BYU vs Utah Rivalry History, Odds & Preview: Holy War 2026

One of the most underrated rivalries in college football history is back in Week 10, with Utah hosting BYU at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City at noon ET on Saturday, Nov. 7.

The BYU vs. Utah rivalry, aka the Holy War, will feature a new head coach for the first time in a decade as Morgan Scalley leads the Utes as 2.5-point favorites in a ranked showdown between these two programs.

However, Scalley is familiar with this rivalry, having coached and played in it, but can he end Utah's losing streak, or will BYU's recent dominance make the Cougars the popular pick among college football analysts?

BYU vs Utah rivalry history: Holy War

BYU	Category	Utah
34	Wins	59
9 (1979-1987)	Longest win streak	9 (1929-1937)
50 (1980)	Largest margin of victory	49 (1922)
649-449-28 (.589)	Program record	758-494-32 (.603)
1 (1)	Claimed national titles (recognized)	0 (0)
23	Conference championships	28
1	Heisman winners	0
14	Consensus All-Americans	13
314	Weeks in the AP Poll	202
4	Weeks at No. 1	0
43 (19-22-1)	Bowl games (record)	27 (18-9)
155	NFL draft picks	181
12	First-round picks	12

There's some controversy around when the Holy War began; BYU says the first game wasn't played until 1922, but if you ask Utah, the rivalry began in 1896. Either way, this rivalry is one of the most interesting in college football because of the runs of dominance, the hatred, the legendary coaches, and the religious wrinkle, hence the nickname.

According to Utah, the first Holy War was played on April 6, 1896, which the Utes won 12-4 in Salt Lake City. They then won again later that year, 6-0, when the two met again on Nov. 14, 1896. They played a third time that year, again, this is only according to Utah, on Dec. 5, 1896, when BYU won its first game in the rivalry, 8-6.

There were three more games between 1897 and 1898, two Cougars wins and a Utes win, that BYU does not recognize. In 1922, the first Holy War recognized by both programs was played, a 5-0 Utah win that began an impressive winning streak for the Utes.

From 1922 until 1941, Utah never lost to BYU, going 17-0-3. BYU won just one Holy War between 1922 and 1942, with the rivalry being interrupted from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II. When the Holy War returned in 1946, Utah returned to dominating it. From 1946 to 1971, the Utes were 21-4-1 in the Holy War.

In 1972, everything changed, and it turned BYU vs. Utah from a yearly in-state game into a true rivalry with LaVell Edwards moving into BYU's head coaching role after spending a decade as an assistant. The College Football Hall of Fame coach immediately turned BYU around, winning 19 of 21 Holy Wars from 1972 to 1992, and taking home a national championship in 1984.

Knowing it needed to step it up as BYU rose to a national power under Edwards in the 1980s, Utah hired Ron McBride in 1990. After losing his first three Holy Wars to BYU, McBride won three in a row and added meaning back to a rivalry that had been so one-sided for so long.

From McBride to Urban Meyer to Kyle Whittingham (who played for Edwards at BYU), Utah won 19 of 26 games against BYU from 1993 to 2019.

However, former Cougars fullback Kilani Sitake was named head coach in 2016, and after years of building, he's riding a Holy War winning streak of his own, with BYU winning its last three games against Utah.

So while these programs aren't blue bloods and have limited national success, this is one of college football's best rivalries. 

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History of the BYU vs Utah rivalry

When did the BYU vs Utah rivalry start?

If you ask Utah, the Holy War began in 1896 when the Utes beat the Cougars, 12-4, in Salt Lake City. The programs would play six times between 1896 and 1898, splitting the series 3-3. However, BYU doesn't acknowledge those first six games.

Before 1903, BYU was known as BYA, Brigham Young Academy, but BYA discontinued its football program in 1900 after the death of a player. As a result, BYU doesn't count those six games, nor does it count BYA's football history.

BYU reinstated its football program in 1922 and recognizes its first game against Utah that season as the first Holy War. The Utes won the game 49-0, the largest margin of victory for Utah in the Holy War.

Why is it called the Holy War?

The BYU vs. Utah rivalry wasn't always known as the Holy War, and it's actually a relatively new rivalry game nickname, given how many decades these two programs have played. The Holy War nickname began in the 1990s after local sports radio began referring to the game as such. 

That nickname continued picking up steam over the years and became nationally recognized in the mid-2000s when the BYU vs. Utah rivalry game often led to the winner being crowned the champion of the Mountain West, when both programs were still members. 

A main reason for the name is because of the state of Utah's strong ties to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church). BYU is owned by the LDS Church, and 98% of its student population belongs to the church. While Utah also has a large LDS student population, it's much more religiously diverse as a secular public university.

The Holy War nickname is considered one of the best rivalry game nicknames in all of sports.

What is the Beehive Boot?

The Beehive Boot, named for the state of Utah's nickname (the Beehive State), is awarded to the top FBS football program in the state of Utah.

Technically, Utah State is also involved in competition for the Beehive Boot, with it being awarded each season to the school in Utah with the best record against its in-state FBS opponents. However, Utah State rarely plays BYU and Utah anymore, and therefore the award is not regularly or formally awarded anymore.

It was last awarded in 2021 to BYU, but hasn't been regularly dished out since 2016. BYU leads the Beehive Boot series, winning it 23 times while Utah has won it 15 times and Utah State has prevailed nine times.

The boot itself is over 100 years old and began being used as a football trophy in 1971 when Dave Schulthess, BYU's sports information director at the time, came up with the idea. The boot is a 19th-century pioneer leather boot that was donated by Tom Beasley, a Cache Valley antique dealer.

Best moments in the BYU vs Utah rivalry

Yergensen's game-winner (1993)

Heading into the 1993 Holy War, BYU had won 19 of its previous 21 games against Utah, including four straight. Utah head coach Ron McBride had started his tenure with three straight losses to LaVell Edwards, but in 1993, the Utes won in Provo for the first time in 22 seasons.

Kicker Chris Yergensen hit a 55-yard game-winning field goal with 25 seconds left to defeat the Cougars 34-31. The victory disrupted BYU's Holy War dominance, and Utah began a mini streak of its own, winning the next three, including in 1994 when both teams were ranked for the first time.

The BCS bowl (2004)

The game itself was somewhat anticlimactic, with Utah beating BYU 52-21, but the game had arguably the highest stakes in the rivalry's history. Utah entered undefeated, and the win clinched a Fiesta Bowl bid for a Utes program that became the first non-BCS team to play in a BCS bowl.

At the time, Utah was still in the Mountain West, and it proved to the rest of the country that non-BCS (Power conference) schools could compete at the highest level. Urban Meyer's Utes finished the season 12-0 by defeating Pitt 35-7 in the Fiesta Bowl.

The first Holy War in the Big 12 (2024)

The Holy War wasn't always played annually once these teams left the Mountain West, with BYU being an independent from 2011 to 2022 after leaving the Mountain West in 2010 and Utah leaving the Mountain West for the old Pac-12 in 2010.

But in 2023, BYU joined the Big 12, and when the Pac-12 began to fall apart, Utah made the move to join its rival in the Big 12.

This set the Holy War up to be played annually once again, and in 2024, the rivals played for the first time as Big 12 opponents (and for the first time since 2021). The game lived up to the hype with Cougars kicker Will Ferrin hitting a 44-yard field goal with four seconds left to win.

Utah athletic director Mark Harlan was so angry about the loss that he publicly criticized officials and was fined $40,000 by the Big 12.

Key figures in the BYU vs Utah rivalry

LaVell Edwards, BYU

One of the greatest coaches in college football history and credited with modernizing football by pioneering a pass-heavy, up-tempo attack that revolutionized the game, Edwards is the most important figure to ever be involved in the Holy War.

