The Holy War is the name given to the American college football rivalry game played by the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars and the University of Utah (U of U) Utes, nearly annually. It is part of the larger BYU–Utah sports rivalry. In this context, the term "Holy War" refers to the fact that BYU is owned and administered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) with a 98% LDS student population and the U of U is a secular, public university, which has a substantial minority LDS student population but is much more religiously and culturally diverse. Currently, the U of U president and head football coach are Latter-day Saints.

The event is part of a three-way rivalry among Division I FBS universities from the state of Utah: BYU, U of U, and Utah State. The winner of the series wins a trophy known as the Beehive Boot.

Both teams played in the same conference from 1922 to 2010, most recently in the Western Athletic Conference (1962–1997) and the Mountain West Conference (MW) (1998–2010). During the MW years, the Holy War was often the deciding game of the conference title. Despite Utah moving to the Pac-12 Conference in 2011 and BYU becoming an independent the same year, the two universities agreed to maintain their annually scheduled game. The series was briefly interrupted in 2014 and 2015 for Utah to play a home-and-home series with Michigan — the first time the series had been interrupted since 1943 to 1945, when BYU did not field a team due to World War II. The two-year hiatus was unexpectedly cut short when the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl pitted BYU against Utah, creating the "Holy War in Sin City" in the postseason. Games had later been scheduled as non-conference matchups until 2028, with another interruption in 2022 and 2023 for Utah to play a home series with Florida.

In 2024, the rivalry became a conference matchup again after both teams joined the Big 12 Conference (BYU in 2023 and Utah in 2024).

Origin Origin of the term 'Holy War' While the Holy War is often used to describe the BYU-Utah rivalry, the phrase wasn't used in connection with the rivalry until the 1990s when local sports talk radio hosts began coining the term. Prior to this, the Holy War was used in local media to describe the occasional matchup between BYU and Notre Dame. The term became widely used locally and nationally from 2003 to 2008, when the winner of the game simultaneously became the MWC champion, often with nationwide acclaim.

Rivalry components Several components make the Holy War particularly fierce. The U of U and BYU are two of the biggest colleges in the state of Utah. As the name of the rivalry implies, religion is a large component of the rivalry. The U of U has a large Latter-day Saint student population and BYU is owned by the LDS Church, with its student population being almost entirely church members. The long length of rivalry is also a major element.

Disputed origin The two schools disagree on when the first game in the series was played. Utah claims the first game was played in 1896 against Brigham Young Academy (BYA). BYU's athletic website shows their schedule dating back to 1922, but no earlier. The six games played from 1896 to 1898 ended with a 3–3 split. Utah claims these six results in the all-time series records, while BYU does not.

Religion

The U of U is the flagship university of the state of Utah, a state known for its substantial Latter-day Saint population, while BYU is the flagship university of the LDS Church. The matchup has been described as taking on religious, or "church vs. state" undertones.

Proximity

BYU, which is in Provo, Utah, and the U of U, which is in Salt Lake City, are about apart, approximately an hour's drive on Interstate 15. Consequently, the two teams compete for recruits and fan support. It is not uncommon for friends, neighbors, and even family members to have opposite allegiances.

Team successes While the two teams have not necessarily been strong at the same time, they had the most conference championships in the MWC before both left the conference in 2011. Each team has had four conference championships since the creation of the MWC in 1999. Including championships of other conferences, Utah has 24 conference championships in its history, while BYU has 23. Both of these numbers are well ahead of the current MWC member with the most conference championships, Colorado State, who has 15. The 1984 BYU Cougars football team won a consensus national champion with an undefeated season and victory over Michigan in the 1984 Holiday Bowl.

BYU again received national recognition in 1996/1997 as one of the first non-major conference teams to break into what would become the New Year's Six of the 2010s BYU finished ranked 5th in the final 1996 AP poll 1996 NCAA Division I-A football rankings.

During the era of the now-defunct Bowl Championship Series (BCS) (1998–2013), Utah played in two BCS bowls: the 2005 Fiesta Bowl (a 35–7 victory over Pitt) and the 2009 Sugar Bowl (a 31–17 victory over Alabama). For these BCS bowl victories, Utah finished ranked in the AP Poll #4 and #2, respectively. Many sports media members and observers, including ESPN's Rick Reilly, argued that Utah (as the nation's lone undefeated FBS team) should have been selected to play Florida in the BCS title game or awarded the AP national championship. Utah did receive national championship recognition from NCAA-designated major selector Anderson & Hester – which is now recognized by the NCAA in their official football guide.

Fanbase comparisons In 2011, the New York Times polled fans of all current FBS schools to rank them according to the size of their respective fan bases. BYU was ranked #43 nationally with 709,864 people self-identifying as BYU fans, while Utah was ranked #67 with 351,939 people self-identifying as fans.

Both schools' football games are well-attended. In 2023, BYU had an average home attendance of 61,944, just below LaVell Edwards Stadium's capacity of 62,073, while in 2024, Utah had an average home attendance of 52,962, or over Rice–Eccles Stadium's stated capacity of 52,499. For the 2024 game between the schools, Rice-Eccles set a new attendance record of 54,383.

Series history The University of Deseret The University of Deseret was established February 28, 1850, by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret. This date is enshrined on the seal of the U of U. The University of Deseret closed in 1853 and was reestablished in 1867. In 1892, the school's name was changed to the University of Utah, to coincide with Utah's first football team. The team had won 1 game and lost 2 in their first campaign, including a loss to future rival Utah State. The U of U was controlled by the LDS Church from its founding until well after Statehood in 1896.

Brigham Young Academy years Before 1903, BYU was known as BYA. During the 1890s, Utah and BYA played six times in football. The two schools split the series 3–3.

BYA stopped playing football in 1900, following a player death,Harmon, Dick, and Steve Cameron. Wild Blue Yonder: The High Flying Story of BYU Football. Lenexa, Kan.: Addax Pub. Group, 1997. Print. and did not start again until 1922, after it had become BYU. BYU does not recognize these first six meetings and only recognizes games played from 1922 onward.

Utah's early dominance After a twenty-three-year hiatus, BYU reinstated their football team for the 1922 season. Utah began its early dominance over BYU with a 49–0 victory on October 14, 1922. Utah maintained the winning steak until 1942, when the Cougars shocked the Utes 12–7 at Utah. The rivalry then took a hiatus from 1943 to 1945 because BYU did not field a team due to World War II. When the rivalry continued in 1946, the Utes continued their domination over the Cougars, winning or tying the next twelve contests. Except for a three-year BYU winning streak from 1965 to 1967, the rivalry continued this trend through the 1971 season, at which point Utah had amassed a 41–8–4 () record against BYU.

LaVell Edwards era In 1972, the rivalry shifted in favor of BYU, when they hired LaVell Edwards to coach the team. In his first season, BYU beat Utah 16–7 for its first victory in four years. The win signaled the beginning of BYU's dominance against Utah. From 1972 to 1992, BYU went 19–2 () against Utah.

During those years, Utah went through a series of coaches that all ended with losing records against Edwards and BYU. Bill Meek's Utes went 0–2 against Edwards during Meek's last two years (1972–1973). Tom Lovat (1974–1976) was 0–3. Wayne Howard (1977–1981) was 1–4. Chuck Stobart (1982–1984) was 0–3. Jim Fassel (1985–1989) was 1–4. Finally, Utah found some success with Ron McBride (1990–2002), who had a 5–6 record against Edwards.

1977–1981: Edwards versus Howard Wayne Howard's Crusade

During the 1977 meeting, BYU was on the way to winning in a 38–8 blowout. Nonetheless, Edwards put starting quarterback Marc Wilson back into the game so Wilson could set an NCAA record for passing yards. Wilson succeeded in setting the record (subsequently broken) and finished the game with 571 passing yards. The incident infuriated Utah head coach Howard. After the game, he said, "This today will be inspiring. The hatred between BYU and Utah is nothing compared to what it will be. It will be a crusade to beat BYU from now on. This is a prediction: in the next two years Utah will drill BYU someday, but we won’t run up the score even if we could set an NCAA record against them." The next year, Howard made good on his promise. The Utes came from behind to upset the Cougars 23–22. The 1978 win was Utah's first against an Edwards coached BYU team.

Jim McMahon says, "Scoreboard."

During the 1980 Holy War, BYU quarterback Jim McMahon helped engineer a blowout. Most of the game he was heckled by a contingent of Utah fans at Robert Rice Stadium. After throwing for another touchdown late in the 56–6 win, he pointed at the scoreboard to quiet the hecklers. The game was in the midst of a 12–1 BYU season. It was also their second consecutive win against Utah and their eighth win out of the last nine games. The fifty-point margin of victory is the largest for either team in the series.

1982–1984: Edwards versus Stobart On November 17, 1984, BYU entered the Holy War 10–0 and ranked #3 in the AP Poll. BYU overcame several turnovers to win 24–14. BYU would finish the season 13–0 and be the only undefeated team in Division I-A (now the Football Bowl Subdivision). They were voted number one in the final AP Poll as well as the Coaches' Poll to become consensus national champions. This was the last time a team outside the Power Five conferences won a national championship, the previous being Army in 1945.

1985–1989: Edwards versus Fassel In 1988, BYU had won every game since 1978 and entered the Holy War game as an 11-point favorite. Utah had a 5–5 record while BYU was 8–2 and had already accepted an invitation to the Freedom Bowl. Utah, led by quarterback Scott Mitchell, started the game by gaining a 21–0 lead on the way to winning 57–28. The 1988 team set a series record for points scored against BYU—a record that stands today. The game came to be known locally as "the Rice Bowl" because the game was played at Utah's Rice Stadium. The next year, BYU set a series record by scoring 70 against Utah. BYU jumped to a 49–0 lead before Utah scored its first touchdown just before halftime. Behind quarterback Ty Detmer, BYU scored eight touchdowns on its first eight possessions and amassed over 750 yards of total offense. Utah scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, leading to a final score of 70–31. The 101 points the two teams scored is still a series record.

1990–2000: Edwards versus McBride