Utah, BYU football: 60-year vets of rivalry love big-game drama
Or have they wanted their teams to win?
In a rivalry as good as BYU-Utah has become, it's sometimes hard to tell.
Smoot and Mills were watching the Y. play the U. long before LaVell Edwards Stadium and Rice-Eccles Stadium were built. They know way more about this rivalry than the coaches, the players and the sportswriters because they've been there, year after year, game after game.
Who better to tell us what this year's game means, and who will win?
Smoot is one of 367 people who've had BYU football season tickets since 1964, which is as far back as the school's records go, but he started going to games as a 14-year-old Provo boy in 1948.
Two years later, Mills, a Salt Lake City kid, became a U. student. He's been going to games ever since and has had season tickets most years.
"I'm afraid this one is going to be the same and go down to the last few minutes," Mills said.
Close games weren't always part of the fun.
"Playing BYU, people said, was just like playing a high school," Mills said. "The big game was Utah State University, usually on Thanksgiving. Generally, we beat BYU."
"Generally" is being generous. BYU only won the game twice from 1922 through 1964. Cougar fans were happy when the game finished in a tie, which happened four times.
"We used to count moral victories," Smoot said. "In 1953 on Thanksgiving, we lost 33-32. We felt like that was a moral victory, and that wasn't even a tie."
Smoot doesn't accept moral victories anymore, because of one man. "There isn't such a thing anymore, not after LaVell."
That's right, Mills said. "All of a sudden, along comes LaVell Edwards and, boy, did things change."
BYU dominated for most of the Hall of Fame coach's tenure. Now the teams stand toe-to-toe most years and slug it out. And this year's version, with both teams in the top 14 of the Bowl Championship Series rankings, may mean more than all that came before.
Recent comments
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I have been watching BYU & Utah and Utah State...
William McGuire | Dec. 30, 2008 at 4:01 p.m.
I think that the only way BYU wins is if Utah's offense makes...
Interesting game | Nov. 21, 2008 at 10:21 p.m.
Smooty my old friend, obviously BYU will throw the ball, they are a...
Oh gee | Nov. 21, 2008 at 8:47 p.m.
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