The rivalry between BYU and Utah is scattered over a century. The two programs are preparing for their 97th meeting on Saturday in Provo (6 p.m MDT, Fox), and while there have been some true classics through the years, Utah radio analyst and former quarterback Scott Mitchell (1987-89) contends that this one tops the previous 96.
“Both of these teams are in Power Four conferences and competing for a conference championship to go to the College Football Playoff,” Mitchell told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “That has never happened before in the state of Utah.”
The BYU-Utah contest has always been a big game, and over the decades together in the WAC and Mountain West, the battles were showcased as regular-season finales and often with championship implications.
The 12-year separation, when BYU went independent and Utah joined the Pac-12, didn’t end the rivalry, but it certainly changed the ramifications. After the collapse of the Pac-12 in 2023, the Big 12 grafted in the Utes with Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State, and the majesty of BYU-Utah was restored.
Saturday is not a regular-season finale — in fact, it’s the first time BYU and Utah have faced each other in October in 58 years — but it could have major season-ending implications, which is why Mitchell sees it as a game like none of the others.
“In my opinion, this is the biggest game in the rivalry,” said Mitchell, Utah’s all-time leader in passing yards (8,981) and touchdowns (69). “It’s what I’ve always talked about from the minute both teams got into the same conference. This is what’s great for football in the state of Utah.”
Last year at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Will Ferrin kicked a 44-yard field goal in the final seconds to give BYU a 22-21 victory and keep the Cougars undefeated (9-0) and in the hunt for the Big 12 championship game. The loss dropped Utah to 1-5.
“Rivalries are really great when it hurts really bad when you lose,” Mitchell said. “It’s bad enough, like last year when Utah was not very good and lost, but to have something on the line — that’s when rivalries get really intense. The whole spectacle becomes bigger when something really big is on the line.”
Running game
In a game decorated by the unexpected, including the fourth-and-18 to Austin Collie, the “doink” by Ryan Kaneshiro, Jonny Harline being left open, Taysom Hill getting stuffed at the goal line and even last year’s improbable drive and Ferrin field goal, Mitchell sees one specific outlier for Saturday.
“It’s really about who controls the line of scrimmage,” he said. “I think it’s about who can stop the run and who can run the football. That’s going to be the difference maker in this game.”
Utah ranks first in the Big 12 in rushing offense, 10 yards better than No. 2 BYU, but the Cougars feature the league’s top runner — LJ Martin (108.7 yards per game). Defensively, BYU is No. 2 against the run (104.2) and Utah is No. 8 (139.8).
“It’s really about who controls the line of scrimmage. I think it’s about who can stop the run and who can run the football. That’s going to be the difference maker in this game.”
— former Utah QB Scott Mitchell
“There is a very unique way about how both of these teams stop the run and how they run the football with the quarterbacks playing into that,” Mitchell said. “They are both really good at it.”
Devon Dampier, a 5-foot-11, 204-pound junior, leads the Utes in rushing with 378 yards and five touchdowns. BYU’s Bear Bachmeier, a 6-2, 230-pound freshman, has 265 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
Saturday will be the first taste of the rivalry for both.
Whittingham’s last stand?
Saturday could also be the last time Kyle Whittingham coaches against his alma mater. BYU’s 1981 WAC Defensive Player of the Year is 11-5 against the Cougars over an impressive 21-year reign at Utah. Mitchell believes this will be Whittingham’s last blast in the rivalry.
“Absolutely! I really do,” he said. “He hasn’t said that. I talk to Kyle a lot and have for years and he’s never said, ‘Yeah, this is the end for me.’ He did say, ‘Look, I’m not going to be like my dad. I’m not going to be like LaVell. I’m not going to coach forever.’
“I believe him, but he also said, ‘I couldn’t go out this way,’ with the way the season ended last year (5-7) and that just told me — he’s going out (this year).”
Whittingham is a living juxtaposition for BYU fans. They loved him when he suited up for the Cougars, and they have struggled watching him and his teams succeed so significantly (and joyfully) against BYU.
“If I was to describe Kyle, we are not best friends or anything, but he’s kind of a guy who is like — ‘What e’er thou art, act well thy part’ and I think that is what he would want (BYU fans) to remember (about him),” Mitchell said. “When he was at BYU, he gave his heart and soul and every part of himself, and he wants people at Utah to feel the same way.
“He plants himself in the moment and he makes the most of the moment and he moves on to the next thing. When he was at BYU, he was all BYU. At Utah, he’s been all Utah, and when he goes out, he’ll be all Kyle Whittingham.”
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.