In 1953, the population of the United States was 158 million and on Nov. 26, that year, Thanksgiving Day, the BYU-Utah football game televised nationally on NBC, drawing 60 million viewers.
That’s more than last year’s No. 1 college football televised game, Ohio State vs. Michigan (19 million), the highest-rated SEC game Auburn-Alabama (9 million), and any World Series game (11.4 million). This past year’s CFP championship game between Michigan and Washington drew 25 million viewers on TV.
Of course, it was a different era. There were only 13 college games on TV in all of 1953. Now TV audiences are split among countless streaming services, networks and other platforms. We have a full day of choices, a glut of programming.
What circumstances led to that game being on TV in 1953? How did Skyline Conference champion Utah, a four-touchdown favorite, survive?
Legendary New York Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen did the broadcast with future New York Mets broadcaster Lindsey Nelson. What did their press pass look like that day, the first live TV broadcast of a game in the Rocky Mountains?
This is just one of hundreds of historical nuggets found in a new book, “100 Years of BYU Football,” published by Deseret Book this summer.
It’s a regular encyclopedia of well-researched stories and behind-the-scenes glimpses of players, games, coaches and events, and includes a massive collection of 450 photographs, many of which few have seen.
Authors Duff Tittle and Brett Pyne had access to the Rolodex, microfilm, clips and a myriad of anecdotes for more than four years of research and 18 months of intense writing. It will fast become a go-to book of knowledge and reference for everything BYU football.
Both natives of Orem, Tittle has dabbled as a historian and is passionate about collecting and following strands of information. He spearheaded the collections in Legacy Hall in the Student-Athlete Building on BYU’s campus and is currently senior assistant athletic director for broadcast relations. Tittle’s focus of the shared project was the ancient stuff plus the LaVell Edwards era.
Pyne has worked the past two decades as a gatekeeper for BYU basketball and football media relations. A meticulous detail person, Pyne’s curiosity for angles and sources is uncanny. His part of the work is 2000 to the present, the post-Edwards era, including playing football as an independent.
In 1953, NBC renewed its contract with the NCAA to broadcast college football. There were only 13 games televised on the planet that year. This book has dug out from the archives memos from NBC and its sponsor to BYU and Utah, details and expressions leading up to that game.
NBC combed over the country for what they thought would bring the greatest value to the growing TV audience and sponsor, General Motors. The annual BYU-Utah game made the list, in part because of the magnificent settings in the mountains.
What NBC got is what future TV broadcasts of this rivalry would receive, an intensely fought football game that went down to the final plays. It was the beginning of a long and valued relationship with TV partners who knew they could cash in with the drama of this event.
The 7-2 Utes had already clinched the conference title. BYU was coming off five straight losses and had won only two games that season. This Thanksgiving Day weekend game was usually an affair between Utah and Utah State, but the NBC deal moved BYU into that slot to accommodate — you got it — ratings.
BYU surprised Utah by installing some of Utah’s own plays, including a shovel pass used by then-coach Jack Curtice. One member of BYU’s staff was Dave Crowton, the father of Gary Crowton, who was given the head coaching job at BYU after Edwards retired in 2000.
“Down 33-26 with just a few minutes remaining in the game, BYU went on an 80-yard drive that culminated in a third-and-two touchdown pass from Cougar quarterback Henry West to wide receiver Phil Oyler to cut the Utah lead to only one point with less than two minutes to play,” writes Tittle.
“On the PAT, BYU placeholder LaVon Saterfield was tackled trying for the extra-point attempt after recovering a wide snap from center.”
How many times in modern history has this game come down to plays like this?
Well, look no further than a few weeks ago in Rice-Eccles Stadium when BYU eked out a one-point win and the entire country got a peek at the passion when Utah AD Mark Harlan declared the game was stolen.
We’ve seen moments like this over and over again throughout this series.
How many times in modern history has this game come down to plays like this?
Remember a Taysom Hill failure to score from the goal line in Rice-Eccles Stadium, an Andrew George touchdown catch in double coverage in overtime in Provo, an interception turned fumble, the John Beck to Jonny Harline touchdown with no time left, Chris Yergensen’s 55-yard field goal in Provo to give Ron McBride his first win over Edwards. They are lined up like movie scripts.
The book breaks down events like that lofty game in 1953, a historic day for both teams under the TV lights.
Tittle and Pyne have chased down the key players of some of the biggest games, most crucial series and memorable moments of the past 100 years. They interviewed those involved and go into the details of what they were thinking, what was supposed to transpire, and how it all unfolded.
The value in this work is, well, the work.
Somebody had to do it and these guys were lucky enough to dive deep where nobody’s gone before and then codex it all in an impressive work that belongs on the shelves of anyone serious about learning how BYU got from there to being a member of the Big 12.
“100 Years of BYU Football” by Duff Tittle and Brett Pyne, Deseret Book, 261 pages.
