BYU vs. Utah State
BYU and Utah State first met in 1922 and have played 91 times; BYU leads the series 51–37–3. Over the last 10 meetings it’s BYU 7–3, and BYU has won the last 3. The winner takes home the Old Wagon Wheel. BYU holds it. Share
- BYU wins
- 51
- Utah State wins
- 37
- Ties
- 3
- First meeting
- 1922
- Longest streak
- 10 BYU
- Current streak
- 3 BYU
- Last 10 meetings
- BYU 7–3
- Most recent
- 2022
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 1–6–1 | ||||||||||
| 1930s | 4–5–1 | ||||||||||
| 1940s | 3–3–1 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 5–5 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 3–7 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 5–5 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | 9–1 | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 7–1 | ||||||||||
| 2000s | 6–0 | ||||||||||
| 2010s | 6–4 | ||||||||||
| 2020s | 2–0 |
- Average margin
- 18.1 points; 23 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At BYU
- 32–18–1 BYU’s record at home
- At Utah State
- 19–19–2 Utah State’s record at home
- Shutouts
- 19
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
The Old Wagon Wheel
- Played for since
- —
- Held by
- BYU
Who holds it comes from the games on file: the winner of the latest regular-season meeting (bowl rematches aren’t played for it); a tie leaves it with the holder (the usual rule; the article doesn’t say). From Wikipedia’s list of rivalry games and the rivalry’s article (CC BY-SA). More on the Old Wagon Wheel.
Games that tell the story
- BYU’s biggest win1977: BYU 65, Utah State 6by 59 points
- Utah State’s biggest win1923: Utah State 40, BYU 0by 40 points
- Upset1964: BYU 28, Utah State 14BYU had a 19% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1978: Utah State 24, BYU 7Utah State had a 26% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1982: Utah State 20, BYU 17Utah State had a 27% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
Coach against coach
| Years | BYU | Series | Utah State |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922–1924 | Alvin Twitchell | 0–3 | E. Lowell Romney |
| 1925–1927 | C.J. Hart | 0–2–1 | E. Lowell Romney |
| 1928–1936 | Ott Romney | 4–5 | E. Lowell Romney |
| 1937–1948 | Edwin Kimball | 4–2–2 | E. Lowell Romney |
| 1951–1954 | Charles Atkinson | 1–3 | John Roning |
| 1956–1958 | Harold Kopp | 2–1 | Everett Faunce |
| 1964–1966 | Tommy Hudspeth | 2–1 | Tony Knap |
| 1967–1971 | Tommy Hudspeth | 2–3 | Chuck Mills |
| 1973–1975 | LaVell Edwards | 1–2 | Phil Krueger |
| 1976–1982 | LaVell Edwards | 5–2 | Bruce Snyder |
| 1983–1985 | LaVell Edwards | 3–0 | Chris Pella |
| 1986–1991 | LaVell Edwards | 6–0 | Chuck Shelton |
| 1992–1994 | LaVell Edwards | 2–1 | Charlie Weatherbie |
| 2009–2012 | Bronco Mendenhall | 3–1 | Gary Andersen |
| 2013–2015 | Bronco Mendenhall | 2–1 | Matt Wells |
| 2016–2018 | Kalani Sitake | 1–2 | Matt Wells |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from BYU’s side (Twitchell 0–3 against Romney). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.
Both programs through the years
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
| Jalen Davis Utah State | 5 tackles, 3 INT, 2 TD | 2017 Defense | |
| Tyler Allgeier BYU | 22 carries, 218 yards, 3 TD | 2021 Rushing |
Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).
From the newspapers
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.
Every game
Every game is listed as played on the field.