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Denver vs. Utah

Denver and Utah first met in 1903 and have played 43 times; Utah leads the series 28–⁠10–⁠5. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Utah 8–⁠2, and Utah has won the last 3.

Denver wins
10
Utah wins
28
Ties
5
First meeting
1903
Longest streak
6 Utah
Current streak
3 Utah
Last 10 meetings
Utah 8–⁠2
Most recent
1960

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1900s2–⁠4
1910s0–⁠2–⁠1
1920s0–⁠2
1930s2–⁠7–⁠1
1940s4–⁠5–⁠2
1950s2–⁠7–⁠1
1960s0–⁠1
Average margin
16.4 points; 10 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Denver
6–⁠10–⁠4 Denver’s record at home
At Utah
18–⁠4–⁠1 Utah’s record at home
Shutouts
15

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Denver’s biggest win1944: Denver 28, Utah 12by 16 points
  2. Utah’s biggest win1912: Utah 66, Denver 0by 66 points
  3. Upset1949: Denver 20, Utah 18Denver had a 22% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1955: Utah 27, Denver 7Utah had a 32% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1954: Denver 28, Utah 20Denver had a 34% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsDenverSeriesUtah
1936–⁠1938William Saunders1–⁠2Ike Armstrong
1955–⁠1957John Roning1–⁠2Jack Curtice
1958–⁠1960John Roning0–⁠3Ray Nagel

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Denver’s side (Saunders 1–⁠2 against Armstrong). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Denver and Utah, 1903 on130015001700191019201930194019501960

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.

From the newspapers

  • The Deseret evening news's story of the 1903 game: UTAH PLAYED WELL AGAINST DENVER. Strong Colorado Team Could Not Make Touchdown Won on Field Goals, ALL HALLOWS BEAT OGDEN. College Eleven Too Strong for Junction City High School Team--Won by Score Of IS to o.

    1903 · Deseret evening news, Great Salt Lake City [Utah], Nov 2, 1903

  • The Deseret evening news's story of the 1904 game: HOW DENVER TOOK DEFEAT Utah University Preparing to Cele- brate It's Victory,

    1904 · Deseret evening news, Great Salt Lake City [Utah], Oct 31, 1904

  • The Los Angeles herald's story of the 1907 game: DENVER TEAM IS COMING THIS WAY DUE OVER SALT LAKE ROUTE TODAY Hempel Accounts for Defeat in Utah Saturday by Comparing Play of Mormons and Colorado Warriors

    1907 · Los Angeles herald, Oct 14, 1907

  • The The Salt Lake herald's story of the 1908 game: DENVER DEFEATS UTAH UNIVERSITY Straight Football Too Much for Maddock'S Men - Score II to 10.

    1908 · The Salt Lake herald, Salt Lake City [Utah], Oct 11, 1908

  • The The Salt Lake tribune. (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current's story of the 1910 game: Aviation Meet Closes DENVER TEAM IS BEATEN BY UTAH Continued from Page One.

    1910 · The Salt Lake tribune. (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, Utah, Nov 13, 1910

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

Oct 22, 1960Utah 49, Denver 16at Utah
Oct 16, 1959Utah 26, Denver 12at Denver
Oct 18, 1958Utah 20, Denver 16at Utah
Oct 19, 1957Denver 12, Utah 7at Denver
Oct 13, 1956Utah 27, Denver 13at Utah
Oct 14, 1955Utah 27, Denver 7at Denver
Oct 16, 1954Denver 28, Utah 20at Utah
Oct 17, 1953Utah 40, Denver 6at Utah
Oct 18, 1952Utah 35, Denver 0at Denver
Oct 20, 1951Utah 17, Denver 14at Utah
Oct 14, 1950Denver 14, Utah 14at Denver
Oct 15, 1949Denver 20, Utah 18at Utah
Oct 16, 1948Utah 17, Denver 0at Denver
Oct 18, 1947Utah 13, Denver 7at Utah
Oct 19, 1946Denver 20, Utah 14at Denver
Nov 3, 1945Utah 33, Denver 21at Utah
Oct 12, 1945Denver 21, Utah 7at Denver
Nov 4, 1944Utah 0, Denver 0at Utah
Oct 6, 1944Denver 28, Utah 12at Denver
Oct 24, 1942Utah 21, Denver 12at Utah
Oct 25, 1941Denver 0, Utah 0at Denver
Oct 26, 1940Utah 25, Denver 14at Utah
Oct 28, 1939Denver 7, Utah 7at Denver
Oct 29, 1938Utah 21, Denver 0at Utah
Oct 23, 1937Denver 13, Utah 7at Utah
Oct 17, 1936Utah 31, Denver 6at Denver
Oct 26, 1935Utah 39, Denver 14at Utah
Oct 20, 1934Utah 7, Denver 0at Denver
Nov 18, 1933Denver 13, Utah 0at Denver
Nov 12, 1932Utah 27, Denver 0at Utah
Oct 24, 1931Utah 46, Denver 0at Denver
Oct 25, 1930Utah 59, Denver 0at Utah
Nov 6, 1926Utah 13, Denver 0at Denver
Nov 7, 1925Utah 27, Denver 0at Utah
Oct 19, 1912Utah 66, Denver 0at Utah
Oct 14, 1911Denver 0, Utah 0at Denver
Nov 12, 1910Utah 20, Denver 0at Utah
Oct 10, 1908Denver 17, Utah 15at Denver
Oct 12, 1907Utah 24, Denver 4at Utah
Oct 20, 1906Utah 24, Denver 0at Denver
Oct 21, 1905Utah 24, Denver 6at Utah
Oct 29, 1904Utah 12, Denver 0at Denver
Oct 31, 1903Denver 10, Utah 0at Utah

Every game is listed as played on the field.