CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

The Holy War

BYU vs. Utah

97 of their 103 meetings are on file: they first met in 1896, and the earliest on file is 1922; officially, Utah leads 62–⁠37–⁠4; as played, 59–⁠34–⁠4 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Utah 7–⁠3, and BYU has won the last 3. The official count covers every meeting.

Scheduled 2027 at BYU. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).

Official series
Utah leads 62–⁠37–⁠4
BYU wins on file
34
Utah wins on file
59
Ties
4
Earliest on file
1922 first met 1896
Longest streak
9 Utah
Current streak
3 BYU
Last 10 meetings
Utah 7–⁠3
Most recent
2025

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1920s0–⁠7–⁠1
1930s0–⁠9–⁠1
1940s1–⁠5–⁠1
1950s1–⁠8–⁠1
1960s3–⁠7
1970s7–⁠3
1980s9–⁠1
1990s5–⁠5
2000s5–⁠5
2010s0–⁠9
2020s3–⁠0
Both ranked
4 meetings: BYU 2, Utah 2
Average margin
16.3 points; 36 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At BYU
17–⁠21–⁠1 BYU’s record at home
At Utah
37–⁠17–⁠3 Utah’s record at home
Neutral sites
0–⁠1 BYU first
Shutouts
16

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. BYU’s biggest win1980: BYU 56, Utah 6by 50 points
  2. Utah’s biggest win1922: Utah 49, BYU 0by 49 points
  3. Upset1973: BYU 46, Utah 22BYU had a 27% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1942: BYU 12, Utah 7BYU had a 28% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1958: BYU 14, Utah 7BYU had a 31% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  6. Ranked showdown2008: Utah 48, BYU 24No. 16 BYU at No. 8 Utah
  7. Ranked showdown2025: BYU 24, Utah 21No. 23 Utah at No. 15 BYU
  8. Ranked showdown2009: BYU 26, Utah 23No. 22 Utah at No. 18 BYU

Coach against coach

YearsBYUSeriesUtah
1922–⁠1924Alvin Twitchell0–⁠3Thomas Fitzpatrick
1925–⁠1927C.J. Hart0–⁠3Ike Armstrong
1928–⁠1936Ott Romney0–⁠8–⁠1Ike Armstrong
1937–⁠1948Edwin Kimball0–⁠6–⁠2Ike Armstrong
1950–⁠1955Charles Atkinson0–⁠5–⁠1Jack Curtice
1961–⁠1963Hal Mitchell0–⁠3Ray Nagel
1968–⁠1971Tommy Hudspeth0–⁠4Bill Meek
1974–⁠1976LaVell Edwards3–⁠0Tom Lovat
1977–⁠1981LaVell Edwards4–⁠1Wayne Howard
1982–⁠1984LaVell Edwards3–⁠0Chuck Stobart
1985–⁠1989LaVell Edwards4–⁠1Jim Fassel
1990–⁠2000LaVell Edwards6–⁠5Ron McBride
2005–⁠2015Bronco Mendenhall3–⁠7Kyle Whittingham
2016–⁠2025Kalani Sitake3–⁠4Kyle Whittingham

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from BYU’s side (Twitchell 0–⁠3 against Fitzpatrick). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of BYU and Utah, 1922 on13001500170019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

John Beck BYU28 of 43, 375 yards, 4 TD2006 Passing

Named most valuable

Utah DB Tevin Carter2015

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on). Most valuable: as the games’ Wikipedia articles name them (CC BY-SA).

From the newspapers

  • The Evening star's story of the 1927 game: College Foot Ball Results Wittenburg, 8; Ohio Wesleyan. Z. Washington University, Is; Grinneil, ! Oklahoma. rs; Kansas, Z.

    1927 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Nov 13, 1927

  • The Evening star's story of the 1933 game: Utah Not So Impressive.

    1933 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Oct 16, 1933

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1940 game: ;2;i|'''N1E{0 3024

    1940 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Oct 7, 1940

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1946 game: FOOTBALL . SCORES

    1946 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Oct 14, 1946

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1947 game: Gsy1o FOOTBALL \ SCORES

    1947 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Oct 13, 1947

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

On television

ESPN’s College GameDay has broadcast from this game once: 2004.

2025FOX2.0 million viewers

College GameDay’s sites from Wikipedia’s list of its locations (CC BY-SA). Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.

