Rich Evans knows all about the Utah-BYU rivalry. Having observed it for 30-odd years, first as a student at BYU, later as a sports writer for the Deseret Morning News and currently as an adviser for BYU's student newspaper, Evans has seen it all.

So what does he know? Well, for starters, as far as national prestige goes, it's no Michigan-Ohio State or Auburn-Alabama. On a national scale, it's a nice little rivalry, but Oklahoma-Texas it's not.

And there's this: It's the players, not the fans, who really seem to get it. When players circle the game on their calendars in July, it has less to do with cultural baggage than with dislodging teeth. You know, the way it should be.

In terms of fan intensity, however, Evans admits that few rivalries across the country, can — ahem — rival it.

"Anyone who's aware of it, who's been here, they know how intense it is (with the fans)," he says. "I don't know that it gets any more intense anywhere in the country."

Not that that's such a good thing. Because unlike other storied rivalries, in Utah, religion and culture always find their way into the proverbial huddle.

"It's not a healthy rivalry," Evans says. "If it was just about football, then I'd say fine. But it's not, and I know it's not. And anyone who says it is, is just kidding themselves."

Evans remembers covering the Utah-BYU game from the sidelines back in 1988, the year Scott Mitchell and Eddie Johnson helped the Utes run roughshod over the Cougars at Rice-Eccles Stadium, ending almost a decade of Utah futility.

The bitter diatribe spewed from Utah fans as BYU players exited the field — this after a Ute victory, mind you — isn't lost on Evans, even though he's quick to point out that Utah fans hardly have a monopoly on boorish behavior.

These days, Evans spends his time shaping aspiring journalists as editorial manager at the Daily Universe. He recently encouraged his students to tackle a story exploring the origins of the misguided expression "The Holy War" — a term referencing the rivalry that gets lobbed around like a Nerf on a playground.

"I'd like to know who started that (expression)," Evans says. "I mean really, Holy War? You're talking about the crusades, which were hardly a positive event. And now people are trying to lay that on a football game.

"It's football for heaven's sake."

---

E-mail: kcondon@desnews.com