The Holy War is the Best Rivalry Nobody Talks About
Okay so I need to rant about something.
The Holy War — BYU vs Utah — is one of the best rivalries in college football and nobody outside the Mountain Time Zone talks about it. This is criminal. Absolutely criminal.
I went to the game this year. Flew out to Salt Lake City. Sat with a bunch of Utah fans because that’s the only tickets I could find. And let me tell you — the HATRED in that stadium was incredible. These people LOATHE each other.
It’s not just football. It’s cultural. It’s religious. It’s decades of built-up resentment that explodes for three hours once a year. Both fan bases have legitimate grievances. Both fan bases think the other one is insufferable. Both fan bases are probably right.
The game itself was wild. BYU won 28-21 in a game that was way closer than the score suggests. There was a fourth-quarter sequence where I thought the Utah fans around me were going to riot. Not like metaphorically. Like actually riot. Someone threw a beer at a BYU fan. Security had to get involved. It was chaos.
And the trash talk! Oh my god, the trash talk. I heard things I can’t repeat on this website. Things that would get me banned from the internet. Things that made ME uncomfortable, and I’ve been to Texas Tech-Baylor games.
Here’s why this rivalry doesn’t get national attention: it’s a non-conference game now. BYU is in the Big 12. Utah is in the Big 12. But they don’t play each other in conference play — they scheduled it as a non-conference game to preserve the rivalry. Which is great! But it means ESPN doesn’t hype it up the same way.
Also neither team is in Texas, Florida, or Ohio, so the national media just… doesn’t care. Which is stupid. But that’s how it works.
The history is insane too. There was a brawl in 2011. An actual brawl. Players throwing punches. Sidelines clearing. Suspensions everywhere. The next year’s game was so tense they had extra security.
And the stakes are always real. This year, BYU winning essentially ended Utah’s bowl hopes. You don’t think Utah fans remember that? They’re gonna remember that forever. Next year’s game is going to be even more intense.
Mike thinks I’m exaggerating. He’s never been to a Holy War. He doesn’t get it.
Mike’s note: I’ve watched plenty of Holy War games. They’re intense but I don’t think they’re as crazy as Jake makes them sound. Also he definitely got too drunk in Salt Lake and is probably misremembering half of this.
I’m not misremembering anything. That game was insane. The rivalry is insane. And more people need to know about it.
If you ever get a chance to go to a Holy War — either venue, doesn’t matter — DO IT. It’s an experience. A hostile, chaotic, potentially dangerous experience. But an experience.
— Jake