The Holy War came to LaVell Edwards Stadium, and Provo was already vibrating with energy. Dating back to 1922, this rivalry remains one of the fiercest in college football and one of the biggest Big 12 matchups of the week. For those less familiar with the history, former Utah HC Urban Meyer’s intensity helped define the rivalry. During his tenure at Utah, Meyer banned blue pens and markers from the football offices, covered every visible “Y” around the facility, and instructed his players to never refer to BYU by name, only as “the team down south.” Naturally, when Meyer appeared on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show in Provo, the BYU crowd responded accordingly.

Meyer was greeted with a chorus of boos from the BYU crowd. The jeers echoed across the stadium each time Meyer appeared on camera or attempted to speak. The former Utes coach took it all in stride, but the noise grew louder. The incident sparked conversation online about sportsmanship and the deep-rooted tension between BYU and Utah fans. For many Cougars fans, the animosity traces back to Meyer’s stint at Utah from 2003 to 2004. They claim Meyer’s tenure shifted the rivalry’s tone from civil to ugly and hateful.

BYU stays atop the conference table with a 7-0 winning streak and is currently ranked 15th in the AP poll. They beat out Utah 24-21. The Utes are now 5-2, and sure to drop out of the AP Top 25. In an ironic twist, even though BYU ranked high, Utah was listed as a 3.5-point favorite on the Cougars’ field. While the crew members chose their picks, Meyer predicted a 32-24 win for Utah, and four out of six crew members picked Utah as the favorite, justifying the odds. If only they had more faith in the Cougars. For Meyer, it is still understandable.

Meyer served as Utah’s coach from 2003 to 2004. In both seasons, the Utes attained major success. Before Meyer arrived at Utah, the program had only eight wins in the previous 31 games. In his first year, Utah defeated BYU by 3-0, ending BYU’s scoring streak at 361 straight games. He also won the MVC title that year for Utah with a 10-2 record. In the second year, he led the team to a 12-0 win, keeping Utah on top against BYU. Despite the disrespect, every year, Meyer barely misses the BYU-Utah clash.

Utah was seeking revenge for BYU’s controversial win last year

Last year, when Utah hosted BYU at Rice-Eccles Stadium, they lost 21-22 in a rather controversial manner. Utah’s early dominance in the second quarter almost secured its win until a series of calls went against the Utes. This included a controversial pass interference call nullifying a fourth-down sack of BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff. BYU’s Will Ferrin then scored a 44-yard goal, as time expired.

Utah athletic director Mark Harlan protested, claiming that the game was “stolen” from them. On the other hand, the frustrated HC Whittingham kicked a chair as he left. This gave BYU back-to-back wins against the Utes.

Taking a look at this historical rivalry, before this game, both teams had played 96 times, in which Utah leads with a 59-33-4 record. This game is expected to be the most-watched rivalry game between the two, breaking the previous year’s record of 2.1M views. But it looks like the Utes are worse off than the analysts expected, and the Cougars under their young QB are surging through the conference.