Why is BYU-Utah football rivalry called 'Holy War'? History, record between Cougars, Utes

College football is a sport defined by part by its rivalries.

There’s the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn. Oklahoma and Texas’ Red River Rivalry is an annual event. The acrimony between Michigan and Ohio State doesn’t even need any sort of clever moniker. It’s simply known as “The Game.”

This weekend, one of the sport’s more intense series will take place when No. 9 BYU and Utah meet in what’s commonly referred to as “the Holy War.”

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The circumstances entering the matchup vary greatly from what many expected entering the season, with the Utes, a preseason top-15 team in the US LBM Coaches Poll, surprisingly struggling at 4-4 overall. The Cougars, picked before the season to finish 13th in the 16-team Big 12, are undefeated and in position to be included in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.

To reach that destination, though, coach Kalani Sitake’s team will have to get through its most bitter rival.

Here’s what you need to know about the BYU-Utah “Holy War”:

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Why is the BYU-Utah rivalry called the Holy War?

There doesn’t appear to be a widely agreed-upon origin story for how “the Holy War” became the go-to label for the BYU-Utah rivalry.

In a 2019 story in the Deseret News, sports writer Dick Harmon said the expression only became popular in recent years, and notes that he first remembered hearing it on sports talk radio in Utah in the early 1990s.

The reason why it fits the game isn’t nearly as much of a mystery.

BYU is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is headquartered in Utah. While Utah is a secular, public research school, a survey conducted in 2019 by The Daily Utah Chronicle — the university’s independent student newspaper — found that approximately 36% of the university’s nearly 33,000 students at the time identified as Latter-day Saints.

That shared religious identity — and the fact that one school isn’t directly affiliated with a church — is routinely present among the fans, and sometimes even in the game itself. There’s perhaps not a more famous example of this than a quote from then-BYU wide receiver Austin Collie after a 17-10 win against Utah in 2007, a game in which he had a 49-yard catch after a 67-yard touchdown grab earlier in the game had been wiped out by a penalty.

"I wouldn't say it was lucky,” Collie said to KFAN after the game. “We executed the play well. We should have had another one (touchdown). Obviously, if you do what's right on and off the field, I think the Lord steps in and plays a part in it. Magic happens."

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BYU-Utah football series record

Even for something as straightforward as a head-to-head record, there’s some disagreement between the schools.

BYU’s historical schedules on its official website don’t go further back than 1922, shortly after the program was brought back following a two-decade absence. Utah, however, lists the rivalry’s first meeting as being in 1896, when the Utes defeated what was then known as Brigham Young Academy 12-4 and 6-0 in their two matchups.

Utah lists its record against BYU as 62-35-4. If all pre-1922 games are excluded, that record changes to 59-32-4.

The Utes have had their way in recent years, with a 9-1 record against the Cougars going back to 2010.

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BYU-Utah football rivalry

Beyond one school having a religious affiliation and the other not, it makes sense that BYU and Utah became rivals.

They’re two of the largest universities in the state and, athletically speaking, are the two most prominent, though Utah State has had its share of success and will soon be joining the reconstituted Pac-12.

Utah, located in Salt Lake City, and BYU, in nearby Provo, are separated by only about 45 miles and connected by Interstate 15.

For much of the past century, they’ve been members of the same conference, from the Rocky Mountain Conference to the Mountain States Athletic Conference to the Skyline Conference to the WAC to the Mountain West. In seven of the first 10 seasons of the Mountain West’s existence, from 1999 through 2008, either BYU or Utah won at least a share of the conference title.

In 2011, however, the two went their separate ways, with Utah joining the Pac-12 and BYU opting to become an independent program. A rivalry that had been played every season from 1946 through 2013 soon started to experience some gaps, with the Utes and Cougars not matching up in 2014, the pandemic-altered 2020 season or in either of the past two seasons. Saturday’s game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City will be the first between the two since 2021.

Now that both programs are in the Big 12, with BYU joining in 2023 and Utah in 2024, the rivalry figures to be on more certain footing from a scheduling standpoint, even in a 16-team league with only a nine-game conference schedule.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: BYU-Utah 'Holy War' name, explained: What to know