coach of the Year. “… That’s a huge compliment to their coaches, their staff and their fans. So it is going to be fun to go down there and have this matchup and we know that there are people in the area that are fans of ASU and fans of us, so it is going to be kinda fun that we are in the same conference and able to have this game.”
BYU’s roster loaded with Arizonans
No fewer than nine BYU players list Mesa or Chandler, Arizona, as their home town. Three others are from Tucson, some 110 miles south of Tempe.
Cougars tight end Mata’ava Ta’ase grew up in Mesa and starred for Mountain View High in 2015 before serving a church mission to Japan and then enrolling Gila River CC in Gilbert, Arizona. He played three seasons at Southern Utah before transferring to BYU before the 2023 season.
“It is definitely going to be a fun game just because it is like 10 minutes away from home. And I definitely have history with ASU. My uncle (Charlie Ragel) actually is the assistant head coach over there right now,” Ta’ase said. “It will be fun to be close to the family and have them come out. But at the end of the day it is the next game up, and we are focused on beating Arizona State and preparing for what they have to offer.”
How do ASU fans and players view BYU?
“I am sure there is a lot of respect,” he said. “But I am sure there are a lot of people that think that we are just the school up in Utah that is a bunch of Latter-day Saints that shouldn’t be where we are at. I am sure there is a lot of that. It will be fun to go down there and give them our best and get the W.”
Safety Micah Harper, receiver Darius Lassiter, safety Tommy Prassas, snapper Cannon Skidmore, tight end Nason Coleman, offensive lineman Sione Hingano, offensive lineman Jake Griffin and tight end Jackson Bowers are from the Valley of the Sun. Quarterback Treyson Bourguet and safety Chika Ebunoha are from Tucson.
The begging for teammates’ tickets has begun.
“I have nine siblings, and a lot of nieces and nephews and a lot of family and people who have supported me up to this point,” Ta’ase said. “I need as many (tickets) as I can get. I know some of them have already gotten their tickets. So yeah, there will be a good amount (of family) out there.”
Last BYU-Arizona State game featured a play for the ages
Saturday’s meeting will be the 29th for the Cougars and Sun Devils, a series that ASU leads 20-8 thanks to its dominance early on. The Devils won eight straight from 1966 to 1973, and most of those games weren’t close.
The Cougars have won the last three matchups, and five of the last 10. BYU’s last win in Tempe came in 1997, a 13-10 victory engineered by quarterback Kevin Feterik.
The last meeting was one of the most memorable in the series and is known more for one singular play than the game itself. In the No. 23 Cougars’ 27-17 victory over the No. 19 Devils, BYU running back Tyler Allgeier came up with one of the greatest “defensive” plays in school history.
Allgeier, now with the Atlanta Falcons, chased down Merlin Robertson after the ASU linebacker had intercepted a desperate pass by Jaren Hall and tomahawked the ball from Robertson’s grasp. Then Hall recovered it.
“The chase-and-punch play was so good that BYU should give a hustle award to a player at the end of the season and call it the Tyler Allgeier Trophy,” wrote the Deseret News’ Doug Robinson.
“I remember a guy who wouldn’t quit on his team no matter what happened, no matter if Jaren throws a pick right there, the team has got his back. If that happened to be Tyler, that was Tyler. It speaks volumes about how he plays and where he is now in the NFL and everything,” BYU defensive lineman John Nelson said. “After that happened, at least the defensive guys were like, if Tyler is going to do that for us, we gotta show up for him. I remember that team and that game being all about playing team football.”
Hall threw for 214 yards and two touchdowns and Chandler native Gunner Romney had 95 receiving yards and a touchdown. Romney’s brother, Baylor, relieved an ailing Hall in the final moments and threw a game-clinching 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaac Rex.
The Cougars would finish 5-0 against Pac-12 teams that season, but the game was also notable for the number of NFL-bound players on ASU’s roster.
Devils QB Jayden Daniels, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy at LSU in 2023 and now stars for the Washington Commanders in the NFL, threw for 265 yards, but was sacked twice and picked off twice (by Max Tooley and Malik Moore).
Receiver Ricky Pearsall of the San Franciso 49ers and running back Rachaad White of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers combined for 109 receiving yards, and White ran for 71 yards and a TD.
“They were a really well-coached team and they had a lot of studs on their team, Jayden Daniels and a ton of other guys that went on to play at other places or in the NFL,” Nelson said. “So I know they got studs on their team and everything like that.”
BYU’s crowd could also take credit for the victory, as ASU committed 16 penalties for 121 yards — including numerous false starts. In a span of six offensive plays, ASU committed four false starts
Other memorable BYU wins over ASU
BYU’s most notable win over ASU came in 1974 and snapped ASU’s eight-game stranglehold over the Cougars. BYU’s defense pulled it out, holding ASU to 186 yards and 11 first downs, while forcing six turnovers.
Quarterback Gary Sheide was intercepted five times and the Cougars lost three fumbles in the turnover-filled affair, but Sheide was also terrific against ASU’s nationally ranked defense, throwing for 223 yards and two TDs.
Two years later, Gifford Nielsen led a spirited BYU comeback from an early 21-17 deficit and BYU took a 43-21 win, which still stands as the Cougars’ largest margin of victory in the series. Nielsen threw for 339 yards and two touchdowns as BYU improved to 6-2 that late October day.
The last time BYU played in Tempe, on Sept. 20, 1997, the No. 14-ranked Sun Devils and a Sun Devil Stadium crowd of 62,376 greeted the Cougars and QB Kevin Feterik. But BYU dominated, despite the final score suggesting the game was close, and BYU won in Tempe for the first time since 1965.
Owen Pochman kicked the game-winning 32-yard field goal with 4:39 remaining, which marked the only points either team scored in the second half.
The next year, ASU took another No. 14 national ranking into Provo, but the result was the same. BYU held Heisman Trophy candidate J.R. Redmond to 28 yards on 16 carries and the Cougars took a 26-6 win in front of a Cougar Stadium crowd of 65,096.
Current BYU coach Sitake caught a 25-yard pass from Feterik in that game to set up a 34-yard field goal by Pochman.
Can the No. 14 AP Cougars rise up and pull off another upset, this time in Tempe, to keep alive their College Football Playoff hopes?
“The attitude around the team is (that) Arizona State is the only game that matters right now. It doesn’t matter what is after that, or what the playoff rankings are, or top 25. None of that matters,” Nelson said. “All that matters is Arizona State and how we are going to win that game, and that is going to be our focus this week.”