BYU was uncompetitive for decades against Utah until Edwards took over as head coach in 1972. Before Edwards, the Cougars won just eight times against Utah from 1896 to 1971. During Edwards' tenure, BYU beat Utah 19 times, won a national championship (1984), and produced a Heisman winner (1990).

Kyle Whittingham, Utah

The winningest coach in Utah history, Kyle Whittingham actually played in the Holy War for the other side. Whittingham was a linebacker for BYU under Edwards and beat Utah three times as a player.

He began his coaching career at BYU too, but worked at Utah under McBride and Meyer as defensive coordinator for a decade before taking the reins from Meyer when he left for Florida. From 2005 to 2025, Whittingham built on McBride and Meyer's success and went 11-6 against BYU.

Whittingham beat the Cougars nine straight times from 2010 to 2019. 

Ty Detmer, BYU

One of the most improbable Heisman winners in college football history, Ty Detmer is one of the few winners who didn't play for a program in a major conference.

The Cougars' star QB in Edward's pass-heavy offense, Detmer won the Heisman in 1990, was a two-time consensus All-American, and twice led the country in passing yards.

Beyond having his No. 14 retired by BYU, he also hammered Utah in the Holy War in three straight seasons. From 1989 to 1991, BYU outscored Utah 163 to 70 with Detmer at QB.

Ron McBride, Utah

Utah had no answer for BYU for two decades; that was until McBride was named head coach in 1990. McBride, who previously coached at Utah from 1977 to 1982 as offensive coordinator and then again from 1985 to 1986 as offensive line coach, laid the groundwork for the program we see today.

It took him a few years, but by his fourth season, he beat Edwards and BYU, and went 5-6 against Edwards. But he also brought in Whittingham in 1994, which set up modern-day Utah to be the program it is, and he recruited current head coach Morgan Scalley to Utah as a player.

Without McBride, are Whittingham and Scalley ever the head coaches in Salt Lake City? 

Jim McMahon, BYU

BYU has had a laundry list of star quarterbacks, especially under Edwards. From Steve Young, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, to Robbie Bosco, who won the Cougars a national championship in 1984, to Detmer, who won the Heisman in 1990. But Jim McMahon came before them all.

Beyond being the coolest of the bunch, McMahon had the biggest win in the Holy War. In 1980, he beat Utah 56-6, still the largest margin of victory in the rivalry's history. The next season, he beat the Utes again, this time 56-28. McMahone twice finished top five in Heisman voting while at BYU before going on to win the Chicago Bears a Super Bowl.

Alex Smith/Morgan Scalley/Eric Weddle, Utah

To pick one player from Utah's undefeated 2004 team under Urban Meyer is nearly impossible. Utah became the first non-BCS team to win a BCS bowl that year and wholloped BYU 52-21 that season. The star of the show was QB Alex Smith, who accounted for 42 touchdowns before becoming the No. 1 pick. He beat BYU the season before too, in the lowest-scoring game in the rivalry's history, a 3-0 Utah win. 

On the defensive side of that 2004 Utah team, coordinator Kyle Whittingham had two stars in his secondary, Morgan Scalley and Eric Weddle. Before he was head coach at Utah, Scalley was the Mountain West co-Defensive Player of the Year and a second-team All-American on the 2004 team that blew out BYU. He's coached at Utah since 2007, working his way up to head coach.

Then, there's Weddle, arguably the best player in program history. He was just a sophomore on the 2004 team, but over his four years as a starter at Utah, he went 3-1 in the Holy War and was twice the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.

Biggest upsets in BYU vs Utah history

Biggest blowouts in BYU vs Utah rivalry

BYU vs Utah schedule & future matchups

The BYU vs. Utah rivalry is only scheduled through the 2027 season, but is expected to continue being a protected annual rivalry in Big 12 play once the conference finalizes its future schedule.

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