Every game

Nov 7, 2026BYU at Utah upcomingat Utah
Oct 18, 202515BYU 24, 23Utah 21at BYU
Nov 9, 20249BYU 22, Utah 21at Utah
Sep 11, 2021BYU 26, 21Utah 17at BYU
Aug 29, 201914Utah 30, BYU 12at BYU
Nov 24, 201818Utah 35, BYU 27at Utah
Sep 9, 2017Utah 19, BYU 13at BYU
Sep 10, 2016Utah 20, BYU 19at Utah
Dec 19, 201520Utah 35, BYU 28Sam Boyd StadiumLas Vegas Bowl
Sep 21, 2013Utah 20, BYU 13at BYU
Sep 15, 2012Utah 24, 25BYU 21at Utah
Sep 17, 2011Utah 54, BYU 10at BYU
Nov 27, 201023Utah 17, BYU 16at Utah
Nov 28, 200918BYU 26, 22Utah 23at BYU
Nov 22, 20088Utah 48, 16BYU 24at Utah
Nov 24, 200723BYU 17, Utah 10at BYU
Nov 25, 200621BYU 33, Utah 31at Utah
Nov 19, 2005Utah 41, BYU 34at BYU
Nov 20, 20045Utah 52, BYU 21at Utah
Nov 22, 2003Utah 3, BYU 0at BYU
Nov 23, 2002Utah 13, BYU 6at Utah
Nov 17, 20018BYU 24, Utah 21at BYU
Nov 24, 2000BYU 34, Utah 27at Utah
Nov 20, 1999Utah 20, 19BYU 17at BYU
Nov 21, 1998BYU 26, Utah 24at Utah
Nov 22, 1997Utah 20, BYU 14at BYU
Nov 23, 19968BYU 37, Utah 17at Utah
Nov 18, 1995Utah 34, BYU 17at BYU
Nov 19, 199421Utah 34, 20BYU 31at Utah
Nov 20, 1993Utah 34, BYU 31at BYU
Nov 21, 1992BYU 31, Utah 22at Utah
Nov 23, 1991BYU 48, Utah 17at BYU
Nov 17, 19905BYU 45, Utah 22at Utah
Nov 18, 198921BYU 70, Utah 31at BYU
Nov 19, 1988Utah 57, BYU 28at Utah
Nov 21, 1987BYU 21, Utah 18at BYU
Nov 22, 1986BYU 35, Utah 21at Utah
Nov 23, 198511BYU 38, Utah 28at BYU
Nov 17, 19843BYU 24, Utah 14at Utah
Nov 19, 19839BYU 55, Utah 7at BYU
Nov 20, 1982BYU 17, Utah 12at Utah
Nov 21, 198118BYU 56, Utah 28at BYU
Nov 22, 198013BYU 56, Utah 6at Utah
Nov 17, 197910BYU 27, Utah 0at BYU
Nov 18, 1978Utah 23, BYU 22at Utah
Nov 5, 197714BYU 38, Utah 8at BYU
Nov 20, 1976BYU 34, Utah 12at Utah
Nov 15, 1975BYU 51, Utah 20at BYU
Nov 23, 1974BYU 48, Utah 20at BYU
Nov 24, 1973BYU 46, Utah 22at Utah
Nov 18, 1972BYU 16, Utah 7at Utah
Nov 20, 1971Utah 17, BYU 15at BYU
Nov 21, 1970Utah 14, BYU 13at Utah
Nov 22, 1969Utah 16, BYU 6at BYU
Nov 2, 1968Utah 30, BYU 21at Utah
Oct 28, 1967BYU 17, Utah 13at BYU
Nov 12, 1966BYU 35, Utah 13at Utah
Nov 6, 1965BYU 25, Utah 20at BYU
Nov 7, 1964Utah 47, BYU 13at Utah
Oct 12, 1963Utah 15, BYU 6at Utah
Oct 13, 1962Utah 35, BYU 20at Utah
Oct 14, 1961Utah 21, BYU 20at Utah
Oct 7, 1960Utah 17, BYU 0at Utah
Oct 9, 1959Utah 20, BYU 8at Utah
Sep 27, 1958BYU 14, Utah 7at Utah
Oct 12, 1957Utah 27, BYU 0at Utah
Oct 5, 1956Utah 41, BYU 6at BYU
Oct 8, 1955Utah 41, BYU 9at Utah
Oct 9, 1954Utah 12, BYU 7at BYU
Nov 26, 1953Utah 33, BYU 32at Utah
Oct 11, 1952Utah 34, BYU 6at Utah
Oct 6, 1951Utah 7, BYU 6at Utah
Oct 7, 1950BYU 28, Utah 28at BYU
Oct 8, 1949Utah 38, BYU 0at Utah
Oct 9, 1948Utah 30, BYU 0at BYU
Oct 11, 1947Utah 28, BYU 6at Utah
Oct 12, 1946Utah 35, BYU 6at BYU
Oct 10, 1942BYU 12, Utah 7at Utah
Oct 18, 1941Utah 6, BYU 6at Utah
Oct 5, 1940Utah 12, BYU 6at Utah
Oct 14, 1939Utah 35, BYU 13at BYU
Oct 15, 1938Utah 7, BYU 7at Utah
Oct 2, 1937Utah 14, BYU 0at Utah
Oct 31, 1936Utah 18, BYU 0at Utah
Nov 2, 1935Utah 32, BYU 0at BYU
Oct 13, 1934Utah 43, BYU 0at Utah
Oct 14, 1933Utah 21, BYU 6at Utah
Oct 15, 1932Utah 29, BYU 0at Utah
Oct 17, 1931Utah 43, BYU 0at Utah
Oct 18, 1930Utah 34, BYU 7at Utah
Nov 2, 1929Utah 45, BYU 13at Utah
Nov 17, 1928Utah 0, BYU 0at Utah
Nov 12, 1927Utah 20, BYU 0at BYU
Nov 13, 1926Utah 40, BYU 7at Utah
Oct 31, 1925Utah 27, BYU 0at BYU
Oct 25, 1924Utah 35, BYU 6at Utah
Oct 27, 1923Utah 15, BYU 0at BYU
Oct 14, 1922Utah 49, BYU 0at Utah

Every game is listed as played on the field